{"id":615788,"date":"2021-06-07T03:55:27","date_gmt":"2021-06-07T02:55:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.architectsjournal.co.uk\/?p=615788"},"modified":"2021-06-07T10:02:32","modified_gmt":"2021-06-07T09:02:32","slug":"retrofirst-stories-richard-griffiths-on-whitechapels-toynbee-hall-upgrade","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.architectsjournal.co.uk\/news\/retrofirst-stories-richard-griffiths-on-whitechapels-toynbee-hall-upgrade","title":{"rendered":"RetroFirst Stories: Richard Griffiths on Whitechapel\u2019s Toynbee Hall upgrade"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"RetroFirst-Logos-2019-3-3-1600x409-1024x262.jpg\"<\/p>\n

With up to 40 per cent of carbon emissions coming from the construction industry, the profession needs to find ways of adapting the type of buildings it designs, and fast. The default option for any project should be to adapt and reuse an existing building, one of the key demands of the AJ\u2019s\u00a0RetroFirst campaign<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Our series seeks to celebrate the projects that save buildings from ruin or demolition.<\/p>\n

Today we hear from Richard Griffiths of Richard Griffiths Architects on the practice\u2019s adaption of the historical Toynbee Hall in Whitechapel to create new conference facilities and education spaces.<\/p>\n

Tell us about the scheme
\n<\/strong>Toynbee Hall is a foundation which was established in 1884 and aims to fight poverty and injustice in east London. It is based in Commercial Street, Spitalfields, and was the first university-affiliated institution of reformist socialist agenda the Settlement Movement, which strove for a more interdependent community.<\/p>\n

To help the foundation reinvigorate its mission, it needed to realise the potential of its site and buildings. In doing so, we have repaired, adapted and extended the listed building and provided new lecture and conference facilities, offices, meeting and education rooms on the first floor and rooms for volunteers on the upper floors.<\/p>\n

The hall is a remarkable Queen Anne-style building, associated with CR Ashbee (who also founded the Guild of Handicraft while there), Attlee, Beveridge, Profumo and others. The new extension has five zinc-clad gables in alliteration with the wide and single gable of the original building. The front courtyard has only recently been revealed to view following the completion of the redevelopment of the housing around the edge of the site by Platform 5 architects.<\/p>\n

What were the challenges of the existing buildings?
\n<\/strong>Although the ground floor was still in use when we started the project, the hall\u2019s upper floors were derelict and water damaged. Therefore, the offices on the first floor proved structurally problematic, and satisfaction of fire and building regulations required creative solutions, as did the requirements of equal access through ramps and a lift linking all half levels.<\/p>\n

Had demolition ever been considered?
\n<\/strong>Demolition was unthinkable owing to environmental and listed building reasons. The National Lottery Heritage Fund provided much of the capital cost given the scheme’s public benefit through reuse of the building, regular public access for visits, tours, an education programme and a re-landscaped public forecourt opening to Commercial Street.<\/p>\n

Aside from retaining elements of the original fabric, what other aspects of your design reduce the whole-life carbon impact of the building?
\n<\/strong>Toynbee Hall has received a thorough upgrading to its roof insulation, as well as the addition of double-glazed secondary windows. We were able to avoid installing air conditioning by providing the large conference rooms with mechanical ventilation, and the small conference rooms with gravity-assisted ventilation.<\/p>\n

\"\"

Before construction: first floor corridor<\/p>\n\t

<\/p><\/p><\/div>\n

Were the planners and public supportive of the proposals?
\n<\/strong>The planners were very supportive, and public support was demonstrated during feedback to an exhibition of the proposals held on Heritage Open Day. Only an exchange of land with the council to build a new building to provide revenue support for Toynbee Hall failed to receive consent.<\/p>\n

How have the completed buildings been received, and have you been back to see if they are performing as predicted?
\n<\/strong>Completion of the buildings coincided with the start of the pandemic, and given that the surrounding residential development has only recently been completed, the building is only just beginning to come into its own, with warm public feedback.<\/p>\n

What have been the main lessons from the project that you could apply to other developments?
\n<\/strong>The reuse of listed buildings is inherently environmentally sustainable, but they often require significant capital expenditure to become economically sustainable. The performance of roofs and walls can be upgraded more readily than walls with historic surfaces and historic mouldings, but the energy performance of thick historic masonry has been underestimated previously \u2013 there is a lot of potential there.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

