What is our responsibility towards the planet as architects and designers of the built environment?
As architects, we shape the spaces that people experience every day. With that privilege comes great responsibility. The built environment has an enormous impact on our planet, and as designers, we have an opportunity to influence what that impact looks like. The decisions we make today can be felt for decades to come. It is our duty to ensure that we give back more to nature than we take from it – not just for now, but for future generations too.
That sense of responsibility sits at the heart of our More Than Design ethos: a commitment to thinking beyond what we build and considering the wider impact of the choices we make. Environmental responsibility is an important part of that bigger picture.
Environmental responsibility isn’t something that sits alongside good design. It’s fundamental to it. And it starts with the work we do...
Every building sits within a much bigger picture, drawing on materials and resources, interacting with landscapes and ecosystems, and affecting people and communities beyond those who will ultimately occupy it.
As architects, our role requires us to be the experts on those connections. That gives us a responsibility to look beyond the immediate boundaries of a project: to consider the voices that aren’t always represented around the project table, understand the wider consequences of the decisions we influence, and give our clients the knowledge they need to make informed choices.
...but it doesn't end when our involvement ends. Environmental responsibility has a different relationship with time.
Capital cost is often a major driver on projects, but the decisions we make today will shape how buildings perform, adapt and retain their value over the next 20, 30 or 100 years. With the planet changing as quickly as it is, designing for future climate resilience is not only an environmental imperative, it can help protect against the risk of creating stranded assets that are unable to be let, sold or insured.
For us, and for our clients, this means looking beyond what a project needs to achieve on day one. We now have the technology and tools to better understand how decisions made today could play out over the lifetime of a building – helping us consider not only future needs, but future opportunities and the long-term value a project can deliver for clients and users.
That also changes how we appraise projects. Existing buildings, structures, and systems need to be seen not as constraints, but as opportunities to retain the existing material, environmental and social capital that has already been invested.
“Responsibility means helping our clients ask not only 'what should we build?' but 'what do we already have, what could it become, and how can the decisions we make today create value for longer?' ”
"To legitimately preserve our climate, we need to be focusing on regenerative approaches, not just doing less harm."
– James Watts, EnCirc Team
It’s crucial to have the right conversations from the start, but to maintain that ‘green thread’ throughout the project.
As architects, we have a responsibility to question, challenge and use our knowledge to find better solutions. For our clients, that means environmental thinking is part of the conversation throughout the design process.
Our role is not simply to present solutions, but to bring the knowledge and evidence that help clients understand the implications of different choices, identify opportunities they may not otherwise have considered, and make informed decisions about where ambition can have the greatest impact. This starts with a robust project brief, which we develop with clients using our Project Briefing Tool, ensuring sustainable outcomes are embedded into the project, from the outset.
Throughout the design process, in-house tools help support staff in delivering this vision – for people and planet.
Environmental responsibility is never a finished process. As our knowledge grows and the challenges we face evolve, our approach must evolve too.
We recently became a certified B Corporation — which not only validates our consideration as a business to people and planet but also provides an ongoing framework for continuous improvement and development. This filters through into the way we deliver our design services, holding ourselves accountable and continuing to push forwards, to achieve positive outcomes for all.
