Are more women making the move to work in the construction industry?
According to statistics, the answer is yes and that number is rising. An estimated 340,000 women are said to be working within the construction industry, which is the highest number since records have been kept.
According to our own Head of Commercial Partnerships, Laura Broderick, there are changes coming, with many women making waves in their fields.
Laura's background is in architecture, and for the last two years she has been leading the main gallery exhibitions at the Building Centre. Her main focus has been the retrofitting industry, launched last year with Retrofit 23, when she noticed the urgency of retrofitting. Retrofit 24 is now in its second year, and Retrofit 25 is following closely behind. Work is also underway on her second exhibition this year, New Homes in New Ways, which launches in October and focusses on modern methods of construction.
Understandably, it's a busy time for Laura, but she stopped for an informal interview. We asked Laura about the changes she has seen over the last year in the retrofit industry and discussed the innovations and collaborations being made as we near the end of Retrofit24, and her thoughts on women trailblazers.
The commercial retrofitting industry is experiencing a surge of interest.
What initially drew you to this space and why do you believe it's such a crucial area of focus for businesses and building owners today?
As part of our exhibition in 2023, where we focused on residential retrofitting, we saw people looking at creative ways to adapt their own homes, plus authorities upgrading social housing stock. But we need to act now to reuse all buildings and materials where possible. Commercial developers and owners are looking closely at their ESG drivers and retrofitting is a great way for them to deliver environmental and social value.
No-one wants to see buildings left as stranded assets when they have potential new versions. We can save embodied carbon by avoiding demolition where possible. Plus it’s not just about reusing typically ‘beautiful’ heritage buildings. If you look at office buildings from the 60s, 70s, 80s or even 90s, they can be less desirable workspaces now. But it’s very exciting when a design team creatively look at updating those buildings. There's so much to explore and discuss around that topic commercially, and we also wanted to share what’s happening in cultural and civic projects too.
Your annual exhibition showcases latest trends and technologies and commercial retrofits. Looking ahead, what emerging innovations do you see shaping the future and how will your events adapt to reflect these changes?
I think there will be a focus on improving the technology in retrofit projects to help save operational carbon. Heat pumps, for example, will improve (smaller and more affordable) which would see them becoming more widely adopted and ‘the norm’. And more emphasis on data and understanding the actual performance of buildings.
There’s likely to be new material innovation as well. It’s interesting to consider how natural and low carbon materials can be invested in and brought to mass market and used more widely. There’s also much talk about the circular economy, material passports and reuse of materials. Glazing, for instance, how will the construction industry innovate to extend the life of those? Steel reuse is also highly important, how does that become a more normal process rather than on bespoke projects. It will be exciting to showcase these developments on a bigger scale at the Building Centre.
Our event series brought industry professionals together to look at solutions and decisions together. We will keep doing that as it requires collective action.
One challenge that for commercial retrofits is educating building owners about the potential benefits. How does your exhibition address this and what strategies do you think are most effective at fostering wider industry adoption?
From what I’ve gathered from all the fantastic speakers we've engaged during Retrofit 24, it is often tenants of commercial buildings driving change. They want efficient, sustainable and affordable workspaces and places to be in and that, in turn, is pushing building owners to rethink their strategies.
We showcased a project with Buckley Gray Yeoman architects where the developers were retaining the building facade, extending the upper floors, but also lifting (jacking up) floors to gain more space and not waste materials within the existing structure. It was super interesting! So, tenants, landlords and owners can together “do better” with design teams which will drive commercial retrofits forward.
The aim of Retrofit 24 was to inspire people with a variety of ideas so that when they're looking at their own briefs and projects, they have that knowledge and reference. Our panel discussions and tours of retrofitted buildings enhanced that sharing of best practice too.
The commercial building sector is traditionally male dominated. What initiatives do you have to encourage women and underrepresented groups to participate in your exhibition and consider a career in commercial retrofits?
As you say, it’s a male dominated industry, but there are women leaders. It's encouraging to see women working in architectural practice who are tailoring their career and taking roles like Head of Sustainability. The National Retrofit Hub is co-directed by two women, Rachael Owens and Sara Edmonds, and they are key to driving retrofit action. And we have invited female architects, including Tara Gbolade and Marion Baeli, to speak at and chair our events.
There is also more discussion about better working practices, office hours and culture within the industry, which in return will hopefully bring change and encourage a more diverse group of people. It’s combined efforts that will assist women and underrepresented groups, to be able to enter and maintain a career in the construction industry.
And we do need to talk about skills and workforce as lots of people from building trade backgrounds will be leaving the industry soon because they're reaching retirement age. And there are new skills in new technologies that will be needed to deliver the environmental upgrades linked to retrofit projects. I will also add our charity, the Built Environment Trust, addresses diversity through their educational programmes. They are doing great work encouraging young people to better understand the environments that they live in and therefore how they could participate in the future.
How does your event foster collaboration and knowledge exchange with between stakeholders within the commercial retrofitting space? What success stories have you seen emerge as a result?
I think lots of the case studies represent strong design team collaborations where people have been learning from each other. Look at say, Chart Street Studios, the engineers' own offices where they acted as the client and engineer! It was an interesting dynamic - innovations around the new CLT structures or decisions around retaining aspects of the existing building could be made with real passion - everyone was working for the best results.
As part of our webinar series, Retrofit Talks, we had people present as design teams. That level of collaboration of professionals with different skillsets is always valuable to learn from.
Then, there’s been interesting points of learning around heritage – people with experience from the conservation sector (a set of skills around preserving and repairing buildings) are now exchanging ideas with others looking more closely at how to deliver successful retrofits. It’s that convening role that is key to what we do as the Building Centre. We're not a membership organisation solely representing one type of built environment specialism. And we will be launching our Retrofit 25 programme next year so lots more to come!
You can connect with Laura on LinkedIn or if you are considering a partnership for one of our events, please contact the commercial partnerships team.
