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Retrofit Street is a people-powered ‘retrofit’ programme taking place on Andover Road, guided by the question of “What if the climate transition and retrofit of our homes, streets, and neighbourhoods were designed, owned, and governed by the people who live there?”

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Led by WeCanMake and Knowle West Media Centre, over the last 2 years, Retrofit Street has brought together local residents, designers, researchers, and technical experts to explore ideas around what it means to make our homes, streets and neighbourhoods better for people and planet, to try them out for real, and then share the learning with others. Together, they have developed an innovative Knowle West Retrofit Recipe that includes:

• Bio-based fabric improvements to improve insulation while keeping upfront carbon low;
• Shared renewable energy systems between neighbours and streets that boost shared understanding and deliver greater system efficiency;
• Spatial improvements to homes to ease issues such as over-crowding and noise transfer between neighbouring properties;
• Improvements to green infrastructure in front gardens and streets, including street trees for shade, biodiverse planting, and rainwater harvesting.

See below for how you can get involved!

Context – why retrofit?

The UK’s homes are among the oldest and leakiest in Europe, prone to freezing in winter and overheating in summer.  Between now and 2050, 27 million homes in the UK need to be retrofitted – one home every 35 seconds.

Built as part of the wave of “homes fit for heroes” after the First World War, the council-built estate of Knowle West was once seen as the future of housing. One hundred years on, with poor insulation, solid wall construction and high reliance on gas, Knowle West homes are ill-equipped for the climate emergency.

Through demonstrating “people-first” retrofit, could Knowle West become the future of housing once again?

Who’s doing the work?

Six households have been deeply involved in the Retrofit Street process since we began in November 2023, attending workshops and events to co-design solutions to make their homes warmer, drier, and better suited to their needs.

An important part of the Retrofit Street programme is training and employing local people to carry out the retrofit work. This way, retrofit helps to build know-how, collective agency, and community wealth.

The Neighbourhood Trade Crew are the first cohort of local people trained in how to deliver the Knowle West Retrofit Recipe. Works to the six homes on the demonstrator street include: installing biomaterial insulation, clay-plastering, draft-proofing, installing green-roofed bike stores, and planting street trees and biodiverse gardens.

You might see them around the neighbourhood in customised hi-vis. If so, say hello!

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How to get involved

We have a number of events coming up on Andover Road:

🔨 DIY and Community Energy Trade Schools – Spring 2026

Want to learn useful DIY skills so you can care and repair things in your home, street and neighbourhood? Curious to know how a community-owned energy system could work in the neighbourhood? We will be running a series of Neighbourhood DIY Masterclasses in Spring 2026! Please send us an email at the address below, and we will be in touch with more information.

Get in touch: [email protected] / Instagram / Facebook

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For more information: