Facilitating sustainability in heritage buildings in Australia: learning from the design profession

Abstract eng:
The retrofitting of heritage buildings represents a significant opportunity to reduce the carbon footprint of our built environment. Within the retrofit process, the design phase is known as an important window of opportunity to address environmental objectives, however reconciling the dual goals of heritage preservation and sustainable development create particularly ‘difficult challenges for designers’. While the literature describes the importance of some design principles in such projects, little information is available about the specific processes and methods of design employed. Within this context, this paper discusses the processes and methods of design currently used in heritage building adaptive reuse projects. A qualitative approach was used to explore existing design practice in heritage building adaptive reuse projects, focusing specifically on the experiences of Australian designers. Five designers (primarily architects) who had worked on at least one heritage building adaptive reuse project in the last ten years participated in semi-structured interviews about their experiences. They were interviewed about the project characteristics, personnel involved, challenges and recommendations around processes and methods of design in heritage building adaptive reuse projects. Thematic analysis of the barriers and opportunities experienced by these Australian designers in engaging the built environment sector in heritage building adaptive reuse projects uncovered five emergent themes integral to success: business case, vision, communication and collaboration, values, and storytelling. All participants highlighted that a paradigm shift is necessary to evolve from pure preservation to a new 21st Century approach that emphasizes contextual innovation. Lessons learned from this initial engagement with design professionals will inform a larger research project investigating the phenomenon of mainstreaming sustainable heritage building refurbishment projects – primarily in an Australian context. The research seeks to contribute to discourse regarding processes and methods of sustainable heritage buildings, and to facilitate a transition of heritage buildings to low carbon operations.

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