When is demolition better than retention?

By Thomas Lane2023-01-24T07:00:00

A 1920s facade’s poor condition left the project team wondering whether it would have been less carbon intensive to knock it down and start again

To demolish, or not demolish? That is the question currently exercising many within the construction industry. This dilemma is perhaps best exemplified by the row over Marks & Spencer’s flagship store on Oxford Street.

Should this disparate collection of buildings be refurbished rather than demolished in order to save carbon? A public inquiry considering this question – the first to do so – closed last month with a decision on the store’s fate expected imminently. Part of the argument hinges on the fact that the loss of the landmark, art deco building could potentially harm the historic character of Oxford Street.

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