Making An Impact

Orms prioritised reuseFrom Empty Buildings to Community Homes: A Pilot Model for Adaptive Reuse as Social Housing

Converting underused historic and heritage buildings into permanent affordable housing. Starting with Canute’s Palace (Grade I listed warehouse, Southampton), this pilot demonstrates how adaptive reuse — whether heritage, industrial, or commercial buildings — can prevent demolition, reduce waste, and create homes for people on waiting lists. A scalable model for communities nationwide. and design for disassembly through thoughtful collaboration in our retrofit first office fit-out, while also demonstrating reuse doesn’t have to look ‘recycled’.

“Empty buildings are not waste – they’re untapped assets waiting to house the people our communities have forgotten.”

HouseLottery is pioneering adaptive reuse as a solution to the UK housing crisis. We convert underused buildings — heritage, industrial, commercial — into permanent affordable homes, creating social value while reducing environmental waste.

Our pilot project, Canute’s Palace in Southampton, transforms a 12th century Grade I listed warehouse into social housing. This isn’t just preservation — it’s justice. With 1.3 million people on housing waiting lists and 670,000 empty historic buildings across the UK, adaptive reuse offers a proven alternative to demolition and new build.

Canute’s Palace will deliver:

Permanent affordable homes for people on waiting lists
Community facilities – a café and cultural space
Annual Medieval Summer Festival – bringing the city together
Environmental responsibility – reduced carbon, zero demolition waste
Heritage preservation – restoring a Grade I listed building with specialist care
This pilot proves adaptive reuse works and shows how to scale it across communities nationwide.

Commit

I founded HouseLottery in response to a crisis I’ve witnessed firsthand: empty historic buildings demolished while 1.3 million people wait for homes. As someone born and raised in Southampton, I watched beautiful heritage structures demolished in my youth, a waste of architecture, history, and potential.

I witnessed the demolition of Southampton’s last thatched cottage – a piece of our heritage lost forever. That moment crystallized my mission: adaptive reuse, not demolition.

After decades overseas, I returned to see the problem worse. The housing emergency is real. The solution exists – but it requires courage to challenge the status quo.

I signed the Circularity Pledge because adaptive reuse embodies everything I believe in:

Waste prevention – historic buildings are not rubbish; they’re assets
Circular economy – reuse over demolition
Social justice, homes for people in need, not luxury developments
Environmental responsibility – lower carbon, preserved heritage
Canute’s Palace is my proof of concept. A Grade I listed 12th century warehouse can become permanent social housing, a community café, and a cultural hub. This isn’t charity – it’s systemic change.

I’m signing this pledge to signal that circular practices aren’t just environmental – they’re essential to solving the housing crisis. Every empty building represents a choice: demolish and waste, or adapt and serve.

The Circularity Pledge aligns with my mission to prove that adaptive reuse works and to inspire other communities to do the same.

Plan

Our Methodology:

HouseLottery’s approach to adaptive reuse is grounded in three core principles: heritage preservation, community engagement, and financial viability.

Phase 1: Assessment & Stakeholder Engagement We identify underused buildings (heritage, industrial, commercial) and engage with local authorities, heritage experts, architects, and communities. For Canute’s Palace, we secured pre-application advice from Historic England and consulted with conservation specialists to understand structural and heritage requirements.

Phase 2: Feasibility & Design We work with specialist architects (like Denz Beck, Hampshire Conservation Architect) to develop conversion plans that respect heritage while meeting modern building standards. For Grade I listed buildings, this requires meticulous care but it’s achievable.

Phase 3: Funding & Partnership We identify funding sources (grants, social investment, Community Land Trusts) and build partnerships with housing developers, social enterprises, and local authorities. We’re exploring Community Land Trust models to ensure permanent affordability.

Phase 4: Implementation & Community Benefit Once approved, we deliver the conversion with community involvement. Canute’s Palace will include permanent social housing, a community café, and an annual Medieval Summer Festival – ensuring the building serves the whole city.

