Retrofit can be a \u2018little dull\u2019, admits James Traynor, managing director of retrofit specialist ECD Architects, if that\u2019s its only purpose. \u2018It\u2019s important; it\u2019s worthy; it\u2019s necessary. But on its own, it\u2019s not architecture,\u2019 he says.<\/p>\n
\u2018Yet, as architects we have an opportunity to reframe the discussion so it\u2019s not purely about making this building warmer \u2013 massively important though that is \u2013 and reducing carbon. It is about the purpose of the building, [its] future life, the approach to the building, the public realm: all the things that an architect should do.\u2019 It is these conversations, which help clients create a longer-term vision, that excite Traynor. Judges had high praise for ECD\u2019s pioneering work in the retrofit sector and the huge number of properties they are currently working on. It was domestic retrofit in the public sector that drove the practice\u2019s architectural fee income to grow from \u00a34,981,000 in 2022 to \u00a36,328,000 last year. This work results from government funding to improve energy efficiency and provide low-carbon heating in order to tackle fuel poverty and meet net-zero carbon targets, along with match funding by councils and housing associations.<\/p>\n
The practice, a new entry in the AJ100 last year and this year placed =82nd, is currently involved in retrofitting more than 10,000 homes across the UK. Last year it started work on Milton Keynes Council\u2019s Netherfield Estate for Mears Group. By this April, it had completed most of the 302-home first phase, part of a 683-home scheme that includes replacing windows and installing roof and wall insulation.<\/p>\n
ECD is also behind the planned retrofit of 136 homes in James Riley Point tower block in Stratford, east London, for Populo Living, with work due to start on site later this year. The Passivhaus standard refurbishment forms part of the wider \u00a31 billion regeneration of the Carpenters Estate.<\/p>\n
According to Traynor, the challenges of public sector domestic retrofit are the condition of existing buildings, the lack of records about properties from landlords, working with residents in situ, and Right to Buy, which has resulted in estates being \u2018pepper-potted\u2019 with a mix of leaseholders, freeholders and tenants.<\/p>\n
In the private sector, the practice is undertaking trial projects for banks on how green mortgage products might be \u2018informed by deep retrofit\u2019, he adds.<\/p>\n
ECD has a sustainability working group and two heads of sustainability, including Loreana Padron, who was shortlisted for AJ100 Sustainability Leader of the Year and is the main author of the Retrofit Academy\u2019s retrofit designer course. A quarter of ECD\u2019s staff are trained Passivhaus designers, while a further quarter have undertaken training in the Passive House Planning Package tool.<\/p>\n
The practice, which already had bases in London and Glasgow, opened a new office in Preston last year. Traynor says it hopes to grow this team this year and win more work in the North. Of the 35 architects working for ECD at the end of 2023, 20 (57 per cent) were female. The practice calculated its gender pay gap for the first time in April this year, revealing a median gender pay gap of 20 per cent and a mean of 22.49 per cent. Traynor says these results reflect that all of the current directors are men, a \u2018short-term situation\u2019 that he expects to change in the next couple of years. He says targets in the practice\u2019s EDI report include benchmarking its gender pay gap data against comparable practices, and refreshing its diversity questionnaire and data annually.<\/p>\n
Looking ahead, Traynor expects this year\u2019s architectural fee income to be \u2018stable\u2019 as some new-build projects have been paused by clients due to rises in interest rates, while \u2018some of the ambition [of retrofit projects] was scaled back because of interest rates and inflation in the building industry\u2019. His hope for 2024 is that the political and financial uncertainty in the UK eases so projects are resumed and ECD, which is witnessing a growth in non-domestic retrofit, can continue its \u2018important\u2019 dual mission work. \u2018We\u2019re contributing to affordable housing but also reducing carbon emissions,\u2019 he says.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Retrofit can be a \u2018little dull\u2019, admits James Traynor, managing director of retrofit specialist ECD Architects, if that\u2019s its only purpose. \u2018It\u2019s important; it\u2019s worthy; it\u2019s necessary. But on its own, it\u2019s not architecture,\u2019 he says. \u2018Yet, as architects we have an opportunity to reframe the discussion so it\u2019s not purely about making this building …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":21511,"featured_media":745791,"comment_status":"closed","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":[101045,101050],"yoast_head":"\n