Education Estates Conference: Why Heritage Buildings are an Asset to Modern Education
Dominique Haslam, Partner, Wilson Mason
Heritage buildings are among the most valuable assets of many of the UK’s universities and something that we should be proud of. They provide us with inspirational, memorable teaching environments and set us apart from higher education institutions in many other countries.
With the right vision and support, these unique buildings can be reimagined to remain at the forefront of modern education environments for generations to come.
This was an important takeaway for me from the Education Estates 2026 conference at Manchester Central in October.
I presented on Wilson Mason’s experience of transforming computer laboratories at the historic King William Building at the University of Greenwich in a session focused on adapting historic buildings for modern education.
I also attended a number of inspiring sessions exploring how educational buildings can be regenerated and reused, including what the education sector can learn from the management of major public estates including the Ministry of Justice and Ministry of Defence.
The scale of our heritage estate:
The UK’s higher education institutions have thousands of listed and heritage buildings. Across the Universities of Edinburgh, Glasgow, Oxford, Cambridge and Manchester alone, there are more than 430 listed buildings. At the University of Cambridge, listed buildings account for around 19% of the total floorspace.
The scale of heritage assets across many of the UK’s top universities means many of these institutions are faced with the challenge of conserving and celebrating their history while maximising their benefit for modern education purposes.
Wilson Mason’s recent project at the University of Greenwich was the focus of my presentation Old Buildings, New Futures. The key challenge for the university was to create a high-quality teaching environment within spaces that had undergone very little modernisation for the past 27 years, to help support increased student capacity.
Understanding before designing:
The building is part of the Old Royal Naval College. It dates back to 1698 and forms part of a UNESCO World Heritage site. A key lesson from the project was to challenge assumptions about what could and couldn’t be achieved within a building of such rich historical significance.
We invested time to understand the building’s fabric, liaising with Historic England to understand what could be done, while being sensitive to the building’s historic features, and with the university to understand exactly how the space would be used.
This meant design decisions were informed by evidence rather than assumptions about the space’s limitations, which I believe is key to the restoration of all heritage buildings. For example, testing of the university’s computer equipment highlighted the computer cooling load in the brief could be reduced by 60-70 per cent. This reduced the need for a new cooling plant, allowing us to minimise interventions to the building while maintaining the student capacity.
Other features developed from this early interrogation included integrating building services and technology into furniture and existing building elements, reopening historic sash windows to improve ventilation and acoustic improvements.
Key lessons:
Focus: Put detailed optioneering into packages essential to the brief
De-risk: Build mitigation actions into the brief before it hardens
Engage: Bring supply chain and key stakeholders in before full commitment
Planning for long-term futures:
The importance of making better use of existing educational buildings was a recurring theme throughout the conference. Several speakers highlighted the need to move beyond a ‘fix on fail’ approach towards a more strategic, long-term approach to investing in educational estates.
One particularly interesting message from the conference was the need to make better use of data to understand how buildings perform, how they support teaching and learning, and where investment can deliver the greatest benefits.
This means looking at how an investment in an asset will benefit learning, not just now but over the next 20 to 30 years.
For historic buildings in particular, these decisions need to be informed by a detailed understanding of the building, its history, the educational institution’s goals and how these could be met. With planning, collaboration, and an ambition to challenge assumptions, heritage buildings will evolve, provide high-quality teaching environments while preserving the architectural heritage that makes them special for generations to come.
King William Building, University of Greenwich: what we delivered:
Sensitive refurbishment of computer laboratories in a Grade I listed building within a UNESCO World Heritage site
- Floorspace: 785 sq m of refurbished teaching space
- Student capacity: 242 computer workstations and a 10-student workspace
- Cooling: 60–70% reduction in the originally specified computer cooling load, reducing the need for new plant.
- Ventilation: Reopening of historic sash windows to improve natural ventilation.
- Modern learning: Integration of audiovisual technology, acoustic improvements and flexible teaching arrangements while protecting historic features.
Wilson Mason’s role: Architecture, heritage consultancy, Principal Designer (Building Regulations) and Principal Designer (CDM).
About Dominique
Dominique is a partner in Wilson Mason’s London office. She has over 20 years of experience delivering both new build and refurbishment projects, including across the education sector. This includes a particular expertise in the higher education, science and research environments.
An alumna of the University of Greenwich and passionate about listed and historic buildings, Dominique is known for her approachable manner and analysis of a project’s challenges and brief. Collaboration with project teams and stakeholders is one of her favourite parts of the design process.