22
INDUSTRY VIEWFINDER
“How much of a barrier to conversions of heritage buildings for adaptive reuse are the following?” g Major Barrier g Moderate Barrier g Slight Barrier g Small Barrier g No Barrier at All
Regulations compliance on energy efficiency with the adaptive reuse projects they were working on. A relatively small number (6%) were looking at EnerPhit ‘deep’ retrofit targets for far greater energy efficiency than standard. 38% were only targeting Building Regs compliance on their projects.
BREEAM was the most used accreditation system, with 41% of respondents using it for adaptive reuse projects, with LEED picked by 36% and LETI by 39%. The more specialised BREEAM Refurbishment and Fit Out system was being used by 33%, and WELL was only being used by 22%.
Assessment of historic buildings
In terms of their experience working with heritage bodies, our respondents who had worked with Historic England gave it a significantly higher score (29% ‘very good’) versus other bodies such as the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings (11% ‘very good,’ but 6% ‘very poor’). However, only 21% hadn’t worked with Historic England, where 39% hadn’t worked with the SPAB.
The priorities when preserving historical authenticity on adaptive reuse projects broke down into a relatively even set of popular choices. Collaborating with experts was in front at 57%, and ‘preserving as much of the original structure as possible’ was in line with ‘conducting historical research’ (both at 52%). Then at 50% were ‘incorporating traditional building materials and techniques,’ ‘making sensitive additions that don’t alter existing structures,’ and ‘ensuring you avoid pastiche.’ Picked by 38% was ‘producing contrasting new additions which enhance the original,’ and only 14% selected ‘blending as much with the original aesthetic as possible’ as a goal.
Stakeholder engagement We asked our respondents to select and then individually rate their ‘Top 5’ priorities for getting stakeholder engagement right. These ranged from addressing concerns with changes to the building’s interior and exterior and generally, to engaging heritage groups, investors and contractors and the supply chain early in projects, and using accredited experts. The answer with the most points (98)
WWW.ARCHITECTSDATAFILE.CO.UK
was ‘addressing concerns to the building’s interior,’ with concerns around external changes only two points behind. In part an answer to such issues, the third priority for our respondents was ‘engaging heritage groups early on,’ with 91 points. We again asked our audience to select and rate their top five priorities for community engagement on projects. Communicating and promoting the project’s benefits was seen as the number one priority, with 107 points resulting from our architect audience’s ratings. Second, however, was grasping the nettle of the objections that may be commonly received, by addressing them proactively (via face to face meetings) scoring 100 points. Third, and not far behind was presenting the projects regularly, including updates to the design. Disappointingly, pushing the sustainability benefits of an adaptive reuse project to help onboard the local community was seen as the lowest priority of the above factors.
Permitted development
Permitted development (PD) has opened the floodgates for many developers to tackle disused commercial and other premises in urban centres. However schemes have often been controversial on their build quality, and architects have been vocal in their opposition to what has been perceived as a ‘free for all’ in some areas. We asked our survey, ‘do you believe it is sensible to continue enabling developers to convert commercial properties into resi without needing full planning’? Most believed that permitted development should not be allowed to continue in the current form. Among the few supporting comments were: “We should take every opportunity to put existing structures to productive use,” and “yes, I believe following the Building Regulations is enough.” One naysayer to the merits of PD said that developers were likely to aim for conversions due to the potential for greater margins: “profit matters; conversion attracts 20% VAT whereas new build does not.” Another commenter did not agree that permitted development should continue unregulated, but instead with a “light touch planning” approach applied. Download the full white paper report on this Industry Viewfinder study at
insights.netmagmedia.co.uk
ADF OCTOBER 2024
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76
