We recognise that our position as a global architecture and design practice comes with the responsibility to influence positive change.
A lot has changed since Thomas Bennett founded our practice just over 100 years ago. The global average surface temperature has risen by 1°C and it is now widely known that the built environment accounts for 38% of energy-related carbon dioxide emissions. In that time, our approach to sustainability has developed and evolved too.
We have aligned our business with the UN Sustainable Development Goals, setting targets to support a more sustainable future. A signatory of Architects Declare, tp bennett is also committed to the RIBA 2030 Climate Challenge, which we use to benchmark our success in reducing operational energy, embodied carbon and water consumption in the buildings we design.
Our designs and material specifications address each project’s significant environmental impacts, and we work with our clients and end users to ensure that each development’s sustainability strategy aligns with their own ethos and ambitions. We challenge all collaborators and suppliers, and support clients to develop and implement their own sustainability strategies, no matter how embryonic or advanced these may be.
We incorporate the latest developments in Net Zero Carbon research into our design processes. To help drive our sustainability efforts, we have a dedicated specialist sustainability team which works across all parts of our business and our Responsible Sourcing Charter and Supply Chain Questionnaire was highly commended in the AJ100 Sustainability Initiative of the Year 2021.
We have a 100% track record of delivering BREEAM, LEED, WELL and fitwel certifications, including the UK’s first ‘WELL’ accredited office (the Porter Building), LEED Platinum for our fit out of the UBS Headquarters in London, Manchester’s very first BREEAM “Outstanding” multi-let building at Windmill Green and a BREEAM score of 96.31% for PwC’s One Embankment Place, the highest at that time. We have certified Passivhaus designers and we are active members of the UK Green Building Council and the Green Register. tp bennett has held externally accredited ISO 14001 and ISO 9001 Environmental and Quality Management Systems since 2007.
At tp bennett, we also recognise that sustainability is more than just low-energy, green buildings. It is also about creating environments that value and enhance the users’ physical and mental health, as well as being inclusive of all people equally, regardless of race, gender, age, mobility or cognitive and sensory differentials. We are a member of Real Estate Balance and partner with Impact Dance, a non-profit organisation that uses theatre and dance to increase social inclusivity. We have also partnered with social enterprise Change Please, assisting in the conversion of London buses into sanctuary space for the homeless.
