The built environment is the largest source of carbon emissions in the UK economy after surface transport, according to UKGBC’s insight report published during COP28. As a BCorp-certified practice, we firmly believe the heritage sector can be at the heart of a sustainable future.

To conserve is to embrace change. Since our inception in 1958, our work has always balanced protecting what is important within the heritage environment and helping it evolve based on contemporary human needs. Today, our clients look to us to design and implement viable and appropriate interventions in their historic buildings and places so they are resilient to a changing climate – from adaptation to new weather patterns or mitigating further issues by reducing embodied and operational carbon emissions. To do this, we use a research-based, analytical approach that informs creative and sustainable solutions within our services.

Within our built projects we advocate decision-making based on whole-life carbon emissions – not just energy in use – and to take the long-term view by designing flexibly, specifying long-lasting and relatively local materials where possible.

In 2021 we co-authored the Heritage and Carbon report with Grosvenor UK & Ireland highlighting the benefits of capturing the embodied carbon in historic buildings, calling on the UK Government to address the policy changes, skills and funding needed to make it possible.

Other examples of research and innovation in sustainability include:

• Implemented a radical intervention to re-cover the stone wall at Hardwick Old Hall based on English Heritage’s Sustainable Conservation Asset Management Plan (SCAMP) principles, reducing long-term maintenance costs for the client.
• Supported the development of the Sustainable Construction and Retrofitting Supplementary Planning Document for Bath & North-East Somerset Council.

• In 2024 we became a BCorp-certified practice with an impact score of 87 across Governance, Workers, Community, Environment and Customers. The median score for ordinary businesses is 50.9.
• We are ISO 14001 (Environmental Management Systems) accredited for both running the practice and for projects.

Our Net Zero Strategy, published in 2024, outlines where we are in reducing the environmental impact of our practice operations, and our roadmap to achieving Net Zero.

We have been measuring our carbon footprint from the 2016-2017 financial year, and we have since reduced Scope 1 and 2 emissions by 53%. From the 2022-2023 financial year, we have expanded our organisation boundary to include Scope 3 categories 1, 5, 6 and 7 which helps to build a more accurate representation of our overall emissions.

We believe that business can be a force for good in society. Our services are designed to improve people’s quality of life and well-being for their enjoyment and use of the built environment. We embrace our responsibility to create a positive social impact for both individuals and community stakeholders by addressing their local needs. We are taking meaningful action to understand and measure our social impact as a business whilst using our projects to create lasting social value.

Examples of added social value within our projects include:

• Rochdale Town Hall re-opened its doors to the public in 2024 after four years of work to conserve and adapt the Grade I-listed site. We employed an architectural apprentice who has stayed on the project for the duration of Phase 2, gaining an in-depth understanding of the projects, including risks and opportunities. In addition, heritage skills training was offered to local people under the guidance of ICON-accredited conservators.
• The project team working on revitalising The Camellia House from a roofless ruin to a functioning café had strong ambitions to benefit the local community. During the construction phase, a live-site training course in 2022 recruited 19 trainees across various heritage crafts. The Camellia House is now a thriving café venue that supports our client’s ambitious engagement programme – the site is reserved for community use one day a week.