Our Goals:

Deliver Canute’s Palace as a pilot model (5+ homes, community facilities)
Demonstrate that Grade I listed buildings can be converted cost-effectively
Build a replicable framework for other communities
Create permanent affordable housing (via Community Land Trust)
Reduce demolition waste and preserve heritage
Inspire nationwide adoption of adaptive reuse for social housing
Success Metrics:

Homes delivered and occupied
Heritage preserved to Grade I standards
Community engagement and local support
Funding secured and partnerships established
Model documented and shared with other communities

Partner

Building Support for the Concept:

HouseLottery is a concept I’m developing to demonstrate that adaptive reuse of empty buildings can solve housing shortages. It’s not yet a formal organization – it’s a vision I’m testing with stakeholders to see if it’s viable.

Validation of the Concept: I’ve consulted with heritage and housing specialists to validate the idea:

A Hampshire Conservation Architect confirmed that mixed-use adaptive reuse (social housing + community café) is feasible for Grade I listed buildings, if managed by a skilled team.
Historic England provided pre-application advice on Canute’s Palace.
SPAB offered guidance on conservation standards.
A social housing architect reviewed the concept and supported the approach of serving community need.
Stakeholder Interest: I’ve engaged with Southampton City Council and shared the concept with local communities. Interest has been positive, but formal partnerships haven’t been established yet because HouseLottery itself is still in development.

Why I’m Signing the Circularity Pledge: I’m signing as an individual founder, not as a formal organization. This pledge commits me to exploring adaptive reuse as a solution and to documenting what I learn so others can replicate the model.

The Reality: This is a pilot concept. It may succeed. It may not. But the principle is sound: empty buildings + housing need = opportunity. I’m testing whether that principle can become reality.

By sharing this case study, I’m inviting others to:

Validate the concept
Identify barriers and solutions
Join in building the model
Replicate it in their own communities
I’m not claiming formal partnerships I don’t have. I’m being transparent about where I am: a founder with a vision, expert validation, and growing support but still proving the concept works.

Act

Implementation to Date:

HouseLottery’s implementation focuses on proving the adaptive reuse model works and building the foundation for Canute’s Palace.

Phase 1: Feasibility & Validation (Completed) We consulted with heritage specialists to validate that Grade I listed buildings can be converted into mixed-use social housing. This wasn’t theoretical – we got real feedback from architects, conservation experts, and Historic England. The result: confirmation that it’s feasible with skilled teams and appropriate management.

Phase 2: Policy Advocacy (In Progress) We launched a parliamentary petition highlighting the 1993 National Lottery rule that blocks social housing funding. This isn’t just complaining – it’s identifying the systemic barrier and demanding change. The petition documents why 670,000 empty buildings remain unused while 1.3 million people wait for homes.

Phase 3: Stakeholder Engagement (In Progress) We’ve engaged with:

Historic England (pre-application advice)
Southampton City Council (Conservation Officer)
Heritage specialists and social housing architects
Local communities
Organizations like Don’t Waste Buildings and Circularity in Practice
Each conversation validates the concept and builds momentum.

Phase 4: Documentation & Replication (In Progress) We’re documenting every step – barriers, solutions, partnerships, learnings – so other communities can replicate the model. This case study is part of that documentation.

Sustainability: Our approach is sustainable because it’s grounded in real need (housing crisis), real assets (empty buildings), and real expertise (heritage specialists, architects, housing advocates). We’re not relying on charity or goodwill – we’re building a model that serves communities and makes economic sense.

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Sharing Our Journey:

HouseLottery is committed to transparency – documenting our work so others can learn, replicate, and scale adaptive reuse across the UK.

Public Communication: We share our progress through multiple channels:

LinkedIn – regular posts about the project, barriers we face, and solutions we discover
Parliamentary Petition – a public call to reform the 1993 National Lottery rule, with documented evidence of why it matters
Case Studies & Documentation – like this submission to Circularity in Practice – showing what’s possible and what needs to change
Direct Engagement, conversations with policymakers, architects, housing advocates, and communities
Why Transparency Matters: We’re not hiding our challenges. We’re naming them:

Grade I listed buildings require specialist care (and investment)
Planning systems move slowly
Funding rules block social reuse
But none of these are insurmountable
By being honest about barriers, we invite others to help solve them.

