Towards 'Proactive' Retrofitting: Developing a Regenerative Framework for Building Retrofits

Abstract

Regenerative design and development within the built environment arises from the need to transition from the current fragmented sustainability approaches of doing less harm, towards a whole system that actively co-evolves with the living world around us. This idea is starting to become well established in new developments, but this research will explore how regenerative concepts can be applied specifically to existing buildings. An innovative regenerative framework for building retrofits is developed which primarily involves proposing a proactive retrofit approach to shift the way designers think and act towards building interventions. A proactive retrofit process model is then developed to establish regenerative core values, proactive retrofit goals and proactive retrofit design principles to enable the improvement and ongoing evolution of an existing building and its place. A set of key proactive retrofit design principles are also developed to provide methodological guidance for how an existing building can interact with and meaningfully add value to its larger systems. This research seeks to fill the knowledge gap of how we can transition away from building retrofit design approaches deeply-rooted in a mechanistic worldview towards an approach which discovers the potential of an existing building to be a regenerative force for its larger systems.