There is nothing like a new year to kick start grand plans for a change of scene, whether it’s a new job, a new style or a new home. If 2018 is the year you want to explore the latter, why not opt for something that really breaks the mould?

We’ve scoured the globe to find you five of the most exciting new developments you could move into this year. All transform heritage buildings – from silos to gasholders – into extraordinary living spaces.

The Silo, Copenhagen

Danish firm COBE has turned a towering grain silo into 38 apartments ranging from 106 sq m to 401 sq m on Copenhagen’s North Harbour. Living spaces in this extraordinary adaptive reuse project have ceiling heights of up to 7m. COBE has retained as many of the building’s concrete features as possible, while ‘draping it with a new overcoat’. A mirrored glass box on the top floor houses a public restaurant while the ground floor is designed as a flexible event space.
Prices start from 4m DDK.

Gasholders at King’s Cross, London

The ultimate industrial hat trick. Architecture practice Wilkinson Eyre has transformed this trio of Grade II-listed cast iron gasholder frames – one of which dates back to 1824 – into 145 canalside apartments complete with triple glazing, terraces and transport links not to be sniffed at. They say good things come in threes…
Prices start from $1.1m.

Glassworks Bushwick, New York

This converted 19th-century glass factory is set to become one of Brooklyn’s hottest rental developments of the year. Developer Ash NYC is incorporating the original factory into the scheme and has built two new structures on either side of the 336 Himrod Street site. It is now home to 63 homes ranging from studios to three-bedroom apartments.
Prices start from $2,500/month for a one-bedroom, $3,100 for a two-bedroom and $3,800 for a three-bedroom apartment.

Palacio da Santa Helena, Lisbon

Restoration developer Stone Capital is breathing new life into this Portuguese palace. Originally designed by architect Samuel Torres de Carvalho and built in the late 1500s, the former residence of royal court officials has been carved up into 20 apartments ranging from two to four bedrooms.
Prices available on request.

Warehaus Ancoats, Manchester

Ancoats is often billed as the birthplace of the industrial revolution and described as ‘the world’s first industrial suburb’. OMI Architects have transformed one its treasures into 32 properties – a mixture of town houses and apartments – around a landscaped courtyard.
Prices start from $282,000.