Practices including HLM Architects, tp bennett, Atelier Ten, BD Landscape Architects, and White Arkitekter discuss how they support nature both locally and nationally.
Co-evolving with nature
Responses to the practice questions were assessed by Architects Declare members Carrie Behar, Laura Baron, Tom Gibson, Kevin Logan, Anna Pamphilon, Kat Scott, and Jacqueline Wheeler, with expert input from RAI ambassador Phoebe Tickell – renegade scientist, systems thinker and social entrepreneur.
Practice Question 3
Is the practice supporting nature locally and nationally? For example, does the practice support local gardens, gardeners, planting programmes, rewilding programmes, or advocate for changes in legislation to protect nature?
Front-runner
HLM Architects
We support nature through landscape-led design and community-led projects, many of which include edible landscapes and biodiverse green spaces to help people connect with nature. We are also:
- Contributors to the Landscape Institute’s Embodied Carbon Working Group, advocating the design and delivery of low-carbon landscapes and carbon sequestration.
- Members of Wood Knowledge Wales’ Regenerative Materials First initiative, a cross-sector collective taking action to use home-grown timber and other regenerative and renewable materials.
- Engaging in national dialogue through the UKGBC Systems Change programme, helping to shape strategies that embed nature recovery in the built environment.
- Contributing to Coed Caerdydd, Cardiff’s 10-year tree canopy initiative; participating in regular community planting events that strengthen local ecosystems.
- Working with Developing the Young Workforce on landscape-based social outreach.
These activities reflect our belief that we must help restore natural systems at every scale, from neighbourhood to nation.
Runner-up
tp bennett
We engage with the Better Bankside Business Improvement District for workshops on planting, both in our locale and with our Wellbeing TPB+ group for internal events to create planting that staff can take home. Through connections with Wates Residential, members of our team volunteer in Barking and Dagenham with the Keeping Barking Clean initiative. These events occur throughout spring and summer, and include litter picking and helping the Friends of Phoenix Park to support the maintenance of their community garden. Through our joint Regen panel speaking initiative with local sustainability consultancy Greengage we have hosted panels on a range of topics, including biodiversity, to share learnings and educate practices about what we can achieve within our disciplines through education and advocacy.
Ones to watch
Atelier Ten
As part of our annual sustainability week, Regenerate, we invited staff to vote for nature-focused charities to receive a financial contribution. The selected charities were The Woodland Trust, Trees for Cities, and London Wildlife Trust. Uniquely, the voting was done using old batteries brought in from home. The more batteries placed in a charity’s voting bucket, the greater the contribution it received. This not only engaged staff in philanthropy, but also raised awareness about the importance of proper battery disposal to prevent harmful toxins from entering our environment. In celebration of Nature Day, team members were also invited to collect and plant ‘flowers for bees’ seed packets – promoting biodiversity through small but meaningful actions.
BD Landscape Architects
“A society grows great when we plant trees in whose shade we shall never sit.” – Greek Proverb.
We are deeply rooted in our local landscape. Senior staff members volunteer at community gardens and we regularly work with local schools to enhance their playgrounds pro bono. We managed to procure play and social seating elements for our local primary school (from the enlightened and super sustainable Vestre Street furniture) to enhance opportunities for learning outside the classroom and create playful places. The BD team recently planted a grove of 20 Sequoiadendron giganteum – giant redwood trees – to offset our lifetime carbon emissions and create an accessible community grove on the Worcestershire Way.
White Arkitekter
We climate offset our operations emissions (which have already been reduced to meet SBTi goals through policies prioritising train travel and vegetarian catering) to a specified forestry project in Kenya, chosen as we have a team member living in Nairobi and leading work in East Africa. We are involved in c/o City, a non-profit association that pursues issues related to urban ecosystem services; develops and disseminates tools and methods for the integration of ecosystem services in planning and construction; makes visible the economic and ecological benefits of ecosystem services in cities; and creates forums for knowledge dissemination and collaboration internationally.
We are also involved with the Eco Forestry Association, a non-profit organisation developing international criteria and standards for ecological forestry. Co-owners are also active in supporting nature locally with one of the London team volunteering in habitat management and conservation for CoLC.