ADAPTIVE REUSE AND PEOPLE’S PERCEPTION OF CONTEMPORARY NEEDS: TOWARDS A DECISION-MAKING PROCESS TO INCLUDE PEOPLE IN REPURPOSING CAIRO’S HERITAGE

Previous studies have shown a strong correlation between people’s positive perception of functions for adaptive reuse buildings with their historical compatibility. With the growing significance of adaptive reuse in the MENA region, an investigation of three case-studies in Cairo was undertaken to uncover (1) the different typologies of function interventions, (2) people’s perception of functions in conjunction with their façades and relevance, (3) enhance the design-making process to incorporate people’s perception prior to conservation practices. An interpretive study with a purposive sample for survey and semi-structured interviews was conducted in Cairo followed by enhancing a decision-making process for people’s inclusion. The three case-studies were selected to represent different interventions of adaptive reuse: Bayt El-Kretliya, a medieval courtyard house becoming a museum; Consoleya Building, the French Consulate in colonial Egypt during the 1930s becoming co-working space; Dar El-Kotob, governmental institution in late 19th century becoming a contemporary museum and library archives. People’s perception to Dar El-Kotob’s inner-functions was the highest due to a number of issues: (1) a hybrid combination of insertions, installations and intervention, (2) the building’s new narrative aligns with the original function, (3) affordability of access. Based on the investigation, four aspects are key to people’s perception of adaptive reuse buildings (1) harmony, (2) relevance, (3) evolutionary. An enhanced decision-making process for developing inner-functions of adaptive reuse buildings has been introduced incorporating the four issues of research contribution for future application.