Sustainable Futures Wright & Wright - Flipbook - Page 41
Retrofit for the future
Naila Yousuf
‘Respect for
precedent and
the existing site
reveals elements
worth saving and
suggests design
responses to
complex
reinvention
challenges’
The crisis of the climate emergency
demands immediate action. In 2019,
the UK government passed the Climate
Change Act requiring all greenhouse gas
emissions to be brought to net zero by
2050, halting further contribution to
global warming. In the UK, 40% of
carbon emissions come from the built
environment; moreover, half of the
country’s emissions are the result of
buildings’ energy use. In 2024, the new
Labour administration announced
several bills relevant to net zero,
including the Great British Energy Bill
(to establish a publicly owned clean
power company to accelerate investment
in renewable energy) and Crown Estate
Bill (to enable easier investment in public
infrastructure), with a commitment
to pursuing other policies that impact
on climate change mitigation and
adaptation. Understanding this, what
does the legislation mean for architects?
The answer is simple. If we are
responsible for a large percentage of the
emissions, we must also be responsible
for developing solutions. To change
the trajectory, we must decrease net
emissions across the entire lifecycle of
projects. This includes both embodied
carbon (emitted through construction)
and operational carbon (emitted when
a building is in use). While these efforts
are crucial to stem the tide, I would
argue they are not the ultimate answer.
We can challenge ourselves and ask:
why build at all if we don’t have to?
The Royal Institute of British Architects
(RIBA) developed the 2030 Climate
Challenge to help architects design
within a climate conscious framework.
Structured around targets to reduce
operational energy and embodied
carbon while increasing potable water
and health and wellbeing, the Climate
Challenge is a timely response to the
climate emergency. Capable of being
applied to both new and retrofit projects,
it is a necessary step in mitigating, or at
least adapting to, climate change.
What does RIBA’s guidance mean for
architects and clients? The consequences
and possibilities of shared ambitions
toward net zero targets come to life
when considered holistically alongside
the positive benefits of site-specific
design propositions. Decarbonisation
of existing sites can be challenging.
Historic buildings and estates rely on
fossil fuels for heating (typically, gas
central heating). Many are composed
of existing buildings that are often
poorly insulated.
Overcoming cost, logistics and
technical complexity barriers is almost
always the first hurdle in trying to
achieve net zero. Once this is
accomplished, the possibilities and
potential upsides of retrofit can be
revealed. We often discuss the need to
adapt, reuse, and recycle as a responsive
action to decrease or offset adverse
impacts; however, in truth, retrofit
approaches are proactive (indeed, often
preferable) design options. Positioning
them in this way can help ensure their
adoption in the years ahead.
At Wright & Wright, we consider
historic sites to be part of a continuum,
rather than something that is static.
We are picking up where others have left
off, and we certainly won’t be the last to
make our mark. Much like antique
furniture aged with the patina of time,
an existing building or historic site
reveals much about what has happened,
and why, as well as the shared narratives
of those who have inhabited it.
Respect for precedent and the
existing site reveals elements worth
saving and suggests design responses
to complex reinvention challenges.
Whether it be opportunities for
increased biodiversity, gaining extra
space, or reducing operational carbon,
working closely with clients on retrofit
solutions provides plentiful benefits
without the costly and environmentally
harmful impact of demolition and
new build.
Opposite:
Transforming the Grade I
listed British Academy into
a modern public forum for
intellectual exchange
Retrofit for the future
41
