Futureproofing our Heritage: the rising trend for adaptive reuse

By Matthew Reuter, Director, Stonewest

It has been said by many, that the most sustainable building is an existing one, and we couldn’t agree more. Sustainability sits at the heart of what we do as a business, and we wholeheartedly support renovation over demolition, which is why adaptive reuse and preservation of heritage is so important.

Historic England has long championed the industry to recycle, reuse and responsibly adapt heritage buildings to help tackle climate change and meet the government’s carbon neutral target – they also publish a plethora of guidance and technical advice to support the construction industry in protecting and caring for historic locations:  https://historicengland.org.uk/advice. There is no doubt that embodied carbon, released during a building’s demolition, build and lifecycle, can be dramatically reduced by avoiding demolition at all costs, and supporting restoration, alteration and retrofit in its place.

Stonewest has worked on a number of important heritage projects that have been revived for contemporary use, with examples across the UK and Asia, such as Tai Kwun in Hong Kong, and St Pancras Station in London. A few years ago, we carried out a project for London Business School, previously the Old Marylebone Town Hall, which incorporated major ‘cut & carve’, retrofit and redevelopment works. This was a fantastic example of how, through careful alteration and intervention, we were able to transform a magnificent Grade II listed building into a modern, state-of-the-art education center. The project created seminar and lecture rooms, study areas and social space, increasing teaching areas by 70%.

We are seeing an ever growing trend here, whereby adapting heritage buildings for modern day communities plays a much greater role in revitalisation and development in the construction industry. We have certainly noticed this growth in Asian cities, which has had significant impact on longer term strategies for planning and growth. As part of our plans for future growth and development in this area, we believe that knowledge-sharing and collaborative working is vital, and as such we are proud to partner with industry technical specialists to ensure the highest standards are met for retrofit and sustainability when working to preserve historic buildings.

In the past, agendas of organisations and communities concerning heritage was overlooked, possibly due to short-term economic initiatives, or a lack of understanding about the role that cultural landmarks can play in society.  Today there has definitely been a clear shift; we are now unquestionably seeing a more widespread adoption of heritage conservation.

In terms of what is triggering this change, aside from the very obvious and important environmental factors, there are also a number of sociological avenues to consider. We have certainly witnessed an increase in the number of local people expressing awareness of conservation, often spiked in reaction to demolition of key landmarks. In addition, the huge growth in understanding of the need for more sustainable living and working, reduction in carbon release, and the proactive attitude of business today to work more sustainably, is no doubt a contributing factor to this shift.

There is absolutely an increased awareness and demand among communities for heritage protection, with many championing this cause and making their case to governments and local councils. An example of this took place recently in London, Barnet Council decided to keep and refurbish Hendon Library in its original location. The Chair of the Community Leadership & Libraries Committee, Cllr Sara Conway, explained: “We have listened to hundreds of residents who urged the council not to go ahead with plans to move it from its historic home and are delighted to announce that we will now be retaining Hendon library within the listed building.”

Governments are also becoming more aware that buildings and landmarks that can preserve aspects of previous lifestyles, is undeniably important. Not only for maintaining quality of life of local people, but also for international competitiveness, investment and tourism. Local governments are moving from protecting listed buildings, to proactive initiatives and legislation that actually encourage investment into heritage conservation.

The result is of course that heritage buildings are being reused, and importantly this is being done in a sustainable way. We are ensuring they have a viable, economic future. They are no longer stand alone landmarks hiding behind a gate, but instead, opened up as public spaces that can be utilised, valued and enjoyed by the local community.

We asked Peter Cox, Managing Director at Carrig Conservation International Ltd., for his thoughts:

“I am delighted to support this initiative of Stonewest, a company I have known for over 30 years and always enjoy working or collaborating with. From a materials in conservation background we, at Carrig Conservation International have been researching and working in the “Energy Efficiency in Heritage & Traditional Buildings” since 2009 when the EU introduced the Energy Performance Directive in Buildings and through my involvement in the international NGO (non-governmental organisation) ICOMOS (International Council of Monuments & Sites) I have been an expert representing that body in writing the EN 16883:2017 – Guidelines in the Energy Efficiency in Traditional Buildings and working with the Fraunhofer Institute of Building Physics we have a live laboratory in Germany where we converted a 1720’s Cooperage Building using many different compatible products and measuring their performance over now 5 years.

The important factor is a) retaining embodied carbon within the built environment but equally b) using low carbon products and systems in any interventions in upgrading our older buildings.

Up until recently the world has been concentrating on reducing carbon by changing our “Operational Energy” to non-fossil fuel and claiming a building to be NZEB (near zero energy building) but often by using modern insulations, which are carbon intensive to produce and recycle at their end of life we are not only increasing our carbon emissions, but these products do damage to historic building fabric.

Finally, we are beginning to understand this and change our ways led by the likes of Historic England, English Heritage, Historic Environment Scotland and CADW commissioning serious studies to prove we can upgrade our older buildings to be energy efficient, more comfortable and contribute to saving our planet. Historic England’s “Heritage Counts” is published every year with very important studies such as “Understanding Carbon in the Built Environment” and others.

It is one thing having the science – if we do not have the contractors, trades and skills then many important buildings will suffer from what we call “Maladaptation” which will not only damage the historic building fabric but also the health and wellbeing of the occupants.

We need the likes of Stonewest to take the lead in this area and Carrig will gladly collaborate and partner with them in achieving this.”

As a business, we remain committed to supporting the adaptive reuse of heritage buildings so they may live on for years to come, providing for local communities and helping us live in a more sustainable way.

Please find more information about our Alteration & Intervention services here: https://www.stonewest.co.uk/service/alteration-intervention/