Adaptive Reuse by NTF Architecture

Adaptive reuse, rather than demolition, sits at the heart of two residential projects by Melbourne practice NTF Architecture: the Salisbury Townhouses in Blackburn and a townhouse development in Kew, both completed in 2021.

Where many architects and developers default to demolishing and rebuilding from scratch, NTF Architecture makes the case for retaining and adapting what already stands. "It can be more efficient working with the existing footprint. It's also a more sustainable approach," says director Brett Nixon, who worked alongside co-director George Fortey. Fortey points to the commercial logic too, noting that keeping the original structures can improve the return on a project while still meeting planning guidelines.

Across both schemes the practice treated the existing building fabric as a starting point rather than an obstacle, weighing sustainability, planning constraints and development value together.

Project credits: NTF Architecture (Brett Nixon, George Fortey), with Ben Ellul. Photography by Dave Kulesza.