Historical urban warehouses are remarkable structures, they were ‘cathedrals of modernity’.Today these buildings are absolete for their original purpose. Preserving them has an important social value and would create a sense of continuity between the past and the present. The objective of the proposed research project is to develop knowledge about the history, typology, structure, operation and architecture of historic urban warehouses in the main cities Brussels, Antwerp ans Ghent in order to enhance their preservation and to develop models for the investigation and understanding of this building type.