Ten case studies exploring how typical Edinburgh buildings can be adapted for carbon reduction are on show at SpACE, a new architecture centre in the city. Rab Bennetts discusses its mission to show how net-zero can produce inspiring buildings as well as a cleaner environment.
Ever since Bennetts Associates set up a studio in our home town 27 years ago, Denise and I have split our time between London and Edinburgh. It’s a wonderful city but the opposing tensions between conservation, development, planning and public engagement have always seemed anachronistic compared to equally fine European cities that have invested time and resources into architecture centres. Amsterdam, Hamburg, Bologna, Paris and Copenhagen come to mind. We floated the idea of having a facility like this in Edinburgh about two years ago and, thanks to a great deal of effort by committed individuals and supportive funders, SpACE – the Space for Architecture, Carbon and Environment – opened on 1 November to coincide with COP26 climate change conference in Glasgow.
The influential sociologist and planner Patrick Geddes arguably set up the first architecture centre in Edinburgh more than 100 years ago, but the modern equivalent has failed to take off until now. Installed in the listed former fire station by Edinburgh College of Art, this pop-up venue is the 5-week pilot for something longer term, so the exhibition and daily events are intentionally testing the content, demand, costs and location. Unlike some of the other cities, it aims to build bridges through a much broader coalition than architecture alone, embracing engineering, construction, heritage, development, planning and education. The pursuit of low carbon is the catalyst, as all aspects of the built environment are affected and it needs collaborative thinking and public support to bring it about.
The City of Edinburgh Council is one of several in the UK to adopt ‘net-zero carbon by 2030’ policies, so the necessity of understanding what this means in practice is the focus of the exhibition. To supplement the ‘road map to net-zero’ produced by the Edinburgh Climate Change Institute, ten case studies of typical Edinburgh buildings demonstrate how good architecture can be combined with carbon reduction at the coal face, so to speak. Visitors can see what it means to upgrade a tenement, different kinds of historic buildings, or a suburban house, using supporting data to show how far we can go with design skills that many may not realise already exist. Immediately alongside are examples of a 1960s office re-purposed as a hotel and two zero carbon new builds, such as prefabricated timber housing and a Passivhaus school. The underlying message for the public is that net-zero can produce inspiring outcomes and a cleaner environment; it’s not only possible but desirable.
The honest message for visiting politicians is subtly different. Rather than only showcasing the new developments that achieve low carbon, the majority of case studies feature the existing building-stock, which is a far bigger problem. Edinburgh has around 170,000 flats and 60,000 houses of various types, so the cost and logistics of achieving net-zero are daunting to say the least. With only eight years to go until 2030, questions about funding, district energy, construction skills and public support require answers very soon, but COP26 has certainly revealed a refreshing level of commitment from many of the key figures in Scotland.
The enthusiasm for daily events that supplement the exhibition have highlighted the historic absence of a facility in Edinburgh like SpACE, where people can present and discuss ideas, form networks and consider what might become a consensus about the city’s future development. The range of ‘show and tell’ talks by architects and other consultants had been anticipated, but the willingness of community groups, heritage bodies and the council itself to get involved has been hugely encouraging, as something like this would not survive with the usual suspects alone.
Morning workshops and evening talks about the implications of upgrading tenements or listed buildings have attracted up to 75 people, with practical advice about forming residents’ associations and getting grants being presented alongside the need for design quality. A forthcoming seminar on digitising the city brings together speakers who haven’t met before but who can then pool their expertise on data, mapping and creating a new resource for the existing and future city. The serendipity that comes with curated encounters like these has a value that is impossible to quantify.
Which leads to what happens next. When the pop-up closes its doors in early December, a symposium will examine the feedback and take stock, to see if this model is replicable in future; should it be a series of pop-ups elsewhere in the city or is something more permanent viable? How will it be funded and how are the benefits quantified? There is no doubt that the people who have attended the exhibition and events have got a lot out of it, but the aspiration to increase consensus and raise the bar for built environment quality in this extraordinary city is beyond measurement.
With the climate emergency focusing the mind, using carbon as the proxy for good design and a catalyst for change is something most people can agree on and must remain a central theme for the foreseeable future. Indeed, the combination of local case studies and background policies is replicable in any city. SpACE_Manchester, SpACE_Aberdeen, or SpACE_Brighton, perhaps?
Rab Bennetts is the co-founder of Bennetts Associates. He is a trustee for SpACE – Space for Architecture, Carbon and Environment and the curator of its first exhibition in Edinburgh.
