Why rebuild something when you can repurpose it ?

In many places around the world old structures like warehouses, train stations, churches, convents, fire houses and other things are seen as an architectural opportunity to repurpose as housing, usually due to cost, but that lead to very unique dwellings that end up influencing other houses that are built from the ground up. Architects pounce at opportunities like this. The results are often superior to what a standard house built from the ground up would be.