Retrofitted South Manchester by Pragnya Thakur is an MArch thesis about upgrading existing housing, lowering carbon and making retrofit feel like a civic project rather than a technical afterthought.
The strongest angle is the link between EnerPHit performance, everyday homes and the wider question of how neighbourhoods adapt without losing their social fabric.
Project gallery
The project image gives the retrofit idea a clear visual anchor, showing the building section and environmental thinking behind the thesis.
Project overview
Pragnya developed the project through her MArch work at Manchester School of Architecture, focusing on South Manchester’s ageing residential stock and the potential for deep retrofit.
Rather than treating sustainability as a generic claim, the project uses EnerPHit as a measurable standard and asks what that means for homes, streets and communities.
Why retrofit architecture matters here
Retrofit architecture is powerful because the brief starts with what already exists. The design challenge is not only to improve performance, but to make the upgrade legible, liveable and socially useful.
- The existing housing problem is clear.
- EnerPHit gives the thesis a technical target.
- The proposal connects energy performance to community life.
- The section drawing helps explain how the building changes.
Portfolio lesson
A retrofit project needs more than before-and-after imagery. It should show the existing condition, the performance ambition, the design intervention and the lived outcome.
Showcase your own retrofit project
Architecture Social can showcase student work when the project explains the existing building, the design intervention and the wider value clearly.
- Show the original condition before the design response.
- Explain what is being upgraded and why.
- Use drawings that make the environmental strategy easy to understand.
- Connect technical performance to human experience.
Common mistakes
- Talking about sustainability without showing the mechanism.
- Showing technical layers without explaining the user benefit.
- Ignoring the social life of existing neighbourhoods.
- Making the retrofit look like a product rather than a design process.
Architecture Social view
Stephen’s recruiter view is that retrofit is a useful portfolio theme because practices need people who can work intelligently with existing buildings. The best project pages show judgement, not just ambition.
Next step
Explore more Architecture Social projects, use the portfolio guide to make technical work easier to read, or submit your own student project.
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