Inspiring Replication: Our goal is to prove the model works – then show other communities how to do it. We’re documenting:

Which buildings are suitable for adaptive reuse
How to navigate heritage conservation requirements
Funding pathways (grants, CLTs, social investment)
Partnership models that work
Community engagement strategies
Quantifiable Impact (Our Goal): Within 12 months, we aim to:

Secure planning approval for Canute’s Palace
Demonstrate feasibility of Grade I listed conversion
Build a replicable framework
Inspire at least 3 other communities to explore similar projects
Within 3 years:

Deliver 5+ permanent social homes at Canute’s Palace
Establish a community café and cultural space
Host the first Medieval Summer Festival
Document lessons learned for nationwide adoption
The Bigger Picture: This isn’t just about one building. It’s about proving that adaptive reuse – circular economy in practice can solve the housing crisis. Every empty building represents a choice: demolish and waste, or adapt and serve.

By sharing our journey, we’re inviting the UK to choose differently.

Orms prioritised reuse and design for disassembly through thoughtful collaboration in our retrofit first office fit-out, while also demonstrating reuse doesn’t have to look ‘recycled’.

Commit

Orms seeks to develop sustainable architecture that responds to historic and cultural contexts.
We are honoured to be signatories of the pledge, reinforcing our commitment to best practice in terms of circularity on our projects and supporting industry through our advocacy.

Plan

Existing elements in the Cat-A fit-out were treated as a resource for the Cat-B fit-out from the outset. We also committed to design classics which could be refurbished and move with us for decades to come and what couldn’t be kept was redirected to reuse specialists or take-back schemes. We also created a database of product passports for FF&E items to support reuse.

Partner

Over recent years we’ve piloted take-back and closed-loop recycling schemes with suppliers including SAS, Franchi, Saint-Gobain and Hydro. That collaboration shaped our fit-out approach: glass went to Saint-Gobain’s take-back scheme, while carpet tiles, lighting and joinery were passed to the landlord and reuse specialists.

Act

We’ve been working to redefine Business as Usual for the waste arising from our projects, starting conversations early and setting robust criteria for reuse and closed loop recycling. We’re also tracking key materials across all our projects. Our approach is to maximise circularity opportunities on our projects while also working long-term to support wider systems change.

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We welcome visitors to our office to see our fit-out for themselves, in addition to sharing our experience at events such as Footprint+ and attending roundtables with the FIS Reuse Hub, Saint Gobain Plasterboard, End CAT A lighting waste campaign

Material reuse is central to circularity in construction, but commercial viability often presents an obstacle.

Commit

Our commitment to Circularity in Practice is the ultimate fit for our ethos: carbon-driven engineering with positive commercial outcomes. Through engaging early with the client, our team could develop their idea into action.

A small project that had a big impact, the Circularity in Practice initiative provided an excellent outlet to showcase how steel reuse can provide commercial positives when engineered correctly.

Navigating Grade-II facades and ambitious sustainability goals, the project engineered the UK’s first ready-for-reuse steel salvage operation. One Golden Lane provided an opportunity to engineer a UK-first and prove steel reuse can dramatically reduce emissions without reducing profit.

Plan

Our Circularity outlook was not to create a new macro system, but enable microsystems that, when added together, create meaningful change. To do so, we worked closely with the team at Castleforge to understand their goals for the retro-scheme.

Planning was meticulous to ensure the grade-listed façade could remain intact and protected while we undertook the steel salvage. With commercial viability as our north star, it was essential that the steel beams salvaged were incorporated into the final design, meaning consultation and collaboration with the structural engineers’ plans was essential to our planning.

Partner

We collaborated with the design team, structural engineers, and the client, to ensure the feasibility and effectiveness of steelwork reuse in carbon footprint reduction. It is an approach that fosters trust and promotes sustainable solutions as a point of galvanisation within the construction industry.

Alongside our client, Castleforge, we sought to understand their circular economy goals and reduce the embodied carbon of their build, before working with our partners at Westok steel to plan and facilitate the steel cutting, transportation, and storage.

