Fiona is Intern Architect (AANB) from Fredericton, Canada and a Doctoral Researcher at the University of Antwerp, working under the supervision of Dr.Yonca Erkan as part of the ARCHES research group. Her research focuses on industrial heritage, adaptive reuse, and urban transformation, particularly examining how urban manufacturing sites connect with or diverge from their industrial past. Fiona holds a Master’s in Architecture and a Bachelor’s in Environmental Design Studies from Dalhousie University, along with a Bachelor of Arts in Urban Studies and a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Visual Arts from the University of Calgary. She also completed a year of postgraduate study in architecture at the Glasgow School of Art.
With a strong foundation in architecture, urban planning, and heritage conservation, Fiona explores the complex relationship between historical narratives, governance, and community engagement in post-industrial landscapes. Her work investigates how the past and the present intersect with urban spaces, aiming to bridge interdisciplinary perspectives on the adaptive reuse of industrial heritage. Enthusiastic about sustainable urban development and heritage policy, Fiona’s doctoral research aims to provide a greater understanding of how these sites can be reimagined, integrating their historic pasts into the fabric of contemporary urban life.
Socio-Cultural Narratives for Adaptive Reuse of Industrial Heritage
This research centres adaptive reuse as a critical lens for examining industrial heritage in Belgium, focusing on how former manufacturing sites are transformed and how these transformations engage with or disconnect from their industrial and deindustrial pasts. By integrating deindustrialization theory with industrial heritage studies, the project intends to develop a framework for evaluating adaptive reuse projects and practices through their socio-cultural narratives. Using a comparative case study approach, it investigates how memory regimes, governance structures, and economic forces shape adaptive reuse decisions and their spatial outcomes. Special attention is given to urban industrial typologies and their full life cycle, from centres of production to sites of abandonment and redevelopment. The study categorizes models of industrialization, deindustrialization, and reuse to identify patterns of inclusion or omission in heritage projects. Ultimately, this research aims to bridge gaps in scholarship, offering a methodological and theoretical contribution that emphasizes the importance of historical continuity and community relevance in adaptive reuse.
Website: https://www.uantwerpen.be/en/research-groups/arches/
