Why attend?

CircularBuild is an evolution of the AJ Retrofit Live event, and marks the fifth year that The Architects' Journal has brought together more than 350 architects, built environment professionals, clients and policymakers in central London to explore best practice in circularity and retrofit.

In 2026, the new CircularBuild event will place equal emphasis on upgrading and adapting existing buildings and embedding circular economy principles, addressing the holistic approach needed to align the built environment with whole-life carbon and biodiversity goals.

What to expect in 2026:

  • More workshops and opportunities to directly debate with fellow architects
  • Updates from previous AJ Retrofit & Reuse Awards winners, sharing progress, lessons learned and long-term impact since their win
  • A variety of vendors, innovators and materials suppliers showcasing solutions that support retrofit, reuse and circular construction
  • A diverse programme of speakers from across the UK and Europe
  • The opportunity to connect with a community of 350+ leaders in their field


The 2026 content will be built around three core themes:

  • Retrofit and adaptive reuse
  • Natural, renewable and reclaimed materials
  • Design for disassembly
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350+
Attendees
7
CPD hours
30+
Speakers
1
must-attend event

Included in the ticket

  • 16 in-person sessions
  • CPD-accredited certification
  • Complimentary lunch & refreshments
  • Insights from 30+ industry leaders
  • Dedicated face-to-face networking time
  • Complimentary copy of The Architects’ Journal August issue

Why is CPD important?

Continuous Professional Development (CPD) accreditation helps to raise industry standards and benchmarks in line with increasing globalisation and consumer demands. Organisations from across industry sectors use CPD accreditation to add value to their training.

Architects

CPD is a huge part of the architectural industry, with professions such as Architects, Designers and Planners all required to undertake annual CPD requirements. The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) states that all Chartered Architects must complete 35 CPD hours per annum and half of these need to be structured. Architects must also dedicate 20 hours to ten mandatory RIBA core curriculum topics, which include: health, safety and wellbeing, sustainable architecture and architecture for social purposes, to stay registered.

Construction & Building Maintenance Professionals

Construction is a fast-paced industry with technology continuously developing, and a need to keep the profession up-to-date on workplace changes and education for all professionals aligned with building and construction. This includes a wide range of professions such as home builders, commercial developers, architects, building merchants, contractors, and suppliers. Undertaking regular CPD is a requirement for a number of professional bodies, one such body is the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) and their members are required to complete 35 hours of CPD each year. An organisation that can deliver CPD-accredited training is very desirable to ambitious industry professionals in this particular sector.

If you are collecting CPD hours, you can log 7 hours by attending AJ Retrofit Live.

Learn more

New for 2026: interactive sessions & workshops

This year’s event will feature more interactive sessions and practical workshops, designed to spark peer-to-peer conversation across the built environment. These collaborative formats will bring together architects, clients, policymakers and industry leaders to share experiences, tackle challenges and turn ideas on retrofit and circularity into action.

This is our third year of sponsoring Retrofit Live. It’s a fantastic event; it really aligns with our goals to be more sustainable and to help architects in their journeys.
Bryony Light, Head of Marketing, Intrasystems

We’ve got to do our best to try to think about carbon sensibly. If you look at how much carbon you save reusing existing buildings, its massive.
Annalie Riches, Founding Director, Mikhail Riches

As an industry we have to learn to innovate, be creative, reuse and reimagine these buildings
Tom Venner, Chief Development Officer, Canary Wharf Group

We’ve been a sponsor for 4 years. It’s something we really believe in. You get new ideas and speak to people with different thoughts and processes.
Nicholas Dabney, Technical Advisor, Selectaglaze Ltd

It provides important interaction between architects, the market and the industry
Lars Courage, Architect, COURAGE Architecten bv