Co-Builders: Pre-Deconstruction Audit of the Factory Building (16+)
About this Event
You're warmly invited to a practical day on site for a small group to learn together with us as we conduct a pre-deconstruction audit of the Factory together, the main building of the site.
Across the day, we will introduce the Pre-Deconstruction Audit: what it is, why it matters and how it works as a tool to support us in reimagining the value we see in our existing buildings as stores of materials, labour, value, crafts, and histories.
Through guided site walkarounds with our Neighbourhood Public Square Design Team, having a go at hands-on material audit techniques, and time to analyse our findings and reflect, you will discover how processes of getting to know our buildings and what they are made of like this can support more resourceful approaches to repair, retrofit and construction in our homes, streets and neighbourhoods.
Building on our earlier Pre-Deconstruction Audit of the Microfactory space on site, now, working with Local Works Studio, alongside local building conservationist Elizabeth Thomson, our architects A00 and structural engineers Expedition, you will learn more bout how the design of Neighbourhood Public Square will be shaped by what we find together here today, with this day one part of a longer process on site throughout the week, with a role for everyone.
Your qualifications or existing skills are not important here, anyone aged over 16 is welcome to take part, but we ask that you bring your curiosity, attention and care to develop a deeper appreciation for the histories, skills and material cultures embedded within the site itself, at this special time from which to say 'I was there!' before we begin construction on site together!
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Practical Information
Dates: Thursday 9th July 2026
Time: 10.30am—4pm
Join us at 10am for coffee and arrivals
Locations:
- Retrofit House, 33 Link Road, Ladywood, Birmingham, B16 0EP
- Neighbourhood Public Square, Rotton Park Street, Birmingham, B16 0AB
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Is This For Me?
In this session we are learning live how we can work with on-site contractor teams to open up construction sites and processes to our neighbours and the public; ones that are typically closed. This learning session is the beginning of this journey, and we ask that you join us with intention and openness as we build this collective practice together.
This session is for people aged 16+ due to the nature of the site and activities.
No prior experience is required.
You Might Love This If...
- You live in Ladywood or the wider city and are interested to continue co-designing and co-building Neighbourhood Public Square together with us
- You're keen to learn more about the practical tools and proceses that support us to reimagine the value of materials around us, in ways that can practically facilitate more regenerative material practices in our places
- You are involved in the co-design and building of civic spaces in your own neighbourhood, or are interested in retrofit at the street and neighbourhood scale
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Site Safety
The audit will take place at the Neighbourhood Public Square site, which is located at Canalside House, Tubeworks, Rotton Park Street, Ladywood, Birmingham, B16 0AB.
- Closed toed shoes or boots must be worn on site—if you have hard soled shoes, such as site boots, walking boots, or winter boots of any kind, please do wear those
- Hi vis vests will be provided when you come into the Courtyard and we ask that you keep these on at all times whilst you are on the Neighbourhood Public Square site. Other PPE including hard hats, goggles, gloves and masks will be provided for when we’re working within the buildings — these will be compulsory PPE for all participants
- Please do not go beyond the designated areas, indicated by heras fencing and floor markings
- The ground is uneven in places, please navigate carefully and look out for each other
- A compost toilet will be available on this site, accessible by 3 stairs
- Please note, no food or uncovered drinks should be consumed on site, lunch and refreshments will be served from the park adjacent to site
If further information would support your visit, please email [email protected]. You can also let us know about any specific access requirements you may have during the sign up process, and where possible we will of course seek to meet these, whilst also being honest about the limitations of the current infrastructure where needed to ensure you have any information you may need before attending.
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Context
A pre-deconstruction audit is the process of identifying and documenting materials within a building before deconstruction or demolition, in order to identify reuse opportunities and create strategies for their careful deconstruction and storage. As a tool and practice, this challenges demolition-by-default and the linear material economy mindset, which too readily treats valuable materials as waste.
Rooted in the logics of a linear economy, construction, demolition and excavation account for around 61% of all UK waste, with demolition alone generating an estimated 30 to 40 million tonnes annually. Material reclamation and reuse are important practices if construction is to shift away from these degenerative norms that characterise most development both in the UK and globally, to instead design for regenerative, circular systems.
Pivoting to an approach that prioritises the re-use of buildings and their materials, fixtures and fittings requires us to think differently about existing buildings, and for the construction sector to develop new ways of thinking and working that are more resourceful and less impactful.
