A great day at BE-ST Fest’s International Retrofit Conference in Edinburgh!

Some of the jmarchitects team were delighted to attend the first stop of the Built Environment - Smarter Transformation BE-ST Fest International Retrofit Conference, as the roadshow kicked off in Edinburgh on 2nd September.

The day began with an introduction from BE-ST CEO Stephen Good and Catriona Jordan from Retrofit Scotland hosting an excellent lineup of keynote speakers. Highlights included Richard Nelson’s thought-provoking presentation, ‘Don’t Waste Buildings’, which explored the findings of this year’s published Reuse Dividend paper, and Caroline Ashe Brady (KORE Retrofit), sharing practical lessons from delivering retrofit projects across Ireland.

One of the standout sessions of the day was The Retrofit Sweet Spot panel. It was great to hear Sally Godber (WARM), Jennifer Phin (AC Whyte), Parag Cameron Rastogi (Real Asset Analytics) and Chris Carus (Loco Home Retrofit), hosted by James York (Collective Architecture), share their experiences from across the retrofit sector. The candid discussion explored both the challenges and opportunities facing the industry, providing plenty of valuable insights to take away.

The afternoon offered a range of engaging workshops, including a condensed, hands-on session from BE-ST’s Low Carbon Passport training programme.

We also attended a discussion led by James York of Collective Architecture on ‘Scaling Retrofit’ and the development of retrofit pattern books as a guide to assist homeowners with understanding the existing dwelling types and what is possible through different levels of retrofit and the impacts and benefits that can be achieved.

Overall, it was a fantastic day of learning, discussion and collaboration, providing valuable insight into the challenges and opportunities shaping the future of retrofit.

Credit: Andrea Stewart, Ciaran Quinn, jmarchitects