Sus and Sustainability: How can Retrofitting be the lucrative Option?

My thoughts on Buro Happold’s Redefining Obsolescence: Opportunity or Challenge:

The best way to ensure behaviour is sustained and habits are formed is by making that behaviour rewarding. This applies not only to individuals but also to industries such as real estate development.

In the built environment, obsolescence is driven first and foremost by economics. Suitability, adaptability, and claims of being “not fit for purpose” often act as smokescreens — justifications for demolition that ultimately serve the higher return on investment sought by developers. At the root of the issue lies the structure of the British economy itself. Buildings are intentionally designed with a shelf life, because they underpin a service-based economy predicated on real estate speculation, with sites traded like commodities.

So the real question should be: how can retrofitting or refurbishment become the more lucrative option?

Some developers can be persuaded when Net Internal Area (NIA) is increased through new-build extensions. But what happens once a building has already maximised its NIA potential? How can developers be convinced to invest in refurbishment if the lettable floor area remains unchanged?

The metrics need to change.

As the City of London’s principal planning officer, Kerstin Kane, has pointed out, the BCO is a principal culprit in consigning many buildings to demolition. Conceived to benchmark quality, it risks becoming a rigid litany of standards based on fixed, circular parameters treated as gospel. If a building cannot meet the BCO’s “holy grail” — for example, prescribed floor-to-ceiling heights — then retention and retrofitting are rarely considered viable.

But what if those parameters changed? What if economic value and return on investment were defined not by box-ticking exercises, but by the quality of spaces, experiences, and the desirability they create? Developers could still achieve strong returns — without adding an inch of NIA or slavishly following every BCO standard.

Visionary developers like Derwent London and General Projects have already cracked this: achieving rent premiums through the quality of space and the aura of brand, rather than spreadsheets alone.

The onus is now on architects and engineers to make this possible. Innovation is born out of imagination, not bureaucracy.