Unusual buildings and strange renovations from around the world

Updating a kitchen is one thing. These renos are on the other end of the scale completely!

In this Article:

• Heard about the power station that turned into a museum?
• Or the aircraft hanger that turned into a water park?
• Read on to discover – and see – some stunning changes of building use

Tate Modern, London, England

Today, the Tate Modern is an art gallery in England’s capital city directly across the River Thames from St Paul’s Cathedral, housing modern and contemporary art. In its former life, however, it was the Bankside Power Station.

The power station closed in 1981, and stood vacant under the permanent threat of demolition until work on a £134 million conversion began in 1995. Much of the original structure remains in place, including the main turbine hall, while the north boiler house is now home to the gallery’s main exhibitions.

The Silo, Cape Town, South Africa

This multipurpose project includes another museum – this time South Africa’s Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa, in Cape Town. The museum building was originally a 57-metre-high grain silo built in the 1920s, while the grain silo complex also plays home to retail, restaurants and accommodation, too.

The conversion was designed to maintain the industrial heritage while maximising modern-day use.

Tropical Islands Resort, Krausnick, Germany

Today, it’s the largest tropical island resort in the world, featuring pools, saunas, rainforests, beaches, rides and everything else you can imagine an indoor tropical theme park could have.

In days gone by, however, it was one of the world’s largest free-standing aircraft hangars. Its history dates back to 1938, and during WW2, it was used to transport air forces in preparation for airborne operations and was involved in the frontline air forces of the Wehrmacht in 1945.

La Piscine Museum, Roubaix, France

For anyone who remotely paid attention in HSC French, you’ll have put two and two together by now. For the rest, this is a public art deco swimming pool that’s been turned into a museum. Its last dip was hosted in 1985, after almost 60 years of swimming action, and was reopened as a museum in 2000, with changing rooms, showers and pump room put to good use – and still featuring a watery centre piece.

The Gasometers, Vienna, Austria

What else would you do with four gas storage tanks that were past their use-by date but turn them into mixed-use complexes? Today, these four huge gas storage tanks, which were constructed in 1896 and part of the municipal gas works, are home to apartments, offices, a shopping mall, and entertainment venues capable of hosting large-scale concerts.