In the day and age of recycling, reuse and repurpose, everyone is taking a similar approach when seeking new places to buy for a business or to use for residences. Instead of leaving old warehouses, churches or grain silos to rot away or be torn down, it’s becoming increasingly popular to convert these places, modernizing, redesigning, and upgrading them, giving them a new purpose and a new life. Transport for London (TFL) has even invited companies to bid for one of the many abandoned tube stations with the goal of turning them into museums, hotels or shopping areas. All of this is good news for travellers, especially those of us who like to visit a place that may be new, but with an authentic historical look and feel. Something hard to find these days, since the faux vintage currently runs rampant. It’s much more interesting to stay in an underground hotel that was once a cave, or to down a few drinks at a church-turned-bar than the ordinary, charmless generic-type locales, easy to find.
Here are 19 converted places that were once something else. Each place combines the past with the present, the old with new in equal measure, giving just enough hints of its origins to make us wonder as we enter: What was this place?
19 Ixi’im Restaurant, Yucatan, Mexico
Located in the municipality of Chocholá southwest of Mérida on Mexico’s Gulf coast,
Ixi’im was once a factory which produced sisal, or agave-based textiles.
The collaborated effort of several Mexican studios to give an old place a new life resulted in a modern multipurpose complex fused with elements of its past. The designers made good use of the original structure, keeping the old factory layout, arched hallways and crumbling walls, but gave it a more sturdy metal frame. It’s the combination of a very modern space with a nod to its origins which garnered it this year’s Prix Versailles World Architecture Award.
18 Crew Collective & Café, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Adjacent to scenic but tourist-laden Old Montreal is Crew Collective & Café, a unique coffee shop with rentable private and soundproof meeting rooms. It sits on the first floor of The Royal Bank Tower, a historic building which, after its completion in 1928, was considered not only the tallest building in Canada but in the entire British Empire. Don’t be fooled by its unassuming and even mundane exterior.
Venture inside and you’ll see what makes this space stand out. Ceiling-high arches, ornate chandeliers and a 1920s design aesthetic are all still present as baristas prepare your order where bank tellers once cashed checks.
17 The National Aquatic Center, Beijing, China
When a nation has been selected to host the Olympic Games, it often overspends in an effort to accommodate the athletes and prepare for the country to be on the world stage. Once the Games are over and the athletes and tourists leave, many of the venues are abandoned and fall into disuse. The Rio and Athens Olympics are prime examples, as the swimming pools and stadiums where elite athletes once competed, are now dust-filled and decaying. However,
China, host of the 2008 Summer Olympics, managed to make good use of one their “Water Cube” where the swimming competitions took place.
It’s now the family-friendly ‘Happy Magic Water Cube Water Park’ with 13 water slides, spa and wave pools and other water rides.
16 The Boston Liberty Hotel, Boston, USA
What do a luxury hotel and a 19th-century jail have in common? They’re the exact same place! Before it was ultra-chic, The Boston Liberty Hotel used to be a prison called the Charles Street Jail. Built in 1851, the jail was considered unfit by 1990 then purchased 1 year after the last prisoner was transferred in 1991 by Massachusetts General Hospital.
In 2001, developers took on the project of repurposing the building while maintaining many of its elements.
Some of the exterior and interior of the building including the rotunda, are unchanged, but with spacious rooms and a view of Boston’s city skyline or Charles River, a prison stay has never been more pleasurable.
15 Bunkr Parukárka, Žižkov, Prague, Czech Republic
Sometimes refurbishing happens in the oddest places. Take Bunkr Parukárka for example, built into a hillside in Parukarka park. If you ignore the graffiti-covered and junky exterior then descend the 100-step spiral staircase you’ll find yourself in an underground bar and live music venue in what was once a nuclear bunker built in the 1950s. There’s an eerie feel to the place as you walk through several passageways that have gas masks and hazard suits as decor. While partying in a place that once had a serious importance and cultural significance is slightly odd, and maybe questionable (let your conscience be your guide) you can’t deny the novelty of chilling on vintage furniture while listening to electro-pop, in a dome deep underground. Claustrophobes beware.
14 The Church, Dublin, Ireland
Churches in Ireland are a dime a dozen, but only one has alcohol instead of holy water.
St-Mary’s church has been around since the 18th century, but after closing its doors in 1964, it sat empty and uncared for until 1997 when a new owner began restorations. It re-opened in 2005 as a bar, and 2 short years later, it re-opened again to include a restaurant, a café, a nightclub and a barbecue area on the terrace.
