Old Buildings / New Beginnings

Information

01// Introduction

Our commitment to adaptive reuse and heritage regeneration is about providing a building with a new purpose whilst enhancing its social, physical and historic value and relevance to today’s society. When repurposing or restoring a building, we have the opportunity to mitigate the environmental impact and help prevent further urban sprawl of our cities and towns. It is also about preserving our history and the sense of place these buildings can create within their communities, especially if they can be designed to be inclusive for all.

02// Bringing Life
to our Heritage Buildings

BDP’s first ever podcast series, ‘Old Buildings - New Beginnings’ brings together international experts, architects, engineers and urbanists to discuss the latest refurbishment and retrofit innovations that support the call to reduce our impact on the environment and create better, more progressive places from buildings and structures that already exist.

In the series we cover topics such as adaptive reuse, sustainability, accessibility and talk about what the successful redesign of existing buildings really looks like.

Why build new when you can repurpose the old? Welcome to the conversation.

03// How to Make
an Old Building Carbon Neutral

Whilst the greenest building is the one that already exists – new builds today are designed to be much more energy efficient than their predecessors, so we would be lying if we said old buildings didn’t come with their own set of challenges.

A successful adaptive reuse project requires an integrated and collaborative approach to design, operations and management with interventions to overcome the shortcomings of the existing building. Also, understanding the embodied carbon impact of design changes helps inform fundamental decisions in relation to the fit-out of the building.

In this how to make old buildings carbon neutral report we explore the different methods and techniques that we have applied to projects to make old buildings carbon neutral.

04// Top 10 Challenges
of Adaptive Reuse

As the property and construction industry face political and societal pressure to achieve environmental targets in response to the climate emergency, the adaptive reuse of buildings over demolition and rebuild has gained significant momentum within the built environment.

In this article, we look at some of the challenges of adaptive reuse and the solutions clients can consider to overcome these obstacles. From planning, technology and acoustics to urban regeneration; ten members from our multidisciplinary collective share their insights on the creative opportunities they have discovered in bringing old buildings, new beginnings.

Read the article here.

05// Design
in Practice

Our sensitive approach to conservation and adaptation reinforces the values we place on our past, present and future - ensuring we deliver imaginative and far-reaching projects for our clients.

Old Buildings - New Beginnings Projects

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Wardle Academy

The Sports Hall Redevelopment project at Wardle Academy transforms a redundant sports hall space into a test-bed for new forms of teaching and learning.

Lancaster Castle

As part of a major repairs programme to bring Lancaster Castle back into public use, seven buildings have been brought back to life.

60 Atlantic Avenue

Conversion of a two-storey heritage structure into a three-storey mixed-use building including commercial and office interiors, food and beverage outlets and a sunken landscaped terrace.

64 Victoria

Refurbishment of 64 Victoria a 22 storey office tower constructed in the 1960s, which is where Westminster City Council headquarters is based.

Old Admiralty Building

The refurbishment and the creative adaptation of the Grade II listed Old Admiralty Building.

Weir Mill, Stockport

£60m development plans to bring Weir Mill, a Grade II listed former mill in Stockport, back to life. The reimagined Weir Mill will feature a mix of one, two and three-bedroom apartments, as well as 24,000 sq ft of commercial space across the existing and new buildings.

York Castle Gateway Masterplan

The mixed use Castle Gateway Masterplan transforms the area surrounding some of York''s most important and sensitive landmarks.

//Project

Stereo D

In stark contrast to the widely accepted design principle of the democratisation of light, Stereo D is a 3D conversion studio with open workspaces that need to be nearly dark to facilitate rendering.

Entopia Building, CISL

This refurbishment project to provide a new home for the Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership (CISL) is a world first for a retrofitted sustainable office building, setting new standards for low energy use, carbon emissions and impact on natural resources as well as user experience and wellbeing measured against multiple benchmarks.