Buildings Transformed
Buildings Transformed is a project about the restoration and repurposing of heritage buildings across Britain.
In recent years i have interviewed and photographed inspiring people who have renovated and given new lives to former churches, post offices, historic shops, chapels, canal barges, cinemas, railway station buildings, mills, banks, pubs and warehouses. All the buildings had been unused and ‘unloved’ before being repurposed to create new facilities for their local communities.
During my previous project Mills Transformed I became fascinated about what motivates people to give so much of themselves in bringing new life to old buildings. People clearly feel a strong need to renovate and repurpose old buildings preserving them for future generations. Many often spoke about the emotional bond they had formed with their building and how each property has its own personality – I have tried to capture some of these comments in each of the photo essays.
In isolation, these renovation projects may seem modest, but collectively they have real impact and offer inspiration to others. We need to understand more about these ‘renovators’, their motivations and the well-being and often life-enhancing impacts they have experienced – how we change buildings and they change us.
Based on these case studies the project also considers how the pioneering work of such renovators can incrementally shape and influence the evolution of our towns and cities.
Neil Horsley