Example design dissertation topic 9:

Adaptive reuse in interior architectural design: Battersea power station – a Pandora’s box of opportunities.

Since its decommissioning as a power station, Battersea has been subject to a number of development ideas. These have included its suggested transformation into a theme park, its use as a base for affordable housing for key workers within the city, and present plans for its redevelopment into a site of mixed office and residential usage. This dissertation gives a brief overview of the failed design proposals of the last twenty years before critically evaluating the present design proposals for Battersea’s future.

Suggested initial topic reading:

• Bullen, P. and Love, P. (2011), ‘Factors influencing the adaptive re-use of buildings’, Journal of Engineering, Design and Technology, Vol. 9(1), pp. 32-46.
• Dedross, S. (2010). The re-use of historic industrial buildings on brownfield sites: Case study Battersea power station. BSc thesis, University of Portsmouth.
• Shipley, R., Utz, S. and Parsons, M. (2006). ‘Does adaptive reuse pay? A study of the business of building renovation in Ontario, Canada’, International Journal of Heritage Studies, Vol. 12(6), pp. 505-520.