Building for Climate Resilience: The Social Impact of Retrofitting Urban High-Rise Housing

Following high-profile incidents like the Lakanal House and Grenfell Tower fires, which exposed how seemingly routine building maintenance enact violence towards local populations, this project addresses the urgent need to retrofit high-rise buildings in ways that are both environmentally sustainable and socially responsible. With over 16% of EU emissions coming from the domestic sector, and high-rises being particularly "complex-to-decarbonise," retrofitting these structures is crucial. However, the process presents significant socio-technical challenges, including fire hazards and moisture problems that compromise structural integrity and resident health, as evidenced by the Grenfell Inquiry. These challenges are not merely technical but deeply social and cultural, embedded in the lived realities of inhabitants and the institutional frameworks that govern retrofitting. Using ethnographic and visual research methods, I will engage residents, architects, and policymakers to create retrofit solutions that prioritise safety, well-being, and cultural integrity. The project combines an ethnographic study of a retrofitted high-rise in Lewisham, South London, with participant observation inside the Lewisham Council’s Climate Resilience team, which developed the borough’s Housing Retrofit Strategy. This dual approach captures both residents' lived experiences and the institutional framework guiding retrofitting, offering a comprehensive view of its impacts and governance. Lewisham’s diverse community, grassroots activism, and ageing high-rise housing stock provide a rich context to explore how environmental goals intersect with residents' experiences and the borough's unique social and historical dynamics. The unique anthropological contribution lies in developing a new theoretical framework that reframes retrofitting as a practice of "infrastructural care," foregrounding the interplay between material changes to buildings and the social, cultural, and emotional dimensions of residents' lives. The research aims to create this framework by integrating architectural transformations with residents’ social relations, cultural practices, and embodied experiences, bridging technical demands with the lived realities of residents. Research questions: How do residents of ageing high-rises in London engage with the retrofitting process, and how do their values and practices intersect with or challenge the sustainability priorities of local authorities? In what ways can retrofitting practices be reimagined as a form of infrastructural care that aligns technical imperatives with residents’ cultural, social, and emotional needs? How can retrofitting strategies address the dual goals of environmental sustainability and social equity, fostering meaningful collaboration between residents and local councils? By identifying the challenges that climate change poses for ageing buildings and examining the infrastructural care required to address them, this study opens a new interdisciplinary approach to retrofitting. The project’s objectives are: Empirical: Develop an evidence-based understanding of residents’ experiences of retrofitting, exploring their views, values, and critiques. Compare tenants' concerns with those of the council to examine how climate resilience strategies are implemented and perceived. Conceptual: Expand and integrate anthropological theories on the home, infrastructure, and climate change, and develop architectural theory through an anthropologically grounded approach to retrofitting as infrastructural care. Engagement: Intervene in public and policy debates through co-creative methods such as ethnographic documentary and participatory workshops, fostering collaboration between residents and local authorities. Practical: Transform retrofitting practices by developing a socio-technical framework for a sustainable building industry. This co-creative approach will produce actionable frameworks for local councils and housing authorities, enhancing policy, cross-sector collaboration, and a sustainable building industry. The adaptable model developed here will provide strategies for retrofitting that address climate resilience and social equity in urban housing across the UK and beyond.