What do we do about ‘the office’? A retrofit challenge we don't speak about enough. With Harry Browne and Séamus Guidera (RKD)

Zero Ambitions Podcast

This week we got into an area of retrofit that feels neglected: commercial space. It's a subject we definitely touch upon but never really get into , so in order to remedy that we're getting stuck in.

First up is a conversation with architects Harry Browne and Séamus Guidera of RKD Dublin who came recommended to us by friend of the show Richard O'Hegarty.

In a sector less driven by traditional sustainability issues, and more driven by hardcore commercial issues, it seemed right to start by speaking with folk who know their stuff.

Harry and Séamus have been grappling with the big commercial questions around place of the office in the future and the renewal of these built environment assets, offering commercial clients the sort of strategic that hasn't been necessary in this sector for decades.

Nowadays, asset owners are thinking about impact, in terms of how the building asset's use influences and interacts with its surroundings, how they can make offices more attractive places to be, not just providing serviceable desks.

This evolving approach encourages engagement with tenants to plan for the future, incorporating changing use alongside changing climate, and how to make the renewal and retrofit process more efficient in terms of resource use and minimising waste.

There's loads to get into. Too much. but this is a start.

Notes from the show

• Harry Browne on LinkedIn
• Séamus Guidera on LinkedIn
• The RKD website

**SOME SELF-PROMOTING CALLS TO ACTION**
We don't actually earn anything from this, and it's quite a lot of work, so we have to promote the day jobs.

• Follow us on the Zero Ambitions LinkedIn page
• Jeff, Alex, and Dan about websites, branding, and communications - [e-mail]; Everything is User Experience
• Subscribe and advertise with Passive House Plus (UK edition here too)
• Check Lloyd's Substack: Carbon Upfront
• Join ACAN
• Join the AECB
• Join the IGBC
• Check out Her Own Space, the renovation and retrofit platform for women (but not in a patronizing way)

**END OF SELF-PROMOTING CALLS TO ACTION**