Reusing Existing Buildings: Overcoming the Barriers to Reviving Town Centres.
By Ian Blake 27 June 2023
The urgency to achieve the government's net-zero deadline of 2050 has brought attention to the need for retrofitting both domestic and non-domestic buildings in the UK. The approach to the latter was discussed during a recent round table meeting that investigated reusing existing buildings for different purposes, particularly in empty or unwanted spaces, to rejuvenate failing town centres. This article synthesizes the key takeaways from the discussion, focusing on exploring barriers and potential solutions.
The inflexibility of the planning system emerged as a significant barrier to reusing existing buildings. The system, designed to protect established uses, often hinders innovative repurposing. Conflicts arise due to inconsistencies between new Class E uses and established local development plans; and limited time, investment, and understanding of the commercial world within local authorities exacerbate the challenges. The planning process also faces politicization, as high-level decisions are often influenced by public opinion, rather than long-term societal needs. Addressing these issues requires revisiting planning policies, aligning local and national objectives, and fostering greater trust in the political system – something that takes a lot of time to achieve, and doesn’t fit easily within current 5-year political cycles.
Strong leadership is crucial at the national, regional, and local levels to drive change effectively. Additionally, there is a need to enhance understanding regarding the financial benefits and costs associated with green leases, which can be used to bring changes in behavioural patterns of landlords, when organisations and tenants demand better. However, the multitude of environmental measuring systems, such as EPC, WELL, BREEAM, and NABERS, has created confusion. Education and simplified benchmarking would assist informed decision-making – allowing “apples to be compared with apples.” The lack of expertise within local authorities further impedes progress, raising the importance of encouraging professionals to elected roles, who can provide valuable insights and influence decision-making processes.
To revitalize town centres, they must become attractive places for work once again. The challenge lies in creating environments that appeal to employees and foster engagement between business and community. This requires a shift towards the "hotelification of offices," curating spaces to meet the modern employee's needs, within existing buildings and not simply more homogeneous Cat A workspace. Elected specialists would simplify the environmental message and advocate for change among decision and policymakers, with asset managers and project managers acting as conductors, to facilitate collaboration and ensuring a holistic approach to repurposing buildings. All with support from The High Street Task Force, helping local authorities in revitalization efforts.
Abandoning permitted development in favour of well-considered mixed-use developments can also preserve commercial spaces and avoid negative impacts on communities. However, this will require incentivisation as the benefits afforded to permitted development are just too attractive. Financial incentives and taxation policies play a pivotal role in facilitating change.
Overcoming barriers to reusing existing buildings and reviving town centres requires concerted effort from multiple stakeholders. Independent stewardship, strong political leadership, and a cultural shift in perceptions of buildings are needed. Simplifying and enhancing understanding of environmental measurement benchmarks, aligning policies, and providing tax incentives are crucial steps. Additionally, early involvement of experts, interdisciplinary collaboration, and a focus on community benefits contribute to successful transformations. By embracing these insights and taking decisive action, we can unlock the potential of existing buildings, breathe new life into town centres, and create sustainable and vibrant communities.
At our previous around the table, we concluded that the physical undertaking of retrofitting and renovating our housing stock was the primary difficulty we faced to achieve net zero in housing. It seems that with our commercial stock the physical work may be the easy part. Structurally, many commercial buildings are designed to withstand variable loadings and can often be extended or repurposed without much trouble. Mechanical and electrical services can be trickier, particularly if domestic drainage needs to be inserted, but it is not insurmountable. Thermal efficiency and breathability should be carefully considered particularly with heritage building fabric. However, all these technical issues can be solved with maths and design, it really seems like overcoming ingrained politics, policies and public opinion is where the real challenge lie.
Around the table with iB Architects were:
Charlotte Howe-McCartin of Smith Jenkins Heritage & Planning
Katerina Spaull of Jubb
Charles Gardner of Goshawk Asset Management
Allister Clarke of Enborne Project Consultancy
Nick Cobbold of Bell Cornwell
David Fletcher of Evoke Transport Planning
Steve Dixon of JDP Building Services Consultancy
Jasmin Solaymantash of iB Architects
Penny Dixon of iB Architects
Ian Blake of iB Architects
If you would like to join a future “around the table” event please email us at studio@ib-architects.co.uk to express your interest.