A Critical Review of Building Adaptability Assessment Models

This study examines existing qualitative and quantitative models developed to understand and evaluate adaptability in buildings, aiming to provide a comprehensive reference for future research on both adaptive reuse of existing structures and the design of adaptable new buildings. The existing literature offers numerous frameworks—both qualitative and quantitative—for assessing building adaptability. However, while studies include comparative analyses of these models, they have generally overlooked the inherent strategies that outline a roadmap for achieving adaptability and the relationships between these strategies. Recognizing that the interrelationships between strategies have significant implications for the development of integrated adaptability solutions, this research comparatively reviews these models based on criteria such as publication year, scope, function, focus, evaluation criteria, methodology, output, and strategies.When viewed over time, an analysis of the temporal distribution of these models reveals that interest in adaptability assessment has remained consistent over the past two decades. Among the various evaluation methods, criterion-based scoring emerges as the most commonly applied approach.Although their intended purposes differ, many of these models share similar features, including rating or classification systems, conceptual decision-support tools for adaptive reuse, and analyses of relationships among key variables. Furthermore, the evolving definition of adaptability and the expanding scope of related research have led to a diversification of strategies proposed to achieve adaptability in buildings. The most frequently cited strategies include disassembly or deconstruction, flexibility, scalability, movability, durability, accessibility, and layering.