Valuing the yet-to be-loved - Conscientious retrofitting for people and place, homes and their heritage

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Post-war mass housing (PMH) was a solution to an unprecedented housing demand, with nearly 6,000 multi-storey public housing blocks built in Britain between 1945 and 1985. Initially representing modernity, these homes now require urgent modernisation. However, the heritage valorisation of Modern architecture remains contentious, with PMH facing stronger opposition, embodying "yet-to-be-loved" architecture. This research will advance the scholarship of heritage significance beyond traditional conservation by tackling the competing values of architectural protection and the need for efficient and safe homes. A novel resident-inclusive heritage framework will be produced to advance redevelopment that promotes social and environmental sustainability through conscientious retrofitting.A maligned public perception and decades of residualisation have consigned PMH to a cycle of social and physical decay. The cost-of-living crisis, rising levels of fuel poverty, and climate emergency highlight the urgency to reassess the choice between demolition and invasive retrofitting of non-listed PMH. Demolition threatens sustainability and displaces residents, resulting in the loss of heritage. Conversely, retrofits can incur gentrification and can disguise rather than rectify the systematic neglect. Yet, this critical juncture presents an opportunity to re-evaluate retrofitting to empower residents and review the exclusionary PMH designation practices.While scholarship recognises the incompatibilities of traditional heritage frameworks for PMH conservation, it is only partially explained by a lingering stigmatisation and a 'conceptual paradox', namely that heritage recognition demands the contrary concepts of 'modern' and 'heritage' be reconciled. Thus, significant complexities within this developing field remain unarticulated. The project will also address a related but currently overlooked 'value paradox', namely the contradiction of applying traditional heritage notions predicated upon uniqueness and prestige to housing built en masse and by municipalities. While proposals for sociocultural, heritage-conscious retrofits have been suggested, a division persists between retrofit practices and heritage considerations. It is crucial to bridge this gap, as the conservation of these homes will become untenable without an alignment between these imperatives. Retrofitting has become a necessity for PMH, and this project offers a significant contribution to scholarship by merging these conflicting fields. This project will establish the practice of retrofitting as both a regenerative and protective strategy through an inclusive heritage recognition framework and the novel concept of conscientious retrofitting, i.e. conservation through sociocultural, heritage-conscious, and inclusive retrofitting. By outlining this pathway for environmental sustainability and dynamic heritage conservation, the research provides a means of retaining the architectural significance while addressing perilous living conditions. The research employs a mixed methodology, combining archival meta-analysis with action and data-driven research. Following reconnaissance surveys in year one, a grounded theory for resident perspectives will be applied to case studies in year two, examining the three contending considerations of social, environmental, and heritage sustainability. Also in year two, data-driven research will provide empirical justifications for the framework and the conceptualisation of conscientious retrofits. To understand the value ascribed to PMH, deep-narrative analysis will investigate trends in archival sources, interview transcripts, and social media. During year three, creative building visualisation and digital heritage archiving methods will be utilised to produce the framework, which will visually communicate codified heritage value and physical decay. The last stages of the research will focus on synthesising and disseminating the findings.