BDP picked up the top prize in the Higher Education and Campus category for its University of Strathclyde Learning and Teaching Project in this year’s AJ Retrofit Awards.

The awards celebrate the design expertise behind the vital renewal and repurposing of existing buildings, slashing the industry’s carbon footprint in the process.

The 20,000 m² Learning and Teaching Building at the heart of the University of Strathclyde’s Campus in Glasgow comprises the refurbishment and adaptive re-use of two existing buildings, the Colville Building and the B-listed Architecture Building and creates a new student hub overlooking the University’s Rottenrow Gardens. The reuse of the existing structure and careful adaption of the existing buildings provides a significant reduction in embodied carbon compared to a full new build.

Martin Jarvie, architect associate, BDP, said:

“There was a clear opportunity to re-use and adapt these existing buildings to improve the quality of the University’s campus and enhance the overall student experience. The decision to transform the existing buildings rather than a new-build project also has substantial sustainable benefits.  Our Sustainability Team compared the embodied carbon of the adaptive re-use of the existing building structure to a notional new build equivalent and demonstrated that the project saved around 67% of CO2e.”

Existing buildings comprise a large proportion of the UK’s building stock therefore retrofit or refurbishment plays a critical role in meeting climate targets. Along with environmental benefits, the commercial and social returns on reusing existing buildings are self-evident.