Conduct a preliminary feasibility review for converting an existing non-residential or obsolete building into housing, covering structure, planning, life safety, daylight, services, accessibility, heritage, and commercial risk.
This prompt has variables that can be replaced with your own information. Copy and use it with your preferred LLM, or try it out in the LearnerBox Prompt Playground.
Act as an experienced architect specializing in adaptive reuse and residential conversion.
Conduct a preliminary feasibility review using the information below.
Project location and planning context:
{{project_location}}
Existing building description:
{{existing_building}}
Survey, structure, and condition information:
{{building_condition}}
Proposed residential program:
{{proposed_program}}
Services, access, and environmental information:
{{services_environment}}
Heritage, budget, schedule, and project constraints:
{{project_constraints}}
Review requirements:
1. Define the proposed change of use and intended residential occupancy.
2. Summarize verified existing-building information and list unknowns.
3. Review preliminary feasibility across planning, title, heritage, structure, floor heights, loading, façade, building depth, daylight, ventilation, fire, escape, compartmentation, accessibility, vertical circulation, parking, refuse, acoustics, thermal performance, moisture, hazardous materials, utilities, drainage, MEP, energy, amenity, construction access, and occupied-building constraints.
4. Identify existing characteristics that support conversion and those creating risk.
5. Evaluate planning efficiency using structural bay, core position, façade-to-core depth, window spacing, unit frontage, corridor length, wet-stack alignment, net-to-gross efficiency, and subdivision flexibility.
6. Develop three scenarios: minimal intervention, moderate reconfiguration, and major transformation or extension.
7. Assess each scenario for likely yield range, intervention level, structure, façade, services, fire, access, heritage, disruption, schedule, cost, and approval risk.
8. Create a due-diligence schedule listing surveys, tests, records, and consultants.
9. Identify fatal flaws, major risks, manageable risks, and value-creation opportunities.
10. Treat unit counts, costs, schedules, and approvals as preliminary.
11. Do not invent planning status, structure, hazardous materials, title, code, measurements, or service capacity.
12. Do not certify suitability, structure, fire, environmental safety, accessibility, compliance, or investment viability.
13. Flag planning, heritage, legal, survey, structural, fire, façade, MEP, civil, environmental, acoustic, energy, accessibility, cost, and building-control reviews.
Present the result as:
{{output_format}}
Include:
- project and change-of-use summary;
- verified information and unknowns;
- opportunity assessment;
- planning and heritage review;
- structural and dimensional review;
- daylight, ventilation, and unit-planning review;
- fire, access, and services review;
- three conversion scenarios;
- risk and opportunity matrix;
- due-diligence schedule;
- preliminary go, revise, or stop criteria; and
- validation checklist.Replace each variable shown in double curly brackets with accurate information from your own professional context.
{{project_location}}
Example: Provide city, current use, zoning, planning history, surrounding uses, and policy context.
Change-of-use feasibility is jurisdiction specific.
{{existing_building}}
Example: Describe age, original use, size, levels, structure, cores, façades, roof, and occupancy.
Use measured and documentary information where available.
{{building_condition}}
Example: Provide measured survey, structural reports, defects, moisture, hazardous materials, fire, and façade data.
Distinguish verified reports from visual impressions.
{{proposed_program}}
Example: Describe unit types, tenure, amenities, accessibility, parking, and target floor area.
Test conversion against a defined residential brief.
{{services_environment}}
Example: Describe utilities, drainage, cores, lifts, stairs, access, noise, daylight, contamination, and logistics.
Missing information should remain an explicit risk.
{{project_constraints}}
Example: Provide listing status, retained elements, budget, phasing, occupied areas, approvals, and deadlines.
Use verified constraints and label assumptions.
{{output_format}}
Choose the format needed for due diligence or early investment review.
A preliminary adaptive-reuse review containing verified information, unknowns, planning, structure, unit efficiency, fire, access, services, three intervention scenarios, risks, due diligence, decision criteria, and professional review needs.
These characteristics describe the type of thinking, customization, and output structure involved in using this prompt effectively.
This breakdown explains how the prompt’s major components work together to guide the AI toward a useful, reliable, and well-structured response.
Positions the AI as an adaptive-reuse residential architect.
Defines jurisdiction, building, condition, proposed program, services, and constraints.
Requires multidisciplinary preliminary conversion feasibility and scenario analysis.
Prevents invented building facts, approvals, yields, costs, safety, and compliance conclusions.
Requires evidence, unknowns, technical reviews, scenarios, risks, diligence, criteria, and validation.
Location, building, condition, program, services, constraints, and output format.
AI-generated responses can contain errors, omissions, unsupported assumptions, outdated information, or recommendations that do not reflect your jurisdiction or professional context.
Verify calculations, evidence, regulations, standards, policies, and professional recommendations before relying on the result. The qualified professional remains responsible for the final decision.
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