Retro-fit for the future

Haughley Park Barn, Haughley Park, Stowmarket, IP14 3JY

Tuesday 12 November. 10am – 4pm.

In November 2023 we hosted a highly successful Retrofit event which was partnered with the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings and Historic England.

Dr Robyn Pender; Title of Session: People-First Retrofit:

Robyn was for nearly two decades a Senior Building Conservation Advisor for the central office of Historic England (formerly English Heritage). Among many consequential advisory positions, she has served as commissioner for the Cathedrals Fabric Commission of England (CFCE). Currently she is a member of the leadership team for the Built Environment Working Group of the international Climate Heritage Network. People-First Retrofit will discuss how to ensure our buildings are comfortable and healthy into the future – more comfortable and healthier than they are now – but without requiring fossil fuel energy to run. And of course without reducing the lifespan of the buildings, or complicating their maintenance

Oliver Smith; Founding Director of 5th Studio with offices in Cambridge, London and Oxford.

Oliver has wide practical experience of the retrofit of buildings of all types specifically including important listed buildings, particularly at Oxford and Cambridge Universities. He will discuss over his Two sessions:

Firstly: 5th Studio’s, detailed retrofit experience with historic and listed buildings.

Secondly: Oliver will describe several case studies including projects for Lady Margaret Hall – Oxford; Grade 1 New Court – Trinity College, Cambridge; Wolfson Flats – Churchill College (award winning retrofit of 1960’s building).

Hannah Wooller; Matter of Place Architects. Title of Session: Quantifying Retrofit. 

Hannah is Norfolk based and is a Technical Advisor to Norfolk County Council on historic building conversion/retrofit. She will discuss an InnovateUK project with Norfolk CC to develop a Home Retrofit Toolkit that will help individuals understand the environmental efficiency of their home and provide guidance for how to retrofit sensitively, efficiently and effectively. This ground breaking work will also investigate how the toolkit could be utilised on a larger scale – by local authorities, housing associations or estate managers.

Marion Baeli; Principal – Sustainability Transformation at 10 Design. Title of Session: Retrofit Revisit – 10 Case Studies. 

Marion is co-author of the CIBSE ‘Retrofit Revisit’ Report, supported by Innovate UK and Historic England, that investigates how ten housing projects of varying archetypes and locations are performing 10 years after their original retrofit. Marion will describe how all ten projects underwent a rigorous and complex Building Performance Evaluation (BPE) also covering the occupiers experience of increased comfort and reduced energy bills.