Life on the high street: The case for office-to-resi conversions

Traditionally, people have always lived above shops in town centres, creating a healthy mix of residences and commerce. This has somehow been eroded over recent decades, but perhaps this simple idea is worth revisiting as the government calls on the industry to support its goal of building 1.5 million new homes by 2029.

If we are thinking creatively about where we can deliver new homes for people, then office-to-residential conversions are a compelling option, which can be delivered at pace through permitted development. Producing new homes in this way helps us to maintain the character of the local area, while saving on the carbon emissions that would be created through demolition and new-build.

It is important to stress that we are not suggesting hollowing out the high street or sacrificing commercial activities. It is, in fact, extremely important to protect the life and vitality of the high street as it contributes so much to local economies and the attractiveness of an area.

The case for conversion is stronger than the debate currently reflects

However, we are seeing empty buildings that could be put to good use, as beautifully converted buildings in which to live. Our practice has spent over a decade working on high streets, and we believe the case for conversion is stronger than the debate currently reflects.

Office-to-residential conversion has a reputation problem. It is still associated with poor-quality homes crammed into unsuitable spaces. However, there have been bad new-builds just as there have been poorly-considered conversions.

Nobody is suggesting that we stop all housebuilding, so the same logic should be applied to retrofit. We must learn from past failures rather than abandoning the idea altogether.

The reality is that conversion, under permitted development, can be significantly quicker than new-build and the outcome is more pre-determined, making it a more attractive and lower-risk proposition for investment. The impact on neighbours is genuinely much less than a comparable new-build scheme, as you are not changing what is physically there, only the function happening inside. Also, the absence of lengthy public consultation means homes can be delivered at a pace which matches the urgency of demand.

Crucially, these buildings are already where people need to be – close to shops, transport links and existing infrastructure. We are not talking about building in fields (for edge-of-town developments) or on green belt land. We are exploring ways to unlock the space that already exists, in places that are already functioning well for the surrounding population.

There is a contradiction at the heart of much heritage-led planning. The same conservation instincts which seek to protect beloved local buildings can leave them to decline through disuse.

High street buildings are often local landmarks with genuine architectural character, featuring generous floor heights, distinctive details and corner plots which give them a civic presence, excellent daylight and ventilation. These qualities make for exceptional homes that allow us to preserve local identity and a sense of place, rather than the kind of soulless development that could be dropped anywhere.

Our client recently received approval to transform 111 Sydenham Road (otherwise known as The Cake Shop) and it is an excellent case in point. The building was not working in its previous life as a mixed-use commercial space, so we looked at ways to create new homes that better support the surrounding community.

The handsome Edwardian corner building was the former home to Slatters bakery, and we have designed seven new apartments on the upper floors, with the ground floor commercial uses retained and enhanced, featuring two new shopfronts to increase active frontage and employment opportunities on the high street.

The building’s red-brick facade and bay windows remain largely unchanged. Inside, the apartments feature open-plan living spaces, a mix of one, two and three-bedroom layouts, and a design language drawn from the building’s own history, with cake-inspired bathrooms and a colour palette referencing three generations of baking. They are not faceless boxes and new residents will be stitched into the local fabric from the moment they move in.

Perhaps the strongest argument for conversion is the environmental one. There is a widely circulated assumption that demolition and new-build is economically incentivised through VAT savings on new construction versus retrofit. This encourages demolition when adaptation is almost always the more sustainable choice, particularly as conversions result in buildings being brought up to current Part L standards.

The embodied carbon locked into an existing building is enormous. At the Cake Shop project, the existing steel structure is being retained, while new materials are timber, wood fibre insulation and natural slate. The heating system uses exhaust air heat pumps requiring no external units, delivering low-carbon, all-electric heating without the usual visual clutter.

The workspace retrofit market is struggling and buildings outside of central London will suffer most if we wait for commercial demand to rescue them. Converting them to homes, using the residential market to fund a low-carbon retrofit represents a better outcome.

We have the skills, the planning tools and the buildings. We just need to be careful about what we adapt and where.