[Tagging] Multiple purposes for buildings

[John F. Eldredge]

Philip Barnes <phil at trigpoint.me.uk> wrote:

> In the UK many premiere inns are converted office buildings.
> 
> How does one go about mapping a row of terraced houses, where a single
> building will contain 20 our so houses, often with a corner shop at
> the end? I would have drawn each house to maintain numbering, is that
> the correct way?
> 
> Phil
> --
> 
> Sent from my Nokia N9
> 
> 
> 
> On 02/01/2013 10:16 Simone Saviolo wrote:
> 
> 2013/1/2 Martin Koppenhoefer <dieterdreist at gmail.com>
> 
> 2013/1/2 Simone Saviolo <simone.saviolo at gmail.com>:
> 
> > What you are trying to tag is the
> > *use* of the building, and not a property of the building per se.
> Unless
> > it's a mall, a retail store's interior is not structurally different
> from an
> > office space or apartments - it could be converted, in fact.
> 
> 
> 
> well, true and not. [...]
> 
> 
> I agree, what I said is not universally true. However, often those
> "mixed-use" buildings feature units that can be easily converted. In
> Italy for instance it is common to find apartments used as offices for
> small companies, and shops in the floor level of a building that could
> be converted to an apartment (I know because I did). While the use
> change doesn't happen at the blink of an eye, and you usually have to
> obtain permits to do that, I fail to see what makes those rooms a
> residential or a commercial building - especially considering, as you
> said, that "commercial" and "residential" may mean a lot of different
> things.
> 
> 
> Regards,
> 
> 
> Simone
> 
> 
> 
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Newer urban designs in the USA often feature a mix of retail, office, restaurants, and residential units in the same multi-story building, as a way of encouraging more foot traffic vs. having to use vehicles for everyday activities.  There is also a long tradition of new, small churches being located in converted retail buildings until they can afford to build space specifically designed as a church.

-- 
John F. Eldredge -- john at jfeldredge.com
"Reserve your right to think, for even to think wrongly is better than not to think at all." -- Hypatia of Alexandria
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