New Life for Historic Buildings and Places through a Shared Culture of Adaptation & Reuse

New Life for Historic Buildings and Places through a Shared Culture of Adaptation & Reuse

Venue: Europe House, 11 Chatham Street, Dublin – Date: Friday 27th March 2026 (9am to 5pm)

New Life for Historic Buildings and Places

On 27 March 2026, the international conference “New Life for Historic Buildings and Places through a Shared Culture of Adaptation & Reuse” will take place at Europe House in Dublin, focusing on the reuse of architectural heritage.

 

Palazzo Butera has been selected as an inspiring case study for those engaged with historic buildings, reflecting the central role that its restoration and adaptive reuse project has come to play in the contemporary debate on historic architecture.

Photo by Roberto Sigismondi – PALAZZO BUTERA, ROOM 2, detail of the backlit iron and glass staircase
14.20 Palazzo Butera: a project for Palermo and Europe

The Palazzo Butera project

As part of Session 4 – Quality, dedicated to excellence in interventions on the built heritage, the lecture:

 

“Palazzo Butera: a project for Palermo and Europe”
will be delivered by Claudio Gulli, Director of Palazzo Butera.

 

 

The presentation will illustrate the project as an exemplary case of:

  • integration between conservation and contemporary design

  • enhancement of a historic building through new cultural uses

  • application of the New European Bauhaus principles

  • a sustainable and replicable intervention model at a European scale

 

Palazzo Butera stands as a virtuous example of heritage reactivation, combining respect for history, architectural innovation, and openness to the community, while demonstrating how historic heritage can become an active driver of cultural and urban regeneration.

A European conference on heritage reuse

The conference brings together European institutions, architects, scholars, and professionals to address a crucial challenge: giving new life to historic buildings while avoiding demolition and promoting sustainable transformation practices.

Key topics include:

  • adaptive reuse and sustainability

  • circular economy in architecture

  • quality of the built environment

  • innovation in conservation and restoration

 

 

The full program is here.