‘Long Life, Low Energy’ at RIBA celebrates sustainable architecture strategies

RIBA’s ‘Long Life, Low Energy’ exhibition opens in London, highlighting sustainable architecture strategies at their best

RIBA's Long Life, Low Energy exhibition
(Image credit: Agnese Sanvito)

‘Long Life, Low Energy: Designing for a circular economy’, the latest exhibition to open at RIBA's London headquarters on Portland Place takes a much-discussed issue – namely sustainable architecture – and dissects it in a disarmingly clear and simple way. No mean feat, considering how complicated and multi-layered designing eco-consciously can be. But this show has it all – case studies, numbered sections and a straightforward, accessible breakdown of strategies and steps an architect can take in order to bring a piece of building design closer to that coveted net-zero result. 

displays at RIBA's Long Life, Low Energy exhibition

(Image credit: Agnese Sanvito)

‘Long Life, Low Energy’ at RIBA

Curated by Pete Collard, the show 'demonstrates how the principles of the circular economy can help create more sustainable, net-zero architecture for the future’, the RIBA website explains. And the exhibition’s sections do that quite effectively. 

There is a section on working with low-tech methods, embracing plant-based materials such as ultra-sustainable cork, sourcing elements through urban mining and making the most of being hyper-local. 

RIBA's Long Life, Low Energy exhibition and its wooden interior

(Image credit: Agnese Sanvito)

Circular design and reuse also take a prominent role – as examples of the scale of the Battersea Power Station and Park Hill show. But there are smaller, 'everyday' gems that do just that too, such as Alma-nac's House Within A House

Meanwhile, a stance against demolishing existing buildings and saving what can be saved and adapted bolsters ‘Long Life, Low Energy’s environmentally friendly thesis. 

display panels at RIBA's Long Life, Low Energy exhibition

(Image credit: Agnese Sanvito)

The exhibition is relatively small in scale, but its premise and content feel rich and layered. 'RIBA’s Built for the Environment report shows that 40 per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions are attributable to buildings and construction, consuming about 50 per cent of all raw materials worldwide in the process. 

‘In addition, over 50,000 buildings are demolished each year across the UK, many of which could have been repurposed. The circular economy offers ways to reduce these unsustainable figures, seeking to eliminate waste by reusing buildings and their material components wherever possible,' the RIBA writes of the show. 

wooden panels at RIBA's Long Life, Low Energy exhibition

(Image credit: Agnese Sanvito)

displays against timber backdrop at RIBA's Long Life, Low Energy exhibition

(Image credit: Agnese Sanvito)

RIBA's Long Life, Low Energy exhibition timber clad interiors

(Image credit: Agnese Sanvito)

RIBA's Long Life, Low Energy exhibition interior

(Image credit: Agnese Anvito)

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Ellie Stathaki is the Architecture & Environment Director at Wallpaper*. She trained as an architect at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki in Greece and studied architectural history at the Bartlett in London. Now an established journalist, she has been a member of the Wallpaper* team since 2006, visiting buildings across the globe and interviewing leading architects such as Tadao Ando and Rem Koolhaas. Ellie has also taken part in judging panels, moderated events, curated shows and contributed in books, such as The Contemporary House (Thames & Hudson, 2018), Glenn Sestig Architecture Diary (2020) and House London (2022).