As we enter the construction phase of Neighbourhood Public Square, this full site Pre-Deconstruction Audit is a key layer of how we are bringing our Design for Reuse principle to life in practice.
Though we are approaching the retrofit through a ‘radical retention’ strategy, through the audit we will build a detailed picture of the materials which cannot be retained in situ and their value, constraints and opportunities within the Factory, and consider how these can support creative, resourceful reuse within the ongoing retrofit of the Neighbourhood Public Square site.
Our work across these days integrates learnings and practices we’ve picked up from various research visits and connections we’ve made with other inspiring, radical building precedents and organisations, including Rotor DC in Belgium and the work of Barbara Buser and Zirkular in Switzerland, as well as Local Works Studio in Lewes, who are co-leading this audit with us.
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Meet The Practitioner/s
Ben Bosence is a designer, researcher, builder and co-founder of Local Works Studio. He is committed to applying circular economy principles and knowledge of material reuse and invention to any project.
With a background in building repair, deconstruction and reuse, including as a Director of a building conservation company for 15 years working throughout the UK and Europe. Ben’s creative practice was informed by an education at the Royal College of Art in London, and he continues to research and innovate within his specialist field, developing new architectural and landscape-led design projects working with existing buildings, local materials, waste, crafts, and people.
Local Works Studio are a design studio whose work is led by what they find in the landscape and within its communities. Through mapping, making, deconstructing existing buildings and working with local materials, their work attempts to discover solutions to the challenges of life in the built environment in an era of dramatic environmental change.
Through a practice that combines Loretta’s experience working at a landscape scale and Ben’s years of work with materials and on building sites, Local Works bring the varied tools needed to make any site a more environmentally sustainable, equitable, interesting and joyful place to be. This includes producing audits that inform strategic reuse within design and construction projects.
Find out more:
Elizabeth Thomson has over 25 years’ experience in building conservation, contributing to a range of restoration projects including Stourport Basins, Edgbaston Reservoir and the Grade II* listed Roundhouse in Birmingham. She is currently involved in the conservation of churches within the Diocese of Birmingham.
In 2018, she began a part-time PhD at the University of Birmingham, focusing on the brickmaking industry of the Black Country. This collaborative studentship, funded by the Black Country Living Museum as part of its Forging Ahead development, builds on her practical involvement in heritage projects.
Her research explores the material culture of buildings and landscapes, with a particular emphasis on how everyday materials shape regional identity. Through a focus on bricks as both functional objects and cultural artefacts, she examines how ordinary materials are embedded in industrial, social, and architectural histories.
In her spare time she can be found rescuing bricks from skips for re-use.
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Site As A Classroom
Site As A Classroom is a long-term collective practice to ensure every phase of designing, building, repairing and stewarding our sites is an open, inclusive, and shared opportunity for learning together in our neighbourhood and beyond.
Our intention is for our team, neighbourhood, and wider national and industrial scales to learn from the ongoing demonstration through Neighbourhood Public Square and Retrofit House in real-time, as well as informing how we learn from what the site, ecoregion, neighbourhood, peers, and precedents can continue to teach us, without end.
Find out more: bit.ly/PublicSquareDesign
Agenda
🕑: 10:00 AM - 10:30 AM
Arrivals + Coffee
Info: At Retrofit House, 33 Link Road, Birmingham, B16 0EP
🕑: 10:30 AM - 11:30 AM
Morning Introductions + Context
Info: At Retrofit House, 33 Link Road, Birmingham, B16 0EP
🕑: 11:30 AM - 11:45 AM
Walk to the Neighbourhood Public Square site (10 mins)
Info: Neighbourhood Public Square, Rotton Park Street, Birmingham, B16 0AB
🕑: 11:45 AM - 12:30 PM
Site Walkaround with Architecture00, Expedition + Local Works Studio
Host: Filippa Hellsten
Info: At Neighbourhood Public Square, Rotton Park Street, Birmingham, B16 0AB
🕑: 12:30 PM - 01:30 PM
Lunch is Served
Info: At The Barge, South Loop Park, Rotton Park Street, Birmingham, B16 0AF
🕑: 01:30 PM - 02:30 PM
Practical Pre-Deconstruction Audit: Masonry + Bricks
🕑: 02:30 PM - 04:00 PM
A Closer Look At Bricks + What They Reveal w/ Ben Bosence + Elizabeth Thompson
Where is it happening?
Event Location & Nearby Stays:
GBP 0.00
