Delivering Scalable, High-Quality Retrofit Across London’s Social Housing Stock

Under the Warm Homes: Social Housing Fund (WHSF), Gbolade Design Studios (GDS) has been appointed as Retrofit Designer on a major multi-borough programme delivering over 250 home retrofits across London. Working with housing association clients and local authorities including Westminster City Council, Islington Council, and Camden Council, GDS is supporting the delivery of compliant, resident-focused, and future-proofed retrofit solutions aligned fully with the PAS 2035:2023 framework.

The programme spans a diverse and technically demanding portfolio of residential archetypes. These include traditional masonry buildings, post-war housing typologies, and occupied homes within conservation areas, each presenting distinct constraints around fabric performance, heritage sensitivity, and buildability. By adopting an archetype-led design strategy, GDS has enabled scale and consistency while retaining sufficient flexibility to respond to site-specific conditions, planning requirements, and resident needs. This approach has significantly reduced design risk, shortened delivery timelines, and supported cost certainty across the programme.

Operating strictly within the PAS 2035 process, GDS works in close collaboration with Retrofit Coordinators, Retrofit Assessors, and delivery partners. Our role extends beyond technical design to include early-stage option appraisal, risk pathway alignment, performance modelling, and clear technical documentation that supports informed decision-making by housing association asset and sustainability teams. This integrated working model has been instrumental in maintaining compliance, minimising redesign, and avoiding abortive costs during construction.

Value creation for our housing association clients has been a core focus. Through robust fabric-first strategies, coordinated sequencing of measures, and a pragmatic understanding of live social housing environments, GDS has helped clients maximise grant funding outcomes while reducing disruption to residents. Our detailed understanding of conservation constraints has also enabled clients to progress retrofit ambitions in sensitive locations that might otherwise have been deemed unviable.

The strength of delivery on this WHSF retrofit workstream has led to GDS being engaged on additional, parallel workstreams with the same clients. These include early-stage retrofit pipeline development, stock decarbonisation planning, and feasibility studies to support future funding rounds. This progression reflects the trust built through consistent technical excellence, collaborative working, and a clear understanding of housing associations’ strategic, financial, and operational drivers.

GDS continues to position retrofit not as a compliance exercise, but as a long-term asset optimisation and carbon reduction strategy—delivering measurable value today while future-proofing London’s social housing stock for decades to come.