Eala were employed by North Lanarkshire Council to provide a Carbon Benefit Analysis for Cumbernauld Town Centre. The Town Centre is a notable example of mid-20th Century brutalism and is one of the first ‘megastructures’ in Scotland. Due to its divisive position in public consciousness, Historic Environment Scotland were reviewing listing the centre. As part of this they required a report into the environmental impacts of demolition and re-construction of the town centre. EALA’s Carbon Benefit Analysis combined a RIBA Stage 1 Whole Life Carbon Assessment with a pre-demolition audit, a high-level maintenance plan, an architectural master planning exercise, and a social impact analysis. These studies considered four possible futures for the site.

Our conclusions were that, across three bottom-lines, that retention and retrofit would be the best outcome as it would reduce whole life carbon emissions, reduce topsoil erosion, retain social history, and cost less financially. Ideally the rest of the original masterplan could be built out, as this would provide the uses envisaged for the Town Centre by the council.