REIMAGINING VACANCY Temporary projects in vacant industrial buildings, an opportunity for circular construction.

Vacancy is a long-studied phenomenon but remains a complex challenge. One dimension is the transformation of empty industrial buildings, attracting temporary projects. Although these projects reactivate sites, they rarely succeed in transferring their value - including materials, functions, and users - to the final transformation. This contrasts with the responsible resource use and transition to a circular construction economy that many regions aspire.

Therefore, this research aims to create practical insights about the opportunities of vacancy periods of industrial buildings in cities, and develop circular strategies for temporary occupation projects. Through close collaboration with practitioners and cases, I will create actionable knowledge, strategies, and practical tools to
empower and guide stakeholders towards betterinformed design choices and support material reuse in temporary projects.

Through a quantitative and qualitative analysis of international cases, a typology of productive temporary projects will be developed, revealing strengths and opportunities, as well as pitfalls and hurdles. By reinterpreting these findings in a
research-by-design, sustainable scenarios and circular strategies will be developed, which a proof-of-concept project can validate. Altogether, the application of such strategies, supported by actionable knowledge and tools, could move circular innovation in temporary projects from an experimental niche to common practice.