In response to 鈥淢orrell: Older buildings must be torn down鈥� (building.co.uk, 25 January): not only were many sixties and seventies public buildings constructed with minimal resources, they were often planned to government handbooks that specified the maximum internal area that could not under any circumstances be exceeded

We have barely recovered from this mindset.

It is for these reasons, as much as for their energy performance or visual qualities, that many sixties and seventies buildings are now unfit for purpose. 鈥淟ong life, loose fit, low energy鈥� is not a bad specification.

Arthur Acheson, architect, The Boyd Partnership

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