Heritage Retrofit: Historic Building Adaption for the Future

Up the hill from the sea and city are the raw materials from which both its built heritage and wealth are hewn and mined: timber, coal, ore, stone.

On the one hand, these materials represent the result of aeons, rather than the mere centuries of history. On the other, they are consumed over ever-decreasing durations, producing waste and degrading the environments they long predate.

This session will debate how heritage preservation might engage with this process. It has long been argued that conservation must be a carbon-positive activity, but alternative thinking suggests that sometimes keeping what already exists may not be the most sustainable approach.

Chris Morgan is a Chartered and ARB registered Architect and Director of John Gilbert Architects in Glasgow. His work seeks to marry high performance in energy efficiency and comfort while ensuring healthy indoor environments and reducing environmental impact more broadly. Chris will explain how we can protect our heritage, minimise both operational and embodied carbon, manage moisture and air quality, while also drawing in a range of other benefits from the use of local and natural materials.

Henrietta Billings is Director of Save Britain’s Heritage with extensive experience in the heritage and planning sectors. As the former Conservation Adviser at Twentieth Century Society, Henrietta played a key role in several successful high-profile campaigns to save threatened sites.

Together, Chris and Henrietta will reflect on the challenges and opportunities of balancing sustainability, carbon reduction and heritage protection in today’s built environment.