The Architects’ Journal Architecture News & Buildings
‘Refurbs are for wimps’: What commercial developers really think about RetroFirst
Retrofitting may be better for the planet than new-build, but it can really mess up a developer’s profit line, explains Peter Bill
Opinion
Comment from leading voices in British architecture on news, practice and discourse
We’d do well to learn energy lessons from ancient rural construction
Pre-modern approaches have valuable lessons to inform our quest for net zero construction, says Emily Booth
The Regs: Three key considerations for successful retrofits
Geoff Wilkinson looks at common errors in retrofit projects and how to avoid them
How can unthinking demolition persist in net zero Britain?
Despite RetroFirst campaign wins such as the calling-in of M&S Oxford Street, many buildings are destined for the scrapheap because national planning policy remains woolly, says Ramboll director Scott Brookes
What’s cool about this year’s RIBA Stirling Prize contenders?
As the UK slowly cools down from the hottest day on record, the Stirling shortlist is announced. What does this batch of the UK’s proclaimed best buildings tell us about architecture’s readiness for our changing climate? asks Smith Mordak
Architecture is drowning in greenwash
Greenwashing in architecture is everywhere you look. Yet failing to fairly represent the profession and its role in the climate emergency comes with a substantial risk attached, argues Bobby Jewell
Whole-life carbon assessments aren’t immune to the dark arts of spin
‘What gets measured, gets managed.’ But what if measuring whole-life carbon gets managed in the sense that it gets handled, gets obfuscated, gets spun, gets co-opted by those with the biggest lobbying budgets? asks Smith Mordak
Greening the city needs to happen – why are the police standing in the way?
The police’s pseudo-scientific Secured by Design code mistakenly views trees and shrubbery as aiding crime, writes Jon Burke
Maybe awards should celebrate co-operation rather than competition
If architecture awards are intended to support the health of the architecture ecosystem, maybe they ought to eschew competition and instead facilitate co-operation, writes Smith Mordak
Carbon offsetting is becoming an excuse to build huge concrete buildings
Offsetting is not even close to being sustainable and is allowing lazy, ego-driven designs to be accepted, says Kunle Barker