{"id":761891,"date":"2024-11-28T07:04:13","date_gmt":"2024-11-28T07:04:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.architectsjournal.co.uk\/?p=761891"},"modified":"2024-11-28T11:05:02","modified_gmt":"2024-11-28T11:05:02","slug":"building-upwards-rather-than-outwards-will-create-more-sustainable-housing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.architectsjournal.co.uk\/news\/opinion\/building-upwards-rather-than-outwards-will-create-more-sustainable-housing","title":{"rendered":"Building upwards rather than outwards will create more sustainable housing"},"content":{"rendered":"

The UK\u2019s new government is embarking on a major housebuilding drive with the hope of stimulating economic growth. Within weeks of taking office, it published draft reforms to national planning policy. The proposals include a requirement to build on parts of the green belt. For years, the UK house-building model has been one predicated on \u2018outwards\u2019 growth, failing to deliver a sensible density of urban housing in any significant volume.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

But should we really be looking outwards to provide homes? Why not upwards?<\/p>\n

In 2009, we were building equal numbers of new flats and houses; this was the high point of multistorey residential development. By 2022, the proportion of new homes that were single-family houses had risen again to a staggering 83 per cent, while the number of flats had fallen back to 17 per cent. The numbers have not budged since.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

These statistics tell us about a remarkable shift towards low-density, and therefore car-reliant, neighbourhoods of single-family dwellings. The true image of our housing in the first quarter of the 21st\u00a0century is one of cookie-cutter developments radiating out from towns across England.<\/p>\n

So how can we deliver significant numbers of new homes, and avoid a future of ever more car dependency? One alternative path forward lies in an approach to urban development that looks up, not out: Optoppen<\/a> \u2014 a Dutch word for the practice of \u2018topping up\u2019 buildings by adding new floors to existing structures.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Optoppen is a vital part of tackling both the housing and climate crises. The majority of our buildings have latent structural capacity, meaning they can be extended upwards. This provides us with a way to reimagine and upgrade our cities, increasing density while radically reducing the environmental costs of new construction.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Timber: Our cities\u2019 natural carbon capture<\/h3>\n

This approach becomes even more interesting when considering how<\/i> to build up. The more lightweight the new storeys can be, the more of them you have the potential to add (further increasing the value of the building by creating more floor space).\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Choosing timber as a construction material has the added benefit of \u2018locking in\u2019 the carbon emissions the growing tree has already sequestered, storing it in the building for at least the lifespan of the product used \u2013 a natural form of carbon capture.<\/p>\n

Recognising that developers deserve to quantify and realise the value of such a decision, the EU\u2019s Carbon Removal Certification Framework (CRCF) is being developed. This will include a mechanism to certify carbon in biobased products as a carbon removal. These measures taken together mean our cities can be reimagined as potential carbon stores.<\/p>\n

The CRCF in its current form will not apply to the UK. Nevertheless, this type of vertical development is already filling up the order books of the specialist mass timber contractors, with a pipeline of Optoppens in London coming from developers such as General Projects, Seaforth Land and Bywater Properties.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The UK must embrace this approach wholesale. To even come close to meeting the carbon emissions budget set by the Science Based Targets Initiative (SBTi), which demands a 98 per cent reduction in embodied carbon emissions by 2050, we know the built environment must prioritise adaptive reuse over demolition. Retaining an existing structure is one of the single biggest moves we can make to reduce the carbon emissions associated with construction. To go one step further and abate emissions to reach net zero, we must consider how we will draw carbon out of the atmosphere, and where it will be stored.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

This concept is not merely theoretical. Today, a consortium of architects, engineers and developers, funded by Built by Nature, has launched the Optoppen platform<\/a>. This includes tools and resources to help cities, architects, and building owners explore and easily understand the potential of \u2018topping up\u2019 their existing buildings. With any major housebuilding push, we have a unique opportunity to change the way we build; Optoppen offers a path forward that is at once pragmatic and visionary. It is a chance to transform our cities into carbon-storing ecosystems.<\/p>\n

Joe Giddings is European networks lead at Built by Nature and co-founder of the Architects Climate Action Network<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The UK\u2019s new government is embarking on a major housebuilding drive with the hope of stimulating economic growth. Within weeks of taking office, it published draft reforms to national planning policy. The proposals include a requirement to build on parts of the green belt. 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