When it comes to buildings in London, should we refurbish or rebuild?
The issue is complicated. In places such as the City of London, there's often pressure to capitalise on the high value of land by knocking down and building tall.Take the case of the Marks and Spencer Marble Arch store in London's Oxford Street. Michael Gove, the minister controlling planning in the UK, recently agreed to review a plan to demolish it.
M&S insists that knocking down what it calls a "mish-mash of poor, idle shopping space" is the "green" option. The group's Property Director Sacha Berendi agreed that climate change was an emergency. But he pledged: "Over the long term, the modern lower-carbon building will more than offset any emissions from the redevelopment.Image caption,He said that within 17 years the lower energy use in the new building would outweigh the emissions created by making it.Will Hurst from the Architects Journal told me: "Climate change is indeed an emergency but if M&S really thought that, they wouldn't be creating extra emissions when they really need to be drastically cut.
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