Georgia Laganakou​, Head of Sustainability at Hopkins Architects reflects on our latest conference exploring how the retrofit-first approach can create flexible and sustainable workplaces.

Commercial retrofit has its own challenges including structural and heritage. Its impact on carbon emissions is clear, accounting for 23% of overall build environment, along with the required volume of 74% of offices needing to be retrofitted in London to meet the Mayor’s 2030 commitments. The conference was an excellent opportunity to hear from several experts, presenting the latest trends of the office retrofit market, user needs, skill gaps in the industry along with a number of successful case studies. 

 

Kirsty Draper, Head of Sustainability for UK Agency JLL, pointed out the changing workplace market dynamics, their impact on asset value and the importance of strengthening owner-occupier relationships to drive change. Location, Sustainability, Wellbeing and Specification are the key messages. Tina Hakkaki, Senior Associate at Gensler, presented their recent workplace survey results signifying the changed work patterns of hybrid working and the considerations we need to apply in our design to accommodate for wellbeing and desirability while increasing productivity. Chris Oldham, Senior Policy and Programme Manager at the City of London Corporation, presented the work of the Sustainable Skyline Taskforce which underlines the level of skills required in the workforce to decarbonise Central London's commercial built environment and the skill gaps still facing the industry. Mathew Blane from Hassell and Helena Morris from Stanhope joined the panel discussion to provide a further insight into the importance of a working / living city, the flexibility of rethinking existing space use and the level of assessment needed to reuse and retrofit existing building structures.   

 

In the second part of the conference three great case studies were presented.

 

Retrofitting the existing stock can be the most impactful way to accelerate decarbonisation and while there are challenges and complexities in the process, the speakers also presented the wider environmental, social, and economic benefits. Commercial space has moved to an almost unprecedented change where real sustainability credentials, occupant wellbeing, staff retention and creating spaces of dynamic collaboration are the significant drivers.