Madeleine Rutherford-Browne Yr 5

A Toolkit for Retrofit As the Mayor of London’s so-called ‘retrofit revolution’ is in the midst of its rollout across London, the architecture industry is scrambling to understand this trendy new piece of architectural jargon that litters media publications. And that term is ‘retrofit’.

The dual housing crisis of both quality and quantity of housing in Britain continues to rampage on, and the importance and urgency of retrofitting the nation’s housing stock becomes ever more pressing, especially if we are ever to meet our net-zero targets.

The Becontree Estate in Barking and Dagenham is a microcosm of the nationwide situation. The post-war housing development, which is the largest estate in Europe, has become a test pilot for retrofit at scale and retrofit archetypes. The architectural homogeneity of the estate makes Becontree the perfect testbed for pushing the limits of what retrofit can achieve. Through a patchwork of retrofit interventions, this retrofit manifesto advocates for mass retrofitting techniques and provides the blueprints for retrofitting not just Becontree’s homes, but also a sustainable way of living

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