Architectural approaches to the adaptation and reuse of buildings has changed significantly over recent years. As awareness of embodied energy has grown, so too has the sense that architects are obliged to reuse buildings wherever possible - often requiring levels of skill and imagination at least equal to those involved in new building.

Likewise, high-profile projects such as Herzog & de Meuron's creation of Tate Modern from Bankside power station, or David Chipperfield's renovation of Neues Museum in Berlin, have eloquently demonstrated that work to existing buildings can influence architecture beyond the practice of renovation and repair, even as discussions about appropriate approaches to work on existing buildings have become deeper and richer.

In this context, architects are developing new specialisms and establishing positions in relation to reuse, ranging from commitments only to work on existing buildings - or never to demolish them - to efforts to develop new markets in reclaimed materials.

Hosted by Architecture Today and Schueco, panellists Rob Leechmere - Jonathan Tuckey Architects, Sarah Castle - IF_DO and Stephen Bates - Sergison Bates explore current thinking, hopes and concerns regarding our handling of the existing building stock.

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