Muyiwa Oki, the new President of the Royal Institute of British Architects
(RIBA) and The Prince’s Foundation hosted a ‘town hall’ meeting in Lancashire to
spark a national conversation about the reuse of existing buildings as an
alternative to demolition and rebuild.
Oki, who began his two-year term as RIBA President this month, has pledged
to champion the adoption of retrofit – the upgrading of existing buildings to
improve their energy efficiency, longevity, and flexibility.
The Prince’s Foundation has long championed harmony between the built and
natural environments and has worked on the restoration of many buildings
including Dumfries House in Ayrshire and Draper’s Hall in Coventry.
The meeting, held at the former Fleetwood Hospital, owned by the Fleetwood
Trust, aims to encourage debate about retrofit and highlight the need for
coordinated public and cross-sector action and engagement. It will bring
together architects, clients, homeowners, local authority representatives,
businesses, local community groups, students and architecture schools, serving
as a pilot, with the potential for further meetings across the country.
The Prince’s Foundation and the Fleetwood Trust have been working towards
repurposing the former hospital building – a much loved local landmark and one
of the largest buildings in the area – to create a new community hub. The
hospital ceased being used as an NHS ward in 2009 and in 2018 the Fleetwood
Trust raised enough money to buy the building. It is located in Pharos ward,
which is in the top 5% most deprived wards in the UK, where people have among
the lowest life expectancy (65 to 77 as shown on the index of multiple
deprivation 2019), 20% of children live in poverty, and 36% of people have no
qualifications. The new mixed-use community hub will include a creative space,
health and wellbeing facilities, a community café, education and skills
training, a youth hub, garden and food bank.
Chaired by Oki, speakers at the meeting will include: George Clarke,
architect, TV presenter and ambassador for The Prince’s Foundation; Sarah
Robinson, Associate Director at The Prince’s Foundation; Tim Heatley, property
developer and co-founder of Capital & Centric; Elsie Owusu, Architect and
Specialist Conservation Architect, interior and urban designer; Dan Atkinson,
Oxford Brookes Architecture student; and Lord Tom McNally, British politician
and a former Leader of the Liberal Democrats in House of Lords who is the Chair
of the Fleetwood Trust and sat on the select committee on regenerating seaside
towns and communities.
RIBA President Muyiwa Oki,
said: "The built environment is responsible for around 40% of global
carbon emissions and - in the UK alone - construction accounts for 60% of waste
each year. Retrofit is a no-regrets solution to the climate crisis. As well as
benefitting the planet, retrofit can also contribute to improving people’s
lives through improved health and wellbeing and by creating more inclusive and
welcoming spaces. And, upgrading rather than demolishing buildings, can
preserve much-loved landmarks and buildings of significance to our shared
heritage and local communities.
“Experts predict that 80% of the buildings that we will use in 2050 have
already been built today. I believe that unless we radically change the way we
build, operate, maintain, and adapt our built environment, we are headed for
catastrophe. As a sector, we have the knowledge, expertise and the technology
to address the climate emergency. The challenge is delivering change at the
necessary speed and scale. A robust long-term strategy with a funding mechanism
for homes and communities is key to achieving this.”
Architect and Associate Director
for Architecture and Heritage at The Prince’s Foundation, Sarah Robinson,
said: “Fleetwood Hospital is an excellent example of reuse in action –
re-purposing a beloved existing building for local community use. Its size,
relatively recent age of construction, the energy contained in the materials it
is built from, alongside its inherent social value make it a prime example of
the types of buildings which need to find new functions in our communities and
be sustainably reused.
“Civic and institutional buildings like this are commonplace throughout our
towns across the country and reusing them is going to be a large part of the
work of the day for young architects leaving education now – we need to make
sure they are best equipped to do so – and that they can also find the joy in
unlocking the design challenges they present.”
CEO of The Fleetwood Trust, Charley
Wilkinson, said: “We are delighted to be part of this
excellent and timely initiative and to be able to host the event. It’s an
opportunity to showcase the important work of the charity and this significant,
communal building in Fleetwood.”