With up to 40 per cent of carbon emissions coming from the construction industry, the profession needs to find ways of adapting the type of buildings it designs, and fast. The default option for any project should be to adapt and reuse an existing building, one of the key demands of the AJ\u2019s\u00a0RetroFirst campaign. Our …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":59337,"featured_media":615801,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_oasis_is_in_workflow":0,"_oasis_original":0,"ep_exclude_from_search":false},"categories":[681],"tags":[6196,5320,1652],"yoast_head":"\nRetroFirst Stories: Richard Griffiths on Whitechapel\u2019s Toynbee Hall upgrade<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The latest in an AJ series looking at architects who have saved buildings from the bulldozers or given them a new lease of life\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.architectsjournal.co.uk\/news\/retrofirst-stories-richard-griffiths-on-whitechapels-toynbee-hall-upgrade\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"RetroFirst Stories: Richard Griffiths on Whitechapel\u2019s Toynbee Hall upgrade\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The latest in an AJ series looking at architects who have saved buildings from the bulldozers or given them a new lease of life\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.architectsjournal.co.uk\/news\/retrofirst-stories-richard-griffiths-on-whitechapels-toynbee-hall-upgrade\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Architects\u2019 Journal\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-06-07T02:55:27+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2021-06-07T09:02:32+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/cdn.rt.emap.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2021\/06\/01171304\/Rear-elevation-1024x681.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1024\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"681\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Fran Williams\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Fran Williams\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Estimated reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.architectsjournal.co.uk\/news\/retrofirst-stories-richard-griffiths-on-whitechapels-toynbee-hall-upgrade\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.architectsjournal.co.uk\/news\/retrofirst-stories-richard-griffiths-on-whitechapels-toynbee-hall-upgrade\",\"name\":\"RetroFirst Stories: Richard Griffiths on Whitechapel\u2019s Toynbee Hall upgrade\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.architectsjournal.co.uk\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2021-06-07T02:55:27+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-06-07T09:02:32+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.architectsjournal.co.uk\/#\/schema\/person\/1570dce5388724b11951af0e49b4a9b6\"},\"description\":\"The latest in an AJ series looking at architects who have saved buildings from the bulldozers or given them a new lease of life\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.architectsjournal.co.uk\/news\/retrofirst-stories-richard-griffiths-on-whitechapels-toynbee-hall-upgrade#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.architectsjournal.co.uk\/news\/retrofirst-stories-richard-griffiths-on-whitechapels-toynbee-hall-upgrade\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.architectsjournal.co.uk\/news\/retrofirst-stories-richard-griffiths-on-whitechapels-toynbee-hall-upgrade#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.architectsjournal.co.uk\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"RetroFirst Stories: Richard Griffiths on Whitechapel\u2019s Toynbee Hall upgrade\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.architectsjournal.co.uk\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.architectsjournal.co.uk\/\",\"name\":\"The Architects\u2019 Journal\",\"description\":\"Architecture News & Buildings\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.architectsjournal.co.uk\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.architectsjournal.co.uk\/#\/schema\/person\/1570dce5388724b11951af0e49b4a9b6\",\"name\":\"Fran Williams\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.architectsjournal.co.uk\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/72d9b8e837c55e40de346af219f43183\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5f902cd311bbf22a57f61aed9c899209?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5f902cd311bbf22a57f61aed9c899209?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Fran Williams\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.architectsjournal.co.uk\/author\/fran-williams-3\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"RetroFirst Stories: Richard Griffiths on Whitechapel\u2019s Toynbee Hall upgrade","description":"The latest in an AJ series looking at architects who have saved buildings from the bulldozers or given them a new lease of life","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.architectsjournal.co.uk\/news\/retrofirst-stories-richard-griffiths-on-whitechapels-toynbee-hall-upgrade","og_locale":"en_GB","og_type":"article","og_title":"RetroFirst Stories: Richard Griffiths on Whitechapel\u2019s Toynbee Hall upgrade","og_description":"The latest in an AJ series looking at architects who have saved buildings from the bulldozers or given them a new lease of life","og_url":"https:\/\/www.architectsjournal.co.uk\/news\/retrofirst-stories-richard-griffiths-on-whitechapels-toynbee-hall-upgrade","og_site_name":"The Architects\u2019 Journal","article_published_time":"2021-06-07T02:55:27+00:00","article_modified_time":"2021-06-07T09:02:32+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1024,"height":681,"url":"https:\/\/cdn.rt.emap.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2021\/06\/01171304\/Rear-elevation-1024x681.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Fran Williams","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Fran Williams","Estimated reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.architectsjournal.co.uk\/news\/retrofirst-stories-richard-griffiths-on-whitechapels-toynbee-hall-upgrade","url":"https:\/\/www.architectsjournal.co.uk\/news\/retrofirst-stories-richard-griffiths-on-whitechapels-toynbee-hall-upgrade","name":"RetroFirst Stories: Richard Griffiths on Whitechapel\u2019s Toynbee Hall upgrade","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.architectsjournal.co.uk\/#website"},"datePublished":"2021-06-07T02:55:27+00:00","dateModified":"2021-06-07T09:02:32+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.architectsjournal.co.uk\/#\/schema\/person\/1570dce5388724b11951af0e49b4a9b6"},"description":"The latest in an AJ series looking at architects who have saved buildings from the bulldozers or given them a new lease of life","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.architectsjournal.co.uk\/news\/retrofirst-stories-richard-griffiths-on-whitechapels-toynbee-hall-upgrade#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-GB","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.architectsjournal.co.uk\/news\/retrofirst-stories-richard-griffiths-on-whitechapels-toynbee-hall-upgrade"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.architectsjournal.co.uk\/news\/retrofirst-stories-richard-griffiths-on-whitechapels-toynbee-hall-upgrade#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.architectsjournal.co.uk\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"RetroFirst Stories: Richard Griffiths on Whitechapel\u2019s Toynbee Hall upgrade"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.architectsjournal.co.uk\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.architectsjournal.co.uk\/","name":"The Architects\u2019 Journal","description":"Architecture News & Buildings","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.architectsjournal.co.uk\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-GB"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.architectsjournal.co.uk\/#\/schema\/person\/1570dce5388724b11951af0e49b4a9b6","name":"Fran Williams","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/www.architectsjournal.co.uk\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/72d9b8e837c55e40de346af219f43183","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5f902cd311bbf22a57f61aed9c899209?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5f902cd311bbf22a57f61aed9c899209?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Fran Williams"},"url":"https:\/\/www.architectsjournal.co.uk\/author\/fran-williams-3"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.architectsjournal.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/615788"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.architectsjournal.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.architectsjournal.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.architectsjournal.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/59337"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.architectsjournal.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=615788"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/www.architectsjournal.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/615788\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":616203,"href":"https:\/\/www.architectsjournal.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/615788\/revisions\/616203"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.architectsjournal.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/615801"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.architectsjournal.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=615788"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.architectsjournal.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=615788"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.architectsjournal.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=615788"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}