Existing Building Audits for Architects
17.09.2025
Written by Thomas Hesslenberg
Associate
Addressing retrofit and reuse challenges with existing building audits
Without clear data, it’s difficult to know if a building can meet a client’s performance and design aspirations.
Our audits don't just tell you what's in the building, they unlock the site’s potential for future retrofit. By using the latest technology and surveying equipment, we can identify the best route forward.
For example, our photogrammetric scanning provides accurate 3D building data early on, reducing delays, enabling confident design decisions and unlocking reuse opportunities.
Increasingly, local authorities expect a deeper understanding of existing assets before granting approval (e.g. Westminster’s Retrofit First policy).
Our audits help de-risk the planning process by providing clients and design teams the information they need to meet the expectations of policymakers. This reduces time, smooths engagement with local authorities and avoids unnecessary repeat site visits or duplication of work.
Our expertise is strengthened by team members with first-hand experience — including a secondment to Westminster City Council to develop the Planning Application Carbon Evaluation and Reduction (PACER) platform. This means we understand how policies are applied in practice and can help architects align accordingly, while also meeting certification requirements (e.g. BREEAM, WELL, NABERS).
Unknown conditions can lead to costly late changes if not identified early, and clients expect reassurance that their investment won’t become stranded by future carbon and regulatory standards. They also aim to achieve the highest possible sustainability performance.
Our audits pull together expertise across structural engineering and sustainability. This unique approach helps architects build client confidence and demonstrate how their designs help achieve ESG targets and add long-term value.
Buildings often form the backdrop to people’s lives, creating an emotional connection worth preserving.
Our audits help architects identify and preserve historic artifacts and rare materials for reuse.
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Over 60% of UK construction waste comes from demolition, and 80% of 2050’s buildings already exist. Early asset understanding isn’t just due diligence — it’s an opportunity for future-proofing design.
What is an Existing Building Audit?
An Existing Building Audit can reveal the unseen — a building’s hidden potential for:
— Reuse
— Carbon reduction
— Design innovation
But not all audits are the same. Involving a series of comprehensive assessments, our audits are tailored for circularity and design flexibility.
By addressing the four key reuse and retrofit challenges, they help architects provide a clearer picture of what can be retained, adapted or reimagined.
Our unique approach to audits
London's largest steel reuse project
30 Duke Street St James’s
Our audits helped GPE’s 30 Duke Street St James’s become London’s largest steel reuse project:
— Approximately 78% of the steel structure (~440 tonnes) was formed from reclaimed steel
— Portland stone, granite, marble, timber handrails and glass blocks were salvaged for reuse
— Artefacts (e.g. signage, mosaics, marble, cast glass) from the building that previously occupied the site, French Railways House and other GPE buildings were reused in the project
— Some reused features were designed by noted figures like Charlotte Perriand and Ernő Goldfinger, and integrating them became part of the design language
Together with targeted BREEAM Outstanding and WELL Platinum certifications, and alignment with NABERS Design for Performance, the result is a technically advanced, low-carbon workplace rooted in its historic setting.
For architects, the project proves what’s possible when reuse is embedded early: design flexibility, technical certainty, and a compelling sustainability story that clients and planners value.
Our Sustainability Services
- Reuse studies
- Condition surveys
- Strategy & planning support
- Pre-redevelopment audits
- Circular economy statements
- Pre-demolition audits
- Adaptability studies
- Design for disassembly guidance
- BREEAM
- WELL
- LEED
- Living Building Challenge
- Embodied carbon optioneering
- Whole life carbon assessments
- Bespoke carbon studies
- Portfolio carbon management
- GHG reporting
- Social value
- Net Zero Carbon guidance
- Corporate ESG strategy
- Preliminary ecology appraisals
- Urban Greening Factor
- Biodiversity Net Gain
- Ecological enhancements
If you'd like to hear more about our work, please contact Thomas Hesslenberg, t.hesslenberg@elliottwood.co.uk.
Get in touch
Professional Development, Flipped
As part of our mission to engineer a better society, we've launched Flip it, our free professional development seminars for a better built environment.
Our Existing Building Audit session helps architects navigate the challenges of building audits and answer a range of questions, including:
- Why carry out a pre-redevelopment audit? What are the drivers?
- What should be included within an audit? What needs to be considered?
- When should an audit be undertaken? What are the issues and opportunities with carrying out audits at different project stages?
- How do we maximise value and give the audit a purpose beyond planning?
