12th August 2015

The Aesthetics of Energy Efficient Retrofit

On 21st April Dr Rosa Urbano Gutierrez delivered a talk to the practice about her forthcoming book ‘Sustainable Retrofit: Post War Residential Towers in the North-West of Britain’. The publication, based around her research with colleague Dr Asterios Agkathidis – compiling, analysing and categorising intervention data for a selection of retrofitted post-war social high-rise housing in northern England and the greater London areas. The aim of the research is to allow a better understanding of different interventions; contrasting the data against regulations and standards set in governmental programmes and assessment methods for sustainable buildings.

The study includes Great Arthur House, an exemplar of 1950s social housing originally designed by Chamberlin, Powell and Bon on the Golden Lane Estate. Charles Ellis, Project Director at JRA, introduced our involvement in restoring the Grade II listed residential tower block and our plans to replace the existing curtain wall; replicating the iconic original designs while upgrading the facade to modern standards.

Dr Rosa Urbano Gutierrez is an internationally acclaimed academic specialising in sustainable architectural design through the exploration of emergent materials and technologies. She is a registered architect and holds a PhD in Architecture.