I think there's a bias in the US against this sort of thing that doesn't exist (or not to the same extent) in Europe due to the age of the cities/buildings.
In the US, a building from the 1700s is a historic artifact to be cherished, while in parts of Europe a building from the 1500s is just the local pub.
So, the US is often hesitant to modify these old buildings, but Europe seems to have more of a perspective of "it's a building, not a museum, let's give it new life by modifying it."
This is just from the perspective of me, from the US
and I think these old/new buildings are really neat!
Anyway, how's your sex life?