Category: Resources

Filter by

Case Study:
33-36 Queen Street

Adaptive reuse and bespoke structural interventions honouring the heritage of a Victorian printworks while delivering sustainable, modern office functionality in Belfast city centre.
Case Study:
Weavers Court

The adaptive reuse of an 1840s linen warehouse demonstrates how structural reassessment and targeted repair can unlock new commercial life for buildings previously earmarked for demolition.
Case Study:
The Department Store

The Department Store is an early example of steel frame construction, built in 1905 and extended several times. With no original drawings, extensive structural investigation was required.
Case Study:
469 Bethnal Green Road

A 1970s concrete warehouse extended by three storeys rather than demolished – its existing foundations retained through geotechnical assessment and a lightweight structural strategy.
Case Study:
Rafter Walk

The Rafter Walk bridge demonstrates how repurposed materials can play a central role in modern structural engineering – not as a compromise, but as a carbon-conscious design choice.
News:
Approved Document B Consultation

The government’s review of Approved Document B proposes a height threshold that would push structural timber out of buildings above 11m unless a full fire-engineered case is made. We are concerned that the proposals represent a retrograde step at precisely the moment the construction sector needs to be moving in the opposite direction. The reuse, retention and extension…
Case Study:
Kinning Park Complex

A 1916 red sandstone school building, refurbished and extended rather than replaced – transformed into a flexible community hub while retaining its original structure, character and social value.
Case Study:
Animal Studies Centre

The Animal Studies Centre demonstrates how deep structural refurbishment transform a twentieth-century building into a high-performance education facility while retaining embodied value.
Case Study:
Neighbourhood North

Neighbourhood North is a clear demonstration of how structural retrofit can unlock the value of existing commercial buildings while delivering substantial carbon and performance benefits.
Case Study:
30 Cleveland Street

30 Cleveland Street demonstrates how an early twentieth-century steel-framed office building can be refurbished and extended while retaining its primary structural system and architectural character.
Case Study:
10 Greycoat Place

10 Greycoat Place is a six-storey former warehouse in Westminster, retained and extended rather than demolished, delivering contemporary commercial office space while preserving the embodied value of the existing structure.
Case Study:
New Olympia House

New Olympia House demonstrates how an existing historic structure can be refurbished and adapted for new use through targeted structural intervention and repair.
Case Study:
Hay Castle

Hay Castle is an example of large-scale, retention-led structural engineering applied to a scheduled ancient monument with nearly a millennium of layered history.
Case Study:
Bromley Old Town Hall

The conversion of Bromley Old Town Hall demonstrates how two listed civic buildings, long in decline, can be brought back into active use through careful structural retention, targeted repair and sensitive adaptation.
Case Study:
Bradford Live

Bradford Live is a compelling example of repair-led structural engineering, demonstrating how careful investigation and targeted intervention can revive a highly degraded historic structure.
Resources:
The Reuse Hierarchy

The Reuse Hierarchy provides a clear, evidence-based framework for decision-making, prioritising retention, repair, and refurbishment of existing structures over more invasive and disruptive interventions.
Opinion:
Collaboration among engineers is the key to change

Anna Beckett believes that as structural engineers we must learn to share our experiences, innovations and failures more openly if the pace of sustainability change is to accelerate.
News:
One year on – why engineers must lead on reuse

One year since launching, James Morgan describes the genesis of The Engineers Reuse Collective and explains how the organisation is building knowledge and helping engineers to advocate for greater reuse across the industry.
Opinion:
Change mindsets:
Waste less; reuse more

Andy Yates suggests behavioural science models offer a framework to enable engineers to shift mindsets towards a reuse-first approach.
Opinion:
Rethinking ‘best practice’ in a circular construction economy

Tom Webster believes a textbook approach to design is an impediment to wider reuse, arguing that the profession must place more value on the actual performance of reused components.
Opinion:
Planning for reuse: the value of early structural input in ensuring reuse of our building stock

Thomas Hesslenberg explains that with a proactive approach and early engagement,structural engineers can unlock the reuse potential of existing buildings and steer the industry away from demolition.
Resources:
Deconstruction Specification

This document provides a set of suggested additional clauses and amendments to the NBS C20 demolition specification wording (CAWS) to make the specification more appropriate and relevant for deconstruction activities and the reclamation of structural components.
Resources:
The Reuse Resources Map

The Reuse Resources Map presents a range of design standards, design guidance, research papers and other resources relating to structural reuse, in all its forms, with the aim of supporting structural engineers in increasing reuse on their projects.
News:
AJ Retrofit Live 2025
Why aren’t we reusing more?

Here’s some of the key messages from the talk that Anna Beckett and Gareth Atkinson gave on behalf of The Engineers Reuse Collective at the Architects’ Journal Retrofit Live conference last week.
Resources:
Reuse Glossary

This glossary has been developed to bring together a set of carefully collated definitions for standard terms, drawn from trusted industry sources and best practice. It aims to provide clarity, increase understanding, and promote alignment in the way we talk about reuse and related circular economy concepts.
Case Study:
Vestry House Museum

Extensive refurbishment of the existing listed Vestry House Museum and its more modern rear extension. The extension features an entirely new roof, which reuses the joists from the existing roof, laid flat as sarking boards spanning between new roof trusses.
News:
IStructE Young Engineers Conference 2025

Anna Beckett and Andy Yates presented at The Institution of Structural Engineers’ Young Engineers Conference on the topic of ‘Thinking Differently’.
Opinion:
Do we need to rethink ‘best practice’ in a circular world?

Tom Webster asks do we need to rethink what we call ‘best practice’ in a world striving for circularity?
Opinion:
A tale of reuse in action in Manchester and West Yorkshire

Every salvaged brick, every repurposed beam, is a step towards a more sustainable built environment, writes Michael Pledger of DeSimone Consulting Engineering.
Case Study:
Sheep Field Barn

Retrofit of an existing barn building into a new learning hub at the Henry Moore Foundation’s headquarters in Perry Green, Hertfordshire.
Case Study:
Alexandra Palace House

The project involves the conversion of two flats into a single, family home in North London. The ambition was to create a sustainable family home with real architectural merit. The existing end of terrace house is built from traditional load-bearing masonry with timber-joisted floors.
Case Study:
Holbein Gardens

Holbein Gardens is a retained and extended 1980s concrete-framed commercial building, refurbished with Barr Gazetas architect for Grosvenor, to create a modern sustainable workplace with increased floor area. The building includes a 2-storey upward extension, with a roof terrace over an existing 4 storey building plus basement.
Opinion:
What’s stopping us from being more collaborative?

The construction industry often talks about collaboration, but true knowledge-sharing – especially among competitors – remains rare. Anna Beckett argues that the industry must embrace deeper cooperation to accelerate material reuse, cut carbon, and drive sustainable change.