Our Approach
We work with individuals, organisations and communities to create places that redefine how we contribute to the world we’re a part of. We’re always looking to help you Conserve, Adapt and Thrive – unearthing your projects’ potential and rebalancing its relationship with its environment, locally and globally.
The built environment has a huge role to play in rebalancing our changing climate. Our practice takes inspiration from the finely tuned ecosystem we all belong to, discovering and implementing ways to adapt the places we have for the climate we live in.
Whether a heritage project, or an ecological adaptation, a community-driven build or a whole house retrofit, we’re focused on helping people who want to make the most of what’s already there, developing homes and buildings that respect the integrity of nature and restore places for future generations.
What does Conserve, Adapt, Thrive mean in practice?
Conserve
When it comes to the places we live in, demolition should be the last resort. We start by assessing a building’s social, environmental and economic value, before identifying the right heritage and regenerative techniques to conserve and reshape it.
Adapt
Once we understand a place and its relationship to the environment it exists within, we look at ways we can adapt it to create a space that sustains you and regenerates the wider ecosystem at the same time.
Thrive
We develop buildings that co-evolve with the natural environment. Using circular economy principles, we’re rethinking waste, reusing, recycling and repurposing wherever possible –contributing to a resilient future where all species can thrive.
Regenerative DEVELOPMENT
Every place can support a more resilient ecology for all species and remove the distinction between built and natural environments. That means designing for disassembly, recycling waste and returning energy to useable forms. Starting with ‘fabric-first’ and prioritising bio-based materials, we blend emergent thinking with trusted conservation techniques – innovation with tradition – to realise what’s truly possible in regenerative development.
The natural world is changing. The warming climate is creating extreme weather and endangering the biodiversity of the planet. We find the right balance between the building’s purpose, its impact on its environment and its contribution to it, so that every species that interacts with and inhabits the space thrives.
Conservation and Heritage
Building archeology, place names, personal memories and traditions all add to the heritage value of a building, make a place what it is, and help guide what its future could be. We consider and conserve distinct characteristics while adapting each building to make it more suited for, and mindful of the environment it contributes to.
By merging a working knowledge of conservation techniques and modern building physics with industry best practice and standards, we find the best way forward for a place, retaining its cultural significance while regenerating it to play a positive role for future generations.
This can mean exploring everything from retrofit and conversion, to rewilding and ‘curated decay’, employing both traditional and radical processes and ideas to sustain and elevate a building’s past, present and future.
Retrofit
For many of us, rising energy costs are making it hard to keep our homes and work places warm enough to be comfortable and healthy. Added to this, there’s the pressing climate challenge and the need to reduce carbon production to net zero by 2050. Improving the energy efficiency of our buildings can help on both fronts. That’s where retrofitting comes in…
Residential buildings currently account for 35% of all energy used in the UK and emit 20% of all carbon emissions. Over 80% of houses currently built will still be lived-in, in 2050. Of those houses, 60% are hard to heat. Retrofitting our existing homes now is a fundamental way to tackle these twin challenges.
Whole House Retrofit takes a ‘fabric-first’ approach, it looks at the best ways to stop precious heat from escaping in the winter, prevent overheating in the summer, reduce the amount of embodied and in-use carbon produced and save money over the long-term.
Visit Our Services page for more information on retrofitting your home.
BEST PRACTICE
From the Society for the Protection of Ancient Building’s conservative repair, to the retrofit principles established by both the Low Energy Transformation Initiative (LETI) and the Association of Environment Conscious Building (AECB), to the Sustainable Traditional Buildings Alliance’s responsible retrofit knowledge centre – we draw on extensive resources, research and experience across the sector to tackle every project.
Crow Architecture are committed to the actions set out in the Architects Declare manifesto and to the #ENDGASNOW campaign. The practice is focussed on meeting the goals of the Royal Institute of British Architects’ (RIBA) 2030 Climate Challenge and draws inspiration from the Architects Climate Action Network (ACAN)
The Royal Institute of British Architects’ (RIBA) 2030 Climate Challenge and the UK’s 2050 net zero targets are highly ambitious. By working together we can address this challenge.
People
We work with a wide range of partners, associates and collaborators who share our vision and perspective, bringing their specialisms, skills and expertise to every project…
Find out more about the people involved with Crow Architecture