Second Chances Roundtable in London

How do we galvanise the development and architecture industry to tackle the neglected, overlooked and often ugly buildings that shape our cities? We need to reframe neglected buildings and underused places as opportunities, not liabilities.

That means bringing developers, architects, local authorities and communities together around a shared purpose: demonstrating that reuse has the potential to unlock faster delivery, lower‑carbon outcomes and more community‑centred places.

 

This is why we convened our latest Progressive Places roundtable, led by Leanne Tritton Hon FRIBA Tritton from the Don’t Waste Buildings campaign, exploring how policy, finance, culture and regeneration aspirations are shaping adaptive reuse and retrofit today.
Some key themes that emerged at our roundtable session included:
- Cost, risk and often lack of policy continue to limit retrofit, especially for ‘unloved’ buildings that are not protected by listed status
- Financially safer assets are prioritised which leaves complex reuse projects overlooked and puts more buildings at risk
- Culture and community value are key drivers for successful retrofit, with cultural activity often strengthening the case for reuse even for buildings without heritage status
- Skills and supply chains need to strengthen in order to support large‑scale retrofit projects

Collaboration, knowledge sharing and new tools (e.g., AI) offer emerging opportunities to reduce risk and enable more adaptive reuse
Our specialist division, Collective Conservation, is pushing new forms of collaboration across sectors, harnessing data‑driven insight and place‑based thinking to protect, repair, adapt and reimagine the historic and culturally significant places that shape our communities.
If you’re interested in joining the conversation, we’d love to hear from you.
Thank you to all those that contributed: Abigail Batchelor, Anna Bardos, Tom Fox, Kerstin Kane, Adriana Marques, Vicki Odili, Ken Okonkwo, Mark Swetman, Gus Wray and Collective Architecture's team Ewan Imrie and Holly Linda Gardner