Lambeth Palace Masterplan: Decarbonising a Historic Estate

Home to the Archbishops of Canterbury for 800 years, the buildings of Lambeth Palace are resonant with history and a Scheduled Ancient Monument. Over the centuries, the Palace and its occupants have marked momentous events as well as celebrated the routines of daily life, worship, ministry and hospitality. Wright & Wright's masterplan for the Palace estate augments and extends this continuum through a programme of repair, remodelling and new interventions. It also responds to the wider strategic goal set by the General Synod for all parts of the Church of England to work to become carbon net zero by 2030.

The first phase consolidated the Church's archives-the most important collection of religious artefacts outside the Vatican - in a purpose-designed building in the gardens of Lambeth Palace. Completed in 2019, it incorporates a study centre, exhibition space and conservation studio with extensive archive stores. At its heart, in the great tradition of the monastic library as a scholarly refuge, is the reading room, a major set-piece space that anchors and animates the building.

Mindful of the imperative to conserve resources in the longer term, the new building is designed to endure and age gracefully. Its effectiveness is enhanced by its negligible consumption of energy, low-carbon emissions and a philosophy of low maintenance. Half the library's energy requirements are generated by photovoltaic panels on the roof, while rainwater is sustainably channelled into a new pond in the Archbishop's garden, encouraging biodiversity, as part of a wider landscaping strategy.

The highly insulated masonry mass acts as a mechanism of natural heating and cooling while the largely imperforate form shields the Archbishop's garden from noise and pollution generated by traffic on Lambeth Palace Road. As well as harmonising with existing historic elements, the mixture of handmade bricks offers variations in hue and texture, generating a visually rich palette which endures over time, subtly changing with age.

The Church Commissioners defined the requirement for the project to be an exemplary building in terms of social and environmental sustainability. The planning department required the project to be BREEAM 'Good', but the design team, with the client's support, sought to make the project BREEAM 'Excellent'. Over time, the new library, will be monitored to assess and refine its performance in use.

Ongoing phases of the masterplan currently involve the refurbishment and upgrading of Lambeth Palace. The physical state of the palace presented a number of challenges. Composed of buildings from different eras, spanning the 13th to the 19th centuries, the Grade I listed complex had languished for some time, necessitating a comprehensive programme of repair. Little had been done to the buildings since the Second World War, and the basic infrastructure for heating and electrics, which were found to be embedded in asbestos, were failing badly and required replacement.

Based on a fabric-first approach, upgrading the existing building fabric has been prioritised, reducing the energy required to heat and cool internal spaces. As with the British Museum, the creation of a new energy centre will enable a move away from current reliance on fossil fuels. Ultimately, the entire palace will be served by this energy centre, augmented by on-site renewables. Increased public access is a further long-term ambition, with works planned to the Great Hall, Guard Room, Chapel and Crypt Chapel to improve access to the palace's historic core

Through the sensitive transformation of existing spaces, rationalisation of services and careful choice of materials, each phase of development will be low in embodied carbon. The contractor was brought in early as part of a two-stage tender to partner with the design team. This allowed a complex set of site logistics to be resolved and planned around significant events, such as the ten-yearly Lambeth Conference, with 2000 guests. It also instilled the necessary resilience to plan around less predictable events, such as the royal funeral and coronation.