Four industry experts have launched a new retrofit design guide to help local authorities, housing associations, architects and contractors deliver large-scale improvements to non-traditional homes.  

These homes can be tricky to retrofit but also offer the opportunity to roll-out standardised designs – helping catalyse retrofit at scale.  

The design guide has been delivered as part of the DESNZ-funded Archetypal Heat Pump Retrofit for 175,000 Non-Trads project in partnership with Studio Partington, RJ Barwick Ltd, Energiesprong UK and Melius Homes.  

Optimised whole-house solutions for non-traditional archetypes – tested in practice

The project set out to develop optimised whole-house retrofit solutions to unlock a scalable and replicable pathway to reach net-zero goals and improve tenants’ lives – tested through two pilot schemes on Wimpey No-fines homes in Kent and Wolverhampton. The design guide summarises learning from these pilots, and provides template retrofit solutions for three other common non-traditional archetypes.  

In the design guide, each archetype summary includes:

• Typical construction and condition

• Common risks and watch points

• Options for efficiency improvements and decarbonisation

• Repairs and maintenance needs

• Typical construction costs

• Pre- and post-retrofit performance and estimated energy bills

Balancing costs, comfort and carbon

The guide’s top 3 insights include:  

1. The trade-offs decision-makers face, including balancing capital expenditure with residents’ energy bills, choosing between staged or “whole house” retrofit approaches, and managing disruption for residents.

2. House form and position - such as mid-terrace versus poorly performing end-of-terrace or semi-detached - can have a greater impact on energy performance than construction method or material.

3. Why factoring in contingencies for structural repairs and potential hazards like asbestos, which can increase costs, is vital.  

‍

What the partners say

“By harnessing the power of archetypes, we can catalyse retrofit at scale”

Suzanne Davenport, Associate at Studio Partington:
“We’re excited to release our retrofit design guide for non-traditional housing. Currently covering BISF, Cornish Unit, cross wall, and Wimpey No-fines (more than 368,000 homes were built of these types), the guide will help all retrofit stakeholders to identify and understand housing archetypes and shares template retrofit solutions based on real world case studies. By harnessing the power of archetypes, the guidance enables organisations to aggregate demand, build stronger supply chain relationships, and catalyse retrofit at scale.”  

“This guide will save you time, money and frustration.”

Richard Barwick, Project Manager at RJ Barwick Ltd:
“This design guide will save you time, money, and frustration by giving you clear, step-by-step control of the retrofit process for ‘non-trad’ housing archetypes. RJ Barwick Ltd (Project Manager) and our partners (including DESNZ as part-funder) provide a structured, reliable reference that ensures your deep retrofits meet the highest standards from the start. We help you to avoid costly mistakes, improve efficiency, and deliver quality outcomes for both landlord and resident.”  

“We’re sharing the outcomes from real-life projects – supporting you to make more informed decisions.”

Robert Lambe, Chief Executive at Melius Homes:
“We are pleased to share the outcomes of our retrofit projects on a range of non-traditional housing, where we applied a combination of fabric improvement measures and renewable energy systems. By sharing these insights, we hope to support others in making more informed decisions when addressing similar housing archetypes.”

“Non-traditional archetypes are an ideal starting point for deep retrofit and heat pump installation.”

Jon Warren, Policy & Innovation Director at Energiesprong UK:  
“Non-traditional properties are a very good opportunity for deep retrofit and heat pump installation. They were built to very standardised designs, often have poor energy performance, and many are still in social tenure. The selection of archetypes in the design guide is based on lessons learned from the delivery of Energiesprong UK projects, to cover a range of construction materials and methods.  

“By providing practical insight and data-driven retrofit pathways, the guide aims to support housing providers in commissioning projects and developing retrofit designs that improve energy efficiency, reduce carbon emissions, and enhance comfort for residents. Many of the findings from this project are already helping us to configure more cost-effective retrofit pathways through our Transform-ER project, better managing the risks of retrofitting and including non-traditional homes in area-based schemes.”

Download the Retrofit Design Guide at:  https://www.energiesprong.uk/publications

For questions about the guide or if you require help with project-specific retrofit design, please contact communications@energiesprong.uk  

‍