Sustainability

The built environment sector is currently responsible for 39% of global carbon emissions¹, and as a practice we are fully committed to reducing or eliminating our impact on the environment, both through the work that we do and how we operate as a studio.

We strive to make the places and spaces that we design as sustainable as possible by interrogating carbon mitigation strategies throughout the life of our design proposals, from cradle to cradle, while embracing the principles of the circular economy and regenerative design. But, sustainability goes so much further than that.

It’s also about social value and economics, equality, inclusion and diversity. We play our part in our community, working with schools, encouraging young people and mentoring students. The practice is committed to embedding sustainability discourse at all stages of our work, helping to raise awareness of the climate and biodiversity emergencies.

So, what have we been up to…

Urban Design
Place-making is about the renewal and repair of urban environments. Successful urban design starts with story-telling and ends with refreshing local economies, revitalising and reconnecting communities and neighbourhoods. The story of place is about healthy spaces and happy lives. By replacing paving with parks, cars with pedestrians and cyclists, and replenishing local ecology we create places that give back to future generations, and evolve over time to meet the needs of future inhabitants.

Architecture
With one eye focused on the future, we look to the past with the other, valuing the work of those who have gone before us. Instead of talking about ‘tabula rasa’, we talk of ‘tabula plena’ – a full table rather than a clean slate. By making use of existing structures we give buildings a second life, while saving on embodied energy, weaving the culture and history of the site into a proposition that looks to the future.

Highlights from our ‘Second Life’ portfolio include our work at Park Hill in Sheffield - Europe’s largest Grade II* structure, which more than a decade on from completion is still a trailblazer for the retrofit agenda. We’ve recently completed the refurbishment of Ernő Goldfinger’s iconic Balfron Tower, a 27-storey residential building in East London, along with the conversion of the original Heinz Headquarters in Hayes Park, London into 125 new high-quality homes. Our Conservation Architect (Gwyn Jones) is on hand to ensure we preserve and re-use where possible.

On our new buildings, we aim to go beyond net zero by optimising the efficient use of resources, and exploring opportunities for on-site passive energy sources, while creating buildings that respond to context with memorable and eye-catching designs. We have Certified Passivhaus Designers (Eric Bull and Daniel Mahoney) to guide the team in producing low carbon new-build solutions that strive to go beyond net zero.

Landscape
Landscape is fully integrated into our work, including our urban design and architecture propositions. Landscape is central to our designs, not simply an add-on or for the sole purpose of decoration. Our Chartered Landscape Architects lead the curating of spaces that address the climate emergency through commitment to increasing biodiversity, ecological resilience and effective water management, while curating designs that benefit local communities and boost health and wellbeing. These aims are never an afterthought, but rather woven into the story of the places we create.

How we operate
Last year we appointed the climate studio and sustainability strategy company: Inhabit, to helps us strategise and develop our pathway to becoming a net zero business by 2040, aligning with and exceeding the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) target of 2050. You can find our Net-Zero 2024 Strategy here.

We have adapted our studio space to enable and promote flexible working patterns. From the upgrade of our studio ventilation systems to improve energy efficiency and air quality, to the installation of meeting pods and acoustic panelling to facilitate an increase in online meetings, we have evolved our studio to adapt to post-pandemic changes in working patterns, while reducing our carbon footprint. Our model-making department avoids the use of materials which are low in recyclability or are high in volatile organic compounds (VOCs which contribute to noxious off-gassing). In 2023 we committed to a 100% renewable source electricity supply.

Thought Leadership
The practice aspires to be a leader in raising awareness of the climate and biodiversity emergencies, by equipping our studio members with the knowledge to influence clients and collaborators to achieve the best possible sustainable project outcomes. Education is key. We worked with environmental consultants, Etude throughout 2022 to deliver sustainability focussed training for all our staff. Topics included: Defining net zero, Circular economy, Operational & Embodied carbon, Whole Life Carbon, and design approach to Density and tall buildings. From this we empower our staff to better engage with consultants and clients on projects, to help decarbonise our project work, and network with our industry peers on matters related to sustainability.

Our studio space also serves as an Exhibition Space. On a regular basis we curate and exhibit our provocations on challenges affecting our society and industry, and the ways in which our approach can find solutions to real world problems. In 2022 our ‘Food for Thought’ exhibition explored a provocation on land use, and the importance of policy in addressing the global challenge of food, scarcity, food poverty and regenerative agricultural practices. In 2023, our ‘Co-CreAIte’ exhibition focussed a lens on the emergence of Artificial Intelligence, and the ways that we can embrace this in our design processes. See more on our exhibitions here.

References:

1 - Source: World GBC Report 2019