It’s not necessary to demolish: how old panel houses are being modernized in different countries

The program for the demolition of dilapidated housing in Moscow has caused a storm of discussions both inside the capital and beyond. A lot of questions caused the demolition of quite high-quality brick houses located in the central part of the city, as well as the general building compaction, which the Moscow center is waiting for in the near future. But, as it turned out, in the world there are enough examples of successful reconstruction of residential buildings over 50 years old, which, instead of being demolished, were modernized even without evicting residents. One of these places was the French city of Bordeaux.

The 50-70s of the last century were remembered by residents of many countries as the era of multi-storey panel construction. The construction of budget housing accessible to the general public was part of state housing programs in Europe, the USA, China and many others. Panel houses with small but very comfortable apartments for that time solved the problems of young families, poor citizens and single pensioners. But what seemed like a joyful acquisition 40 or 60 years ago today looks hopelessly outdated.

In Bordeaux, as well as in many other cities in Europe, there is a sufficient number of panel high-rise buildings. They are still quite reliable and do not cause complaints from security engineers, but they no longer satisfy many modern requirements. For this reason, the city authorities organized a competition for the development of a project for the reconstruction of high-rise buildings, and in 2017 three panel houses were changed beyond recognition even without evicting residents.

The apartments in these prefabricated houses were enlarged by demolishing the outer walls, replacing them with glass sliding doors and adding additional space to them. The appeared square serves as a winter garden or a glazed loggia, as you like. The main thing is that it increases the area of the apartment and makes housing more comfortable. In total, 530 apartments were modernized in this way.

Another successful example of a country where a number of projects for the reconstruction of panel housing has been implemented is Germany. Here in the city of Linefeld back in the 90s of the last century, several panel houses, consisting of 3-5 floors, were reconstructed. The architects made sure that the new apartments became more spacious and brighter, which was achieved by the addition of additional modules, as well as in houses in Bordeaux. In a number of cases, more extensive changes took place with the houses - they were divided into parts and turned into comfortable mansions.

There are good examples of reconstruction of obsolete five-story buildings in Russia. Panel houses in Moscow and Kaliningrad were reconstructed and received a second life due to an increase in the area of apartments and a radical change in the facade. Of particular interest is the history of panel houses in Kaliningrad, which in a short time turned into a real architectural masterpiece.

Such transformations not only significantly save the city budget, but also solve many environmental problems. After all, the demolition of housing involves energy costs, as well as a huge amount of construction waste that must be disposed of. Today, when the lack of land for new waste landfills has become an urgent problem in many countries, this fact is an undeniable advantage.