Developing and Applying the LSEA Framework for Evaluating Adaptive Reuse in Historic Waterfront Hotels: Evidence from the Bosphorus, Istanbul

Adaptive reuse offers a sustainable means of balancing heritage conservation with contemporary use, yet most evaluation approaches continue to privilege physical conservation and functional performance over spatial experience and contextual integration. This study develops and applies the Layered Spatial Experience Analysis (LSEA) framework to address this gap. The framework comprises four analytical layers and twelve criteria derived through a structured synthesis of approximately thirty sources. It was applied through documentary and visual analysis to four historic waterfront hotels on the Bosphorus: Çırağan Palace Kempinski, Four Seasons Hotel Bosphorus, Six Senses Kocataş Mansions, and Sumahan on the Water. The author-based assessments were subsequently reviewed by three external academics using the LSEA evaluation protocol. Findings show that conservation and functional criteria alone do not fully explain adaptive reuse performance. Experiential qualities, including atmosphere, authenticity, and historical identity, together with contextual factors such as place identity, visual connection to the Bosphorus, and cultural visibility, are also important components of a multidimensional assessment. The waterfront context emerged as a shared strength across all four cases. The LSEA framework therefore provides a transparent and multidimensional framework for comparative heritage assessment and supports sustainable heritage management in line with Sustainable Development Goal 11.4.