As sustainability conversations grow louder, one principle remains quietly powerful: the most responsible buildings are often the ones we choose to keep. John Clark, Director at Bracken Workspace Plus, reflects on heritage, place and the value of working with history rather than against it.

Sustainability is often framed as something new. New materials, new technologies, new buildings rising quickly from cleared sites. But increasingly, the most responsible choices are the quieter ones. They involve care rather than replacement, restoration rather than removal. Sometimes, the most sustainable building is simply the one that already exists.

Across Leeds, many of the buildings that shaped the city’s industrial and commercial past still stand. Brick by brick, beam by beam, they carry the marks of the people and industries that came before us. Too often, these structures are seen as inconvenient: imperfect layouts, awkward geometry, spaces that don’t lend themselves to neat efficiencies. The temptation is to start again.

Yet demolition carries its own environmental cost. The energy already invested in a building,  from the materials quarried to the craftsmanship involved, disappears in an instant. Refurbishment, by contrast, is sustainability at its most honest: a form of recycling on a civic scale. It asks a different question. Not what can we replace? but what is worth keeping?

At Bracken, we believe heritage buildings deserve to remain part of everyday working life. Places like The Tannery and Calls Wharf are not relics preserved behind glass, but living spaces carefully adapted for modern businesses. They may not maximise desk density or conform to uniform floorplates, but they offer something increasingly rare: character, identity and a genuine sense of place.

Both buildings are linked by the River Aire. A quiet but constant presence that has shaped Leeds for centuries. Once the artery of trade and industry, the river now provides something equally valuable: a sense of calmness, a chance to decompress, reflect and reset before re-engaging with the pace of modern urban life.

Working with historic buildings requires patience and care. Original materials are repaired rather than replaced. Features are retained not as decoration, but as anchors to a building’s story. Modern services are introduced sensitively, allowing contemporary work to sit comfortably alongside the marks of the past. The result is not nostalgia, but continuity. Spaces that feel grounded rather than transient.

That sense of responsibility extends beyond the buildings themselves. Bracken is committed to Leeds for the long term. Our team is local, our buildings are here, and our success is tied to the health of the city around us. Wherever possible, we work with local trades, suppliers and professional partners, supporting the skills and businesses that already exist within the region.

Sustainability, for us, is cumulative rather than performative. Our buildings are powered by fully sustainable energy, and we continue to invest in improving efficiency within the opportunities and constraints that older structures present. These improvements rarely arrive as dramatic gestures. Instead, they emerge through steady care, thoughtful upgrades and long-term decision-making.

Equally important are the choices available to the people who work within our spaces. Central locations, strong public transport links, walkable routes and cycle facilities all support more sustainable patterns of daily travel. These aren’t mandates, but options that allow individuals and businesses to make decisions that fit their lives while reducing environmental impact.

In a world increasingly drawn to the shiny and the new, there is something quietly radical about preservation. About accepting that progress doesn’t always mean starting again. Sometimes it means recognising the value in what already exists and choosing to carry it forward.

The buildings we inherit shape the cities we pass on. Treating them with care, giving them new purpose, and allowing them to remain part of everyday life is not just an environmental decision, but a cultural one. And like the river that connects them, the best workspaces are those that allow people, place and time to flow together.

To experience how heritage buildings can be reimagined for modern working, visit Calls Wharf or The Tannery in Leeds.

For more information on Bracken’s workspaces and approach to sustainability, visit brackenwsp.co.uk or call 0113 237 2800.