As a result of COVID-19, we are likely to see unprecedented change in the use of our cities and buildings - from the design of our streets to the repurposing of commercial buildings. We must ensure that such restructuring is adaptable and in line with circular economy principles.

 

In cities across the world, temporary pop-up infrastructure is being installed which will radically change the way we use our streets. These are being delivered at pace in order to get economies working again while public transport is operating at a fraction of its full capacity. If these changes produce the long term improvements in the quality of streets that we expect they will be made more ‘permanent’ which too often means heavy fixed construction that requires substantial demolition, rebuilding and waste next time any change is required. And further change there will be as new technologies alter the way we move around cities and we are able to design streets that are more adaptable to different uses during the day.  

 

As for buildings, we will be seeing homes adapted to an increase in home working, office buildings repurposed to take into account these changes and shops turned over to non-retail uses as we rescue our high streets. We need to change our thinking about the life of buildings. 

 

Alex Lifschutz has written that “the idea that a building is ‘finished’ or ‘complete’ on the day it opens its doors is hardwired into existing thinking about design, construction and planning”. With resources at a premium and a greater need for sustainable use of building materials, can we still afford to construct new housing or indeed any buildings that ignore the need for flexibility or the ability to evolve? Our design culture needs to move beyond the idealisation of a creative individual designer generating highly specific forms with fixed uses. The possibilities of adaptation and flexibility create ‘loose-fit’ architectures that emancipate users to create their own versatile and vibrant environments.

 

The huge waste generated by modern construction, the attitude to demolish and rebuild needs to change. The Mayor’s Design Advocate’s report on designing for the circular economy says this means “creating a regenerative built environment that prioritises retention and refurbishment over demolition and rebuilding. It means designing buildings that can be adapted, reconstructed and deconstructed to extend their life and that allows components and materials to be salvaged for reuse or recycling.”

 

We look lovingly on Georgian terraces that have been adapted for a variety of uses over their lifetime and Victorian warehouses that work as offices, apartments, restaurants and bars and we need to learn from them. The future is adaptable.