This study aims at unfolding a design methodology as a dual engagement of existing and discovered traces of an industrial heritage building for its adaptive reuse. An experimental approach of adaptive reuse is introduced for the early 20th century British Oil Mill in Mersin, Turkey, which has a hybrid structural system of stone masonry walls and a steel framework. The proposed project comprises architectural and programmatic interventions by building within and around the Oil Mill as well as reprogramming the volume exposed within the currently ruined structure. The Oil Mill is redesigned through an experimental endeavor of reading and interpreting physical, spatial and contextual traces. A dual understanding of the existing and discovered traces is utilized to define design operations: (1) translations of ‘as found’ and (2) interpretations of ‘hidden’.

The first layer of apprehension consists of a direct reading of the physical traces as they are found and translating them into manifestations of a reuse for the whole site. The contemporary extensions are configured as ‘strips’ that are delineated by extending the pilasters on the facade of the Oil Mill to engage with the site. These extensions are formed around the variations and repetitions of a typical cross section in order to regenerate the industrial landscape that existed in the area in reference to the physicality of the Oil Mill itself, which was constructed in conformity with a template of oil mills of the era. The constructional logic of pairing steel frames with massive walls defines the architectural tectonics of the contemporary extensions. By the strategic use of strips and sections, traces ‘as found’ are translated so as to re-establish repetitive scapes of the industrial context.

Another layer of comprehension is based on an oblique reading of the spatial organization of the Oil Mill, which is no longer visible. By cross-referencing the traces of the lost stairs seen on the facade and interior surfaces with the archival evidence, it is discovered that the ground floor of the Oil Mill functions independently from the upper floors. This reading is then interpreted as a regulating principle for the distribution of contemporary functions within the Oil Mill and the proposed annexes on the site by differentiating the ground floor and upper floors. An elevated platform that interweaves the Oil Mill and contemporary extensions revitalizes the ‘hidden’ traces. 

This study dwells on a dual strategy of engagement, which is devised upon the traces of this industrial heritage building, by exploring the methods and tools of intervening with the existing and discussing its outcome.