Berkeley Homes achievement is a story of two halves, not only a sustainability and retrofit success story but a journey into the rich history of an ever-changing London. For the retrofit half of the story, the entirety of the ICI headquarters were repurposed to residential units. An imposing steel framed structure from the 1920s, modern regulation necessitated redesigning many aspects of the circulation, fire protection and servicing of the existing building. While the Ergon house half of the story illustrates how archive investigation is key to reducing the embodied carbon emissions associated with demolition and how existing foundations can often be re-used.

All these measures contributed to savings of 3,555 tonnes of carbon, the creation of 172 new energy-efficient homes and the retention of heritage buildings forming part of the Thames’ iconic waterfront. Berkeley Homes will share how this project has helped to shape their overall reuse strategy and the impact it has had on how they approach future projects.