Retrofitting for the Future: Highlights from Last Night’s Panel at Il Salotto

Sara Seravalli
7 days ago
3 min read

– Panel Discussion as part of #DesignPopUp Sustainability Week –

At Il Salotto, host Sara Seravalli brought together three expert voices—Anthony Newman (MLA), Ana Cristobal (Page I am running a few minutes late; my previous meeting is running over Park), and Rob Morrison (BE-ST)—to unpack the complex, urgent, and often misunderstood topic of retrofitting. What followed was a rich, candid discussion on the challenges, misconceptions, and opportunities that retrofitting presents for cities like Glasgow and beyond.

What Is Retrofitting—and What Isn’t?

The conversation opened with a critical distinction: retrofitting is not renovation. Renovation is about fixing or updating a building to suit a purpose. Retrofitting, however, is about reimagining how buildings perform to meet future standards—especially environmental ones.

“It’s about meeting net zero targets,” said Newman. “It's about energy performance, not just aesthetic or function.”

From the left: Sara Seravalli, Anthony Newman and Rob Morrison

By 2050, the UK aims to reach net zero emissions. To get there, we need to retrofit 5% more buildings every year. That includes everything—from 1908 Victorian tenements to 2008 glass office blocks. And the UK Green Building Council breaks it down into light retrofits (think optimizing lighting, ventilation, and windows) and deep retrofits (full-scale re-engineering of insulation, heating systems, and energy infrastructure).

Lessons from Old Buildings

Ana Cristobal, with her experience in adapting historic buildings, offered a counterintuitive insight: older buildings, especially Victorian ones, are often more resilient than those from the 60s, 70s, and 80s.

“These buildings were built to last,” she said. “They were generous with light and space. Often, the first step is just unpeeling decades of bad interventions.”

The real challenge? Respecting the way these buildings “breathe.”

Over-insulating can cause mould or ventilation issues if the original materials and construction methods aren’t understood.

Mid-century buildings, meanwhile, pose a different problem. Though structurally sound, many are poorly designed for today’s comfort and energy standards—and often lack architectural charm. So when do you retrofit, and when do you demolish?

The Embodied Carbon Equation

Newman stressed the importance of embodied carbon—the carbon cost of creating a building in the first place. Demolishing and rebuilding means re-spending that energy. Retaining the structural frame, even in ugly or dysfunctional buildings, can sometimes make more environmental sense.

“You don’t just ask, ‘Is it usable?’” he explained. “You ask, ‘How much carbon is locked into this concrete frame, and can we work with it?’”

But retrofitting is not always viable—especially in buildings that are hostile to human-scale design or urban fabric, like 60s office blocks set back from the street. In these cases, the panel agreed, the city itself may be better served by new development.

Scaling Retrofit: The Role of Policy, Training, and Culture

Rob Morrison brought a practical lens from his role at Be-St and Retrofit Scotland. He outlined four focus areas:

Training – Launching Scotland’s Low Carbon Passport program, with 1,200 training placements for contractors and designers.
Knowledge Sharing – Building a central hub of case studies and supply chain maps.
Infrastructure – Creating physical retrofit centres in places like Hamilton and Glasgow.
Community Engagement – Emphasising retrofit as a context-specific process that must involve users, not just designers.

He also emphasized a huge but overlooked factor: procurement and policy. Outdated business rates penalize owners of empty heritage buildings and push them toward demolition. “The system rewards new builds,” Morrison said. “We need policy that levels the playing field.”

Risk, Reward, and the Role of the Client

A consistent theme across the panel was risk. Retrofitting is messier than new builds. Unseen issues emerge, timelines stretch, budgets balloon. That’s why clients are key.

“You need a client with a mission—and the willingness to take risk,” said Cristobal. “Not everyone can. But without them, retrofit doesn't happen.”

It also takes a wider culture of collaboration—between designers, engineers, material suppliers, city planners, and yes, even furniture manufacturers. The future of retrofit won’t come from any one profession but from a networked effort.

Final Thoughts: Optimism Grounded in Action

From policy reform to material innovation, from grassroots engagement to rethinking how we define value in architecture, the discussion circled back to one big truth: retrofitting isn’t just about sustainability—it’s about identity, equity, and the soul of a city.