People not buildings

Rethinking how retrofit is designed, delivered and experienced by the people it’s meant to serve.

Lochend, Edinburgh

When good intentions go wrong

I live in Lochend, an area of high deprivation in north east Edinburgh (Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation 2020). Since 2023 a government-funded retrofit programme has been rolled out across our neighbourhood, including my home.

Despite good intentions, the programme design did not follow the reality of what a low income community needs. For many of us this has resulted in debt, poor quality works, damage, and in some cases eviction. Others have been left with no improvements at all.

Watch: The Lochend story

About Mel

People
are the point

Mel facilitating a retrofit workshop

I’m Mel Esquerre, a Lochend resident, researcher and service designer.

I’m interested in what it takes to make retrofit work for people on low incomes, not just those who can afford to pay. That starts with trust, built before anything else is designed. I call it pre-design trust.

My work starts with people’s lived realities, asking what needs to change in the way retrofit is designed and delivered so that residents aren’t left carrying the cost of getting it wrong.

I’ve worked across social housing, energy efficiency and construction. For the past three years, I’ve also campaigned on retrofit with Living Rent, bringing what I’ve seen in Lochend to conversations with industry and councils so that others don’t have to go through the same thing.

My Churchill Fellowship explored what becomes possible when residents are trusted to shape retrofit: Read the report ↗

Contact

Get in touch

I work with governments, councils, housing providers, funders and researchers who want retrofit and other public programmes to work for the people they’re meant to serve. That might mean advising on programme design, speaking at an event, sharing what I’ve learned in Lochend, or collaborating on research. If that sounds like you, get in touch.