With famous people like Taylor Swift and Macklemore who dine in the gallery section, The church is extremely popular so reservations are a must. The real draws for locals and tourists alike are the dichotomy between the venue and its purpose, making it a church anyone would want to go to.
13 The Valley of Gangala Cave Café, Okinawa, Japan
In the southern part of the island of Okinawa, lies The Valley of Gangala, a series of underground caves which collapsed thousands of years ago and have since become a subtropical forest with lush and unusual vegetation. In order to visit, you’ll have to take a guided tour (sorry, no solo adventurers allowed) of about 1 km which lasts an informative 80 minutes. Equally as interesting as the tour itself is its starting point, the Cave Cafe. Located inside a natural limestone cave, both the front and back entrance to the cafe open out into the dense plant life of the valley.
While you’re surrounded by every shade of green imaginable outside the cave walls, you’ll have to be careful where you sit on the inside in order to avoid the water runoff from the stalactites metres above your head. But with the refreshing cave air cooling you down as you sit, sip and appreciate the view, who can complain?
12 Distillery district Toronto (Canada)
Located in the east of downtown Toronto, The Gooderham and Worts Distillery was a collection of 47 Victorian-era Industrial buildings founded in the mid-nineteenth century and by the late 1860s was one of the largest alcohol distilleries in the world. It was closed by 1990 until developers bought the property in 2003 and, preserving the buildings, repurposed them as a sort of mini-city with one of a kind restaurants, cafes and clothing stores. The design of the buildings combined with excess of redbrick helps make you feel slightly transported, which was all part of the developers’ plan:“Our vision was to combine the romance and relaxing atmosphere of European walking and patio districts with the hip, cool dynamic of an area like New York City’s SoHo or Chelsea.”
11 Gas Works Park, Seattle, Washington, USA
Landscape architect Richard Haag created a city park out of an abandoned gas plant in 1958 and incorporated the plant’s towers and metal tubes into his plans as an acknowledgement and tribute to the city’s industrial past. Gas Works Park opened to the public in 1975 and has since grown in popularity and size. It now has seven sections where you can find anything from sporting events to free concerts. It was designated a national landmark in 2013, and the 2,000 feet of shoreline on Lake Union offers a great place to view the city’s skyline. Of course, nowhere is perfect; there were concerns about toxicity levels in both the land and water, but initiatives to reduce the threat have been underway for the last several years. One of Seattle’s most visited parks, it’s safe to say that it’s safe to visit.
10 Landschaftspark, Duisburg-Meiderich, Germany
Similar to Gas Works Park is Landschaftspark (or Landscape Park) in Germany. The 180-hectare park area was once an abandoned ironworks plant in Duisburg-Meiderich, a city which saw consistent industrial growth since the mid-nineteenth century. The park, created to renew the ecology of the area and through a new green space improve living conditions for the densely populated city,
is now a family friendly complex. Some of the plant’s buildings now hold cultural events. Inside an old gasometer is Europe’s largest artificial diving centre. And a Blast Furnace has been reborn as a popular viewing tower.
Factory metal tubes have been turned into slides for kids and bunkers transformed into alpine climbing gardens. It might not hold visual appeal but is an intriguing area to explore by bike or on foot.
9 Szimpla Kert, Budapest
If you haven’t heard the term ‘ruin pub’ don’t worry, you’re probably not alone. They’re new pubs set up in old ruins and apparently all the rage in Budapest since the early 2000s. Any number of these trendy hotspots could easily be on this list, but we chose to go with the original. Szimpla Kert started as a café in 2001 but then the owners bought a rundown old stove factory, turned it into a bar and made it their new spot. It’s at once: a pub, farmers' market and flea market, has live music and film screenings. Equally as eclectic as their set up is their decor; a collection of the bizarre, the mismatched and the odd that somehow all works together to create an unforgettable place.
8 The Silo Hotel, Cape Town, South Africa
Who would have thought that
a grain silo in Sub-Saharan Africa built in 1924 would one day become a luxury hotel more than 80 years later?
The Silo hotel is the tallest building in Table Bay harbour and each of the 28 distinctly designed rooms has 5-feet-high convex windows, perfect for views of the waterfront and Table mountain. Built on the 6 floors above South Africa’s new Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa (MOCAA), the hotel occupies what was the grain elevator portion of the complex. Nothing in its new interior gives no clues to its past, but the exterior’s austere look is intentional because designer Thomas Heatherwick wanted to “keep as many of the original features as possible”.
7 Selexyz Dominicanen Maastricht, Netherlands
With modern technology offering new ways to access books, bookstores are slowly disappearing. Hopefully, Selexyz Dominicanen Maastricht won’t suffer the same fate.
This Dutch bookstore in Maastricht, Holland is in an unlikely place: a 13th-century Dominican church.
After Napoleon invaded Masstricht in 1794, the Dominicans were forced out leaving the church to be used as a warehouse, an archive and a bike parking lot among other things. For its current use, the designers applied the perfect touch; a modern space for book shopping while making sure to preserve the church’s religious motifs, architecture and decor such as renovating the 14th-century ceiling frescoes. In tribute to the store’s past, there’s even a cross-shaped table in the cafe where the choir used to gather.
6 Peckham Levels, London, England
A current trend in repurposing old places for new businesses is to convert abandoned parking lots into multi-level and multi-purpose complexes. Different types of businesses (sometimes 2 or more) co-existing on every level means there’s something for everyone. For the last 2 years, Peckham Levels in south London has been home to eateries (like the Uber-trendy rooftop hipster hangout -Frank's Cafe) retailers, artist studios, performance venues and more. There are seven levels of this new space to explore, so take your time and enjoy everything it has to offer.
5 The Silo, Copenhagen, Denmark
If you’re looking for a place to live that’s a little unconventional, check out this silo turned Apartment building in Copenhagen’s North Harbour in Denmark. The building stands out, not only for being the tallest in the industrial area which surrounds it but because the Architects behind the project kept the tall slender frame of the silo then gave the exterior a modern-day architectural facelift. Inside was kept as close to the original appearance as possible. There are 38 residences, each different than the next, which range from simple apartments to two-floor penthouses, as well as an events space on the first floor, and a restaurant on the top floor. With full height windows and a view of the city and its coastline, telling people you live in a silo would be nothing to be ashamed of.
4 Astley Castle, Warwickshire, England
This is a place that has been through some interesting changes. It was built in the 12th century but by the 14th had become a college for priests. In the 15th century, it belonged to Lady Jane Grey, who was queen for only 9 days before being beheaded and her father found hiding in a hollow oak tree on the premises. After the second world war the castle became a hotel then a fire in the 1970s left it unused and uncared for. A group of architects won a competition to restore the remains in 2005. They incorporated a vacation rental home into the castle’s crumbling walls, creating a modern and medieval experience for vacationers.
3 The Highline, New York, USA
The Highline has become so popular it’s as synonymous with the city as Central Park or Times Square. When the train was first in use in the 1930s it ran at street level, but its path caused so many accidents that the track was raised for safety.
The line was last used in the 1980s after which locals and a non-profit group Friend of the Highline, advocated to preserve the track to be used as a public space, and saved it from being destroyed.
The conversion of the tracks into a park began in 2009, but nature began the process earlier as plants began to cover the tracks naturally and developers wisely incorporated them into their landscaping plans. The result is the Highline; the perfect mix of man and nature working together to create a great place to chill.
2 Glass Beach, Fort Bragg, California
As a rule, Mother Nature is better off when left untouched and unspoilt by humankind. But in a rare case, human activity inadvertently helped to beautify instead of destroy.
Beaches in Fort Bragg (3 in total) were used by the residents as garbage dumps for 73 years until 1967 when the California State Water Resources Control Board closed the area.
Little thought was given to the thousands of glass shards and pottery pieces that collected along the shore over the years, smoothened by the waves, resulting in colourful and shiny sea glass. In 2002 California Department of Parks and Recreation bought 38 acres of Glass.
1 Kayakapi Premium Caves hotel, Cappadocia, Turkey
A local family had the idea to turn abandoned caves and homes, carved into the mountainside in the Kayakapi neighbourhood of Cappadocia, Turkey, into hotel suites. Their cave hotel has only been around since 2013, but the caves themselves are centuries old. Volcanic eruptions left tons of soft rock which became smoothened and moulded through time, resulting in an otherworldly landscape above ground.
The possibility of enjoying modern hotel amenities while within ancient walls, and visiting a 10th-century church or 11th-century mosque all underground is an unforgettable experience.