Introducing Your Retrofit Academy CIC Awards 2025 Finalists
The Havering Low Energy Visitors Centre was recognised as a 2025 finalist in two prestigious categories at the Retrofit Academy CIC Awards:
- Retrofit Social Value Award
- Best Local Authority-Led Retrofit Programme
This recognition highlights the innovative approach taken by The London Borough of Havering (LBH) in creating a sustainable, community-driven retrofit project that delivers both environmental and social impact.
THE HAVERING LOW ENERGY VISITORS CENTRE
The London Borough of Havering (LBH) council intends to create a Low Energy Visitors Centre in an old existing building, the Park Lodge, Raphael’s Park, Havering, with funding from the Greater London Authority (GLA).
Located in a Conservation area and occupied by the LBH parks team and parks police, with occasional community use of the ground floor main space, the lodge was underused and needed building improvements.
It was soon noticed that the Low Energy Visitors Centre project could become an opportunity for our borough to address the Lodge issue while putting into practice what, in the doughnut economics theory are two distinct and co-existing directions of urban development: the ecological ceiling and the social foundation.
On one hand, the Park Lodge would act as a retrofit demonstrator showing through its own retrofit what can be achieved by ensuring that the retrofit is appropriate for the building as a whole and that the right measures and circumstances are put in place.
In parallel, it was realised that the Low Energy Visitors Centre could cover an educational role inspiring residents to upgrade their homes to reduce energy use, bills, and carbon emissions whilst improving their health and comfort. It goes without saying that for the purposes of the GLA grant, the scheme needed to be monitored.
As a result, the project presents four distinct but interconnected strands, each overlapping in terms of timescales and content.
In fact, the scheme combines the retrofit of Park Lodge with the creation of an exhibition space. This occurs alongside a community engagement programme to disseminate knowledge and understanding about buildings and sustainability. The works, outreach and broader impacts across Havering will be monitored to demonstrate outcomes and inform the exhibition and engagement programmes.
Out of the four distinct strands of the project, it is the retrofit works that have been mostly delivered with the imminent opening of the exhibition in spring 2025.
Aligning with PAS 2035 Principles
Even if the funding received doesn’t impose on the scheme the achievement of a specific final accreditation, the retrofit works are inspired by the PAS 2035 concepts.
The first of the main principles of PAS 2035 embedded in the project is definitely the “whole house retrofit” since the attention was driven to the entirety of the building rather than the individual elements. Second is the principle of bespoke project which recognises that the building is unique, and the project should take that into consideration. They go without saying the next two PAS 2035 values: a quality of works which improves efficiency and reduces defects; the “fabric first” concept which suggests that the building fabric should be improved before introducing any new energy systems. Last but not least, informed by of Awaab’s Law 2023 is the “Build tight, ventilate right” concept, to avoid dampness and mould in airtight buildings.
The Low Energy Visitors Centre scheme has been conducted in a cost-effective way while providing uncompromised quality but a further layer of saving effort needs to be mentioned due to the tight funding available.
A Cost-Effective and Resourceful Approach
As Herbert Simon theorised, it is only when the resources are limited that the human being’s creativity is advocated: this is definitely the case for this project.
In fact, the Low Energy Visitors Centre project has been achieved thanks to the proactive and inventive attitude of the internal team managing the scheme.
So if, on one hand, the various retrofit measures have been implemented under the attentive sight of the design and technical team of professionals involved in a way that all project works are relevant to the building and technically sound; on the other hand, the robust engagement programme has been crucial for the provision of materials, systems and consultancies free of charge or at reasonable/favourable costs: from the use of the in house consultancy (Architect, Project Managers, Engineers) to the involvement of the in house Housing contractor; from the negotiations with several ASHP (Air Source Heat Pump) and windows manufacturers/providers to the ventilation products free of charge.
Strong SME and Community Support
The SMEs (Small and medium-sized Enterprises) and local businesses that have been generously supporting the project, will be freely advertised in the exhibition space and hopefully will have good feedback and visibility out of this promotion. Their involvement in the Low Energy Visitors Centre scheme represents only one of the project’s target audience categories.
Residents as owner occupiers and tenants, local builders and tradesman, local schools, Council staff and members, and key local groups are the addressees groups that this project intends to inspire to retrofit their homes in order to better Havering’s domestic building stock.
To achieve this, the programme needed to make retrofit seem relevant, achievable and desirable to Havering residents, including those who have yet to engage with sustainability issues. Through the exhibition set-up, residents and builders/tradesmen will be informed about how retrofit can be done well.
Engagement Programme and Long-Term Impact
The engagement programme has partially started and will be enhanced before and soon after the opening of the Low Energy Visitors Centre. This will facilitate LBH in meeting the GLA grant funding requirements for measurable improvements, while also helping to connect council and volunteer initiatives, fostering collaboration between the council, Havering’s volunteers, retrofit contractors, and paid expert consultants. This successful collaboration will reduce costs and maximise outreach.
Havering already has an active volunteering community, with close ties to Havering council via LBH’s Community Support and Resilience Officer. These local groups and organisations are particularly important to engage with as they play a key role in the local community. For example, LBH has partnered with the Havering Volunteer Centre (HVC) to train and run Climate Change Community Champions (CCCs), of which there are 45 active members, mainly local residents. Havering’s CCCs have run numerous sustainability-focused events. It is expected that HVC will play a primary role in running the retrofit engagement programme. However, LBH will work with other local volunteer groups too – in order to disseminate information more widely to all residents, not just those already interested in sustainability.
Embedding Social Value at the Core of the Project
The Low Energy Visitor Centre, a name chosen to be devoid of jargon and therefore accessible as a concept, prioritises the long-term benefits offered to the community, environment and individuals. Inspired by the Government Social Value Model document, the embedding of Social Value in this retrofit project is at its heart.
Social Value UK defines social value as: “The quantification of the relative importance that people place on the changes they experience in their lives”. In other words, the social value an organisation creates goes beyond financial measures and considers the broader benefits to the community, environment, and individuals. In the Low Energy Visitor Centre, LBH has taken into account all themes and invigorated them for, with, and through the Havering communities. The social value outcomes will be recorded and updated in an internal shared platform and will be available on the Low Carbon Visitor Centre website, which is currently under construction.
The Retrofit Academy Awards 2025
The Retrofit Academy Awards 2025 took place in London as part of the National Retrofit Conference, celebrating excellence in retrofit across the UK.
Thank you to all our finalists, winners, and sponsors for making the event a success! Stay tuned as we prepare to launch the 2026 Awards.
The Retrofit Academy Awards 2026 – Save the Date!
- 01 September 2025: 2026 Entries Open
- 28 November 2025: Entry Deadline
- January 2026: Shortlist Announced
- 03 March 2026: Awards Ceremony
To learn more, visit:
