"Demolition is a waste of many things – a waste of energy, a waste of material, and a waste of history," says Pritzker-winning architect Anne Lacaton. In recent years, refurbishment and adaptive reuse have become ubiquitous within the architectural discourse, as the profession is becoming more aware of issues such as waste, use of resources and embedded carbon emissions. However, the practice of updating the existing building stock lacks consistency, especially when it comes to Brutalist heritage. The following explores the challenges and opportunities of refurbishment and adaptive reuse of post-war architecture, highlighting how these strategies can play a significant role in addressing the climate crisis and translating the net-zero emissions goal into reality while also giving new life to existing spaces.
As the construction process can amount to half of a building's lifetime carbon emissions, the adaptive reuse and retrofit of existing buildings are critical strategies in reducing embodied carbon. Not only are resources conserved by recycling spaces, but the lifespan of structures whose fabrication generated large quantities of carbon dioxide is extended. The latter is especially important in the case of Brutalist architecture and its carbon-intensive concrete structures. Frequently disregarded and vulnerable to demolition, the concrete buildings of the last half of the 20th century can become fertile ground for experimentation in reuse, prompted by contemporary environmental imperatives.
