Should you demolish and rebuild, or renovate?

Not just a question of money

Perit Matthew James Mercieca from MJM|DA won't answer this on cost alone: "it's not just a question of sense. I think it's a question of assessing the heritage value, assessing the sustainability of the development." Financial terms, he says, are "not the only thing that should be considered."

When heritage decides

The clearest case is where the numbers and the building disagree: "sometimes it might make sense financially, but from a heritage point of view, it's not even possible."

If the property sits in an Urban Conservation Area — a historic core protected through the Planning Authority's Local Plans — heritage is part of the conversation from the start, and it can also shape whether a grant applies.

Four factors, weighed together

Matthew's answer is a balance rather than a rule:

• Cost — the financial case for each option
• Heritage — the value of what is already there
• Context — the setting the building sits in
• The users' needs — what the people who will live there actually need

"Weighing all these elements together are going to give us the right response as to when one should rebuild or renovate."

Where to start

Begin with the questions to ask before buying a property to renovate, then check what needs planning permission before committing to either route.

Sources

• Perit Matthew James Mercieca — Yitaku Asks video (Architect Series, Cluster 4: cost, heritage, context and users' needs weighed together; financial sense alone is not enough; heritage can rule demolition out)
• Development Planning Act, Chapter 552 — development control
• Cultural Heritage Act, Chapter 445 — protection of cultural heritage, including the built environment