Can You Imagine These Wonderful Buildings Were Built From Jails?

Can You Imagine These Wonderful Buildings Were Built From Jails?

  18:14    Unknown

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What comes to your mind when talking about "jails"? It's a cold places with brutalist, utilitarian blocks that are built to house row after row of prison cells and which offer altogether dismal living conditions.

To some artistic eyes of designer, jails are places for inspired architecture. These pictures will amaze you when former jails have been transformed into everything from luxury hotels to schools, shopping complexes, or even a film lot.

Four Seasons Hotel, Istanbul, Turkey – The exterior of the hotel. The venue keeps a landscaped garden whose original purpose was an exercise yard for prisoners.

Pentridge Prison, Melbourne, Australia – Australia's Pentridge Prison housed some of the nation's most notorious criminals -- from outlaw Ned Kelly to Ronald Ryan, who was the last man to be executed in the country. But a private buyer took over the site in 2013 and is changing it into a mixed-used residential and commercial development, complete with a luxury Adina Apartment Hotel.

Pentridge Prison, Malbourne, Australia – An artist's impression of what the precinct will look like once completed. The area is located north of Melbourne's central business district.

Four Seasons Hotel, Istanbul, Turkey – The Four Seasons Hotel in Istanbul's historic Sultanahmet neighborhood set up its home in what used to be the city's jail to take advantage of its prime location near the Hagia Sofia and Blue Mosque.

Pentridge Prison, Malbourne, Australia – The Hotel, in the Victorian capital of Melbourne, will have 120 apartments and studios designed by Cox Architecture and will retain some of the original jail cells.

Four Seasons Hotel, Istanbul, Turkey – Small traces can still be seen from its penal past. One marble pillar still bears an inmate's inscription while the building's minarets were built to cover old watchtowers.

Pentridge Prison, Malbourne, Australia – The bright white interiors and blond timbers of the Jury cafe, located in the new Pentridge Prison redevelopment, sit in stark contrast to its dark past as an infamous prison.

Convent of the Penitents, Louviers, France – The revamp of this prison, Convent of the Penitents, in Louviers, France into a music school won several awards when it was finished in 2012.

Convent of the Penitents, Louviers, France – A concert hall sits above its north wing. Unlike with some other prison transformation projects, characteristics of the former structure are still well preserved.

Convent of the Penitents, Louviers, France – A rendering of what the prison used to look like before its modern additions.

Centro Civico, Palencia, Spain – This former prison in Palencia, Spain was turned into a center for culture and the arts.

Centro Civico, Palencia, Spain – The center features an auditorium, library as well as classrooms in an airy design by Exit Architects.

Centro Civico, Palencia, Spain – The architects introduced more natural light in the building by removing old tiles and adding glass structures.

Hullett House, Hong Kong – Although it's hard to tell from its stately looking exterior, heritage boutique hotel Hullet House used to be the city's Marine Police Headquarters jail cells, which were built in 1881.

Hullett House, Hong Kong – Called "Gong Guan" in Chinese, the building now also houses restaurants and shops and features a unique combination of colonial and modern architectural elements.

Hullett House, Hong Kong – Located near the Star Ferry, in Kowloon's Tsim Sha Tsui district, the building includes a bar -- the Mariner's Rest -- which is named after the jail's original drinking venue that used to host visiting seamen and working policemen.

Hullett House, Hong Kong – The bar has incorporated two of the jail's original cells into its design, where its newest patrons can enjoy a pint.

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Reading Prison, Reading, England – A former prison in Reading, England has been turned into a tribute to its most famous inmate -- Oscar Wilde. The exhibition includes archive material from the prison and works by acclaimed artists including Steve McQueen, Nan Goldin and Marlene Dumas.

Reading Prison, Reading, England – The prison cell door of former inmate and world-famous author, Oscar Wilde. Wilde -- who was imprisoned for his homosexuality -- spent two years in the prison from 1895, one of which was in solitary confinement.

Reading Prison, Reading, England – Wilde wrote De Profundis, one of the world's most famous love letters, to his lover Lord Alfred Douglas while he was imprisoned. The Artangel exhibition is the first time the former gaol has been opened to the public.