Act

The demolition works themselves were complex and needed careful deconstruction to avoid damage of the historic facade. Through collaboration with a clear sustainable goal, 5.5 tonnes of steel was carefully removed and galvanised for reuse in the retro-fit scheme.

Our Construction Engineering Team then developed a sequence to systematically remove the huge steel beams while preserving the structural integrity of the grade-listed structure. The team designed a sequence to salvage the steel beams without the need for smelting before re-use.

Instead, the refabrication process involved ribbon-cutting existing beams to enhance their stiffness, keeping them at the ready for re-use. It is a technique never before employed on reused steel sections.

Through meticulous cut and carve deconstruction, 98% of the building was retained and 25 football pitches of carbon saved – championing circularity principles for London’s historic built environment.

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One Golden Lane trailblazed a reuse mindset for the industry at large. It’s a testament to how a circularity mindset can build the future and preserve the past. The scheme has been used as a case study in proving to clients that engineering circular economy principles into designs is a profitable way to redevelop existing sites.

Pledge

Change comes from collective effort across the entire value chain. It means working with clients, local authorities, residents, and suppliers to ingrain reuse and sustainability as the default in the built environment.

Communication and planning are key to identifying opportunities and turning them into a sustainable reality. At South Molton, the ambitious retrofit project had even more ambitious sustainability goals – a relationship-led partnership with Grosvenor meant reusability capitalised on its potential.

Commit

Circularity is a reflex – it drives our work on complex London projects, showcasing our ability and commitment to driving real change in the built environment through transformational projects. Driven by our long-term partners, collaboration was key to delivering sustainable outcomes.

Temporary works inform permanent embodied carbon. At South Molton, we committed to showcasing how thoughtful planning, motivation and innovation identify opportunities to slash carbon and create a new normal in delivering circular construction.

Plan

We’ve been recycling for years, but new technologies mean materials have a clear path to a new life – closing the circular economy loop. Pre-deconstruction audits were planned to identify opportunities inside the building and in its heritage stonework.

The partial deconstruction needed to avoid damaging the architecturally significant façade and salvage the Portland Stone for future reuse. The activities offered exciting opportunities to trial innovative construction techniques enabled through collaboration from project infancy, bringing together stakeholders throughout our supply chain to create buildable solutions.

Partner

Our steel partners at Westok were key in developing the modular façade system. Matching their manufacturing techniques and our Construction Engineering expertise, the team collaborated to create a system that didn’t just champion reuse on this site, but on numerous McGee sites in the future.

Digitised reuse marketplaces were key platforms to engineering a multidimensional sustainability scheme at South Molton. The pre-demolition audit helped identify potential reuse items, however, our collaboration with third-party platforms such as Globechain and EMR resurrected the materials’ lifecycles.

A further initiative, our own The ReUse Network, brought together local community partners to gift reusable materials such as timber, tyres, and soft furnishings to groups who could make further use of them. Essentially a community initiative, it was repurposing with purpose.

Through collaboration, our teams proved that when sustainability is a common goal, new ways of working can be implemented to achieve circular outcomes.

Act

The biggest innovation was the development of a new, modular, multi-use façade retention scheme made of already reused steel. The initiative took circularity for a loop, putting to task existing salvaged steel and shaping it into sections that can be pieced together to suit multiple retention services – including preserving the grade-listed heritage façade at South Molton.

The project redefined circularity in temporary works and heritage salvage with 4,750 Portland Stones dismantled and 282tCO2e of carbon saved. Our façade retention system can be efficiently erected, dismantled, and tailored to suit, while the pre-deconstruction audit also saw 5,500 material items listed on second-hand markets towards a new life.

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The project gained acclaim across prestigious industry awards, including the Construction news Specialist Awards’ Outstanding Contribution to Sustainability.

The signature circular yellow steel stands out across London, acting as its own publicity piece, however, partnering with our client at Grosvenor, the project was detailed across multiple social media platforms to highlight circular initiatives in action.

Pledge

We’re working to facilitate innovation throughout the construction industry. It means collaboration throughout each phase and instilling an appetite for sustainable innovations that can drive the built environment further in its sustainability ambitions.