Explore | Exhibition | Architecture For A Changing World

Protecting, preserving and re-imagining our cultural and community assets for future generation?

The re-use of buildings is an integral part of creating sustainable architecture and vital in keeping the culture of our towns and cities alive.  Rethinking buildings for future use creates challenges and opportunities. Combining low carbon, heritage-led regeneration with conservation we can reveal and preserve the past whilst bringing new, contemporary, accessible lives to these spaces.

Embracing a new circular economy to reduce carbon emissions within the built environment.
The built environment sector has lost its connection with material. The sector is built on the linear economy of take, make and throw away, a disposable view of the precious resources from our environment. After years of material extraction, the consequences of resource depletion, pollution, biodiversity loss, and social inequalities are finally reaching tipping point.

But there is another way to create the homes and spaces we need without the pressures on our planet and people. The circular economy is a way of delivering the materials we need without the destructive extraction of raw materials. If we adopt it now, in all we do, there is still time to let the planet heal from its years of exploitation.

Moving beyond sustainability to create better future for the planet

Where sustainable design is about meeting the needs of the present without compromising the needs of future generations, regenerative design is meeting the needs of the present whilst enhancing the opportunities for future generations.

Regenerative design reverses historical damage to have a positive impact on the planet. It is about being proactive rather than passive, making the earth better, not just less bad. Regenerative design asks not how we construct our buildings but why – where do they fit in the ecosystems of our planet? We must design spaces where both humans and nonhuman species can coexist and flourish, spaces that possess greater natural beauty, ecological health, and productive capacity than the most pristine landscapes.

Learning from the past to shape the town centres of the future.

In the past century, planning policies and trends for town centres in Britain have played a pivotal role in driving substantial transformations, reshaping the urban landscape and influencing the way people live, shop and work.
Over the last 30 years we have seen a proliferation of changing shopping habits, resulting in a vicious cycle of decline for town centres, with increasing vacancy rates, lower footfall and diminishing public realm.  There is now a clear and recognised urgent need for revitalisation.
 
The UK has a deep and rich history, sometimes faded, forgotten or hidden beneath.  And with that history comes a strong sense of community. The ‘future high street’ may therefore not need a complete reinvention. Instead we should rediscover and celebrate that past heritage, culture and sense of place, in order to breathe life into these spaces and create thriving, sustainable, healthy, connected town centres which are fit for the future.

Collaborating with communities to create architecture which is informed by the people who will call it home

We have always believed that the creation of architecture is a collaborative and social act, enrichened and informed by the community and context surrounding where we practice. From the outset our design processes should include thoughtful, creative and meaningful engagement opportunities for the local communities in which we work in order to create spaces which inspire a feeling of ownership and leave a lasting positive legacy.

Through this engagement, this listening and learning, through real engagement which breaks barriers and encourages participation from all corners of our society, we reconnect with our communities and in turn our communities reconnect with their built environment.

Fallen & Felled are a timber company pioneering a sustainable alternative. They repurpose felled urban trees into hardwood timber for furniture makers, architects and designers. And in doing so they keep tonnes of carbon out of the atmosphere, and reduces the UK’s reliance on imported hardwood.
We used a selection of their mixed species hardwood to make the frame which houses all the content in the exhibition. Fallen & Felled

Smile Plastics are dedicated to breathing new life into would-be waste materials. Their 100% recycled and recyclable plastic sheets, designed and made in the UK, contribute to the circular economy our built environment desperately needs to survive.
We made the table tops and shelves in the exhibition out of their Grey Mist sheet material. Smile Plastics