Categorisation of the building stock of Great Britain on a building use archetype level

Within the BuildZero research program, we are exploring the extent to which the UK’s future building needs may be met with zero material extraction, zero waste and zero carbon emissions. A first step in this mission is to gather a better understanding of the UK building stock, including: use types, construction form, building geometry, and variation of these factors by location. This paper explores the analysis of the existing building stock of Great Britain at a building use level, utilising building information from the Ordnance Survey National Geographic Database (OS NGD). Key geometrical attributes, such as the number of floors and the footprint area of the building, for example, have been investigated to determine what a ‘typical’ building of each use would look like, investigating how this varies by location across Great Britain. The ultimate aim of this is to use information on the structural form of different use types to assess adaptive reuse potential. The current building stock contains a wide variety of structural forms, ranging from 1–2 storey masonry brick housing to multi-storey frame structures. The prevalence and configuration of different frame types for building use classifications has been explored in an expert consultation workshop with practicing structural engineers. This paper presents these combined findings for the building stock of Great Britain, as the first step in identifying widespread adaptive reuse and component reuse potential, which will be undertaken during the remainder of the BuildZero project.