Climate-conscious architects want Europe to build less
n unusual conservation battle is brewing on Oxford Street, London’s busy shopping avenue. Marks and Spencer, a British retail giant famous for high quality groceries and affordable homeware, wants to knock down its flagship store and replace it with a shiny new one. A group of architects and local activists have mobilized to save the store—not because it’s beautiful, or historic, or even particularly beloved. But because of the climate.
In an unprecedented move, in April, the U.K.’s housing minister ordered a halt to M&S’ demolition while the government considers evidence over their redevelopment’s carbon footprint. In June, he calledM&S’ struggle to demolish reflects a revolution currently taking place across the construction sector.
“The whole discourse has changed in just three years,” says Hattie Hartman, sustainability editor at the, which has run a campaign calling on architects to “retrofirst”—making reuse of old buildings the default. “The first question now should be: ‘do we need a new building?’ That’s turning the thought process of the profession upside down.”Many cities have adapted charming historic buildings for new uses.
Nichol has set about spreading his gospel in the neighborhood. A charity next door had plans to tear down its similarly unattractive five story building, because they wanted to replace it with a seven-story one, until Nichol persuaded them to retrofit instead. “From a carbon point of view,” he says, “but also in terms of time, money, and all the upset in the neighborhood in terms of waste and air quality, that’s kind of an easy one.
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