Thank goodness there’s a growing commitment to work positively with buildings that are already around us

Our cover star for the latest issue of the AJ is testament to the design skills of another time and highlights what can make retrofit so challenging and so compelling. The Royale Belge was built as the corporate HQ for a thousand workers, back when the car was king. All late-Modernist Luxe is here: the smoked glass, the pine-and-lakeside setting, the two-storey podium, the hushed abundance. A façade so heavy that you can imagine a mild sense of relief of the 1970s office workers when they’d got inside safely for their insurance meetings.

Rob Wilson’s brilliant take on how Caruso St John and Bovenbouw opened up this time capsule for today’s users demonstrates the difficulty and delight in setting up these behemoths for a successful future. It’s as much about the technical feats (literally letting the light in) as the new programme. Now Royale Belge has a mix of uses, including co-working spaces, a hotel, health club and restaurant.

‘The project was fundamentally about doing as little as necessary; restoring and reusing its parts wherever possible,’ says Peter St John. ‘The DNA of the building is so strong – it was how to balance working with its spirit and making minimal interventions with ensuring it was compatible with everything it needed to perform.’

In a similar vein, there has been much debate about London’s Canary Wharf and how its skyscrapers can be repurposed for different ways of working and living. Now practices are taking on the towers with retrofits addressing mixed-use amenities, experiences and emerging industries. You can read Gino Spocchia’s excellent analysis of this key transformation online tomorrow.

The profession is always changing – and thank goodness there’s a growing commitment to work positively with buildings that are already around us. The Dockyard Church on the Isle of Sheppey was a derelict, decaying gem in real jeopardy. Hugh Broughton Architects has resurrected it as a community heart for the people of Sheppey with support for young entrepreneurs, a café, public exhibition areas and an events space.

Talk about strong DNA. With input and expertise from today’s architects, great buildings can be timeless.

AJ subscribers can read the issue online here and it can also be purchased here