Woodside Multi-Storey Flats by Collective Architecture is a high-rise residential deep retrofit and energy upgrade project of 2021 in the United Kingdom, Glasgow. While the 22-storey blocks functioned as uninsulated, energy-inefficient social housing before the intervention, the transformation of 2021 provided triple-glazed windows, advanced extraction systems, high-efficiency hot water cylinders, and enclosed balcony winter gardens, increasing the usable surface area from a collection of drafty, underutilized flats to 314 modernized, low-energy homes for 1,000 residents.
This project contributes to the social-ecological transformation by executing a fabric-first Passivhaus retrofit on three high-rise blocks, avoiding the massive embodied carbon footprint of demolition and rebuilding. It successfully mitigates localized fuel poverty by securing an 80% reduction in heating demand through superior insulation and triple glazing, allowing residents to leverage low-cost, off-peak electricity tariffs. Additionally, the project elevates local social capital by enclosing existing open balconies into usable, all-weather winter gardens that provide safe communal play and gathering areas.
Glasgow
United Kingdom
Housing
Housing
2021