Profile
Sustainability
Sustainability
Man-made climate change is the greatest existential threat we have ever faced as a planet or a species, and the construction industry is responsible for nearly 40% of the carbon emissions contributing to this crisis. As architects, it is our clear moral responsibility to use our position and influence to effect positive change in the industry wherever we can.
We help cut carbon emissions and energy consumption by incorporating 6 key principles in our work.
These are:
- Encourage and promote sustainable urban design
- Encourage and promote the use of sustainable materials in construction
- Encourage and promote the retention of existing buildings
- Encourage and promote the retention of existing buildings
- Design buildings which are both durable and flexible
- Encourage and promote biophilic design
- Encourage and promote users to live and work in sustainable and efficient ways
Encouraging and promoting sustainable urban design
T2S has a proud history of working in urban environments. Research by the Centre for Cities shows that people living in urban environments will have smaller carbon footprints than their rural counterparts.
As the global population has increased, people have been steadily drawn to urban centres and this trend is set to continue. We believe cities will play a vital role in housing the populations of tomorrow. How we choose to masterplan, design and build our cities will determine whether we can enjoy sustainable urban living in the future.
Effective public transport, communal parks and open spaces, and local amenities, are essential to encourage sustainable living in densely populated areas. Providing residents with everything they need within a short walk or bus ride greatly improves social cohesion, boosts community spirit, and energises local economies.
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Encouraging and promoting the use of sustainable materials in construction
Construction materials must be chosen to balance sustainability, durability and aesthetics. Any given material will have its own sustainability profile - so masonry materials are front-loaded in their carbon emissions, but offer centuries of durability. Wood as a construction material, on the other hand, emits less carbon in production, but commonly requires treatment with hazardous chemicals and more intensive maintenance.
Aesthetics matter too. Communities often find themselves fighting to keep buildings that are valued and loved from being demolished, and every year that a building remains standing represents a significant reduction in its lifetime carbon footprint.
Encouraging and promoting the retention of existing buildings
Retaining existing structures is central to our architectural identity, and links with our principles of materiality and urban design above.
If a building exists, it is already in a relationship with the community, and has become part of the fabric of a place. People may have learned to love, or at least accept, this form within their built environment. It seems right, on a spiritual and emotional level, to promote the retention of these buildings in spite of more sustainable solutions.
At T2S, we take particular joy in abstracting architectural quality from existing buildings, taking the old and adding the new to create something better, more beautiful and more useful. Retaining and extending an existing building can also be significantly more sustainable, leveraging the historical carbon emissions from its original construction against the carbon footprint of the new. Every brick and stone left standing represents a quantity of carbon not emitted.
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Design buildings which are both durable and flexible
We are fortunate at T2S that many of our clients retain and manage their own properties and developments, giving them a long-term perspective where durability, flexibility and ease of management are essential metrics forjudging performance.
This illustrates some contradictions in approaches to sustainability. If a building needs additional construction materials to allow for future expansion, then its carbon footprint today will be larger than it needs to be. Equipping the building for future expansion will extend the building's lifespan further into the future, lowering its overall lifetime carbon footprint.
Equally, concrete is a carbon-heavy structural system, but the 1960s buildings built from concrete offer excellent flexible spaces for renovation and refurbishment today. What evidence is there that timber-framed buildings offer the same level of flexibility 60/70 years after inception?
Encourage and promote biophilic design
We support the principles and purpose of the Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) guidelines for new buildings in the UK. BNG is a framework where new developments can be measured across a series of biodiversity and ecology metrics, and requires new developments to make a net gain to the biodiversity of the project.
We understand the restorative and curative power of nature and ecology and strive to include high-quality plantings and landscaping wherever possible in our designs. Bringing nature and habitat into dense urban environments through beautiful plantings and soft leisure spaces not only enhances biodiversity but also has a proven positive impact on health, wellbeing and community cohesion.
Media / Press
Encourage and promote users to live and work in sustainable and efficient ways
While we cannot dictate how people use our buildings, we can encourage and promote sustainability and efficiency by design.
By articulating our principles to our clients and stakeholders, we are raising awareness of climate change and the value of sustainability beyond mere carbon reductions. We demonstrate that sustainable design and development can deliver commercial success, beautiful buildings, and healthier communities.
Media / Press
Tom Slater and T2S Architecture Ltd have featured prominently both in the national press and on London regional television, while also being published and interviewed by trade publications, journals and podcasts. T2S Architecture strives to lead thinking about sustainable urban development through effective communication.
- Building & Design Online -'Soft densification - Op-ed - 8 Nov, 2023
- The Guardian - Green Belt Development - Letter - 23 Nov, 2023
- London Live News - Green Belt Segment - TV Interview - 22 Dec,2023
- **Architect's Datafile **- interview with Tom Boddy - Practice Profile- Jan, 2024
- Building Insights podcast with James Pearce - Refurbish and Retrofit - March,2024
- BD Online - Daylight and Sunlight Management - Article- April 2024
- BD Awards - Residential Architect of the Year - nomination - June 2024
- RIBA London - Practice of the month - December 2024
- Architecture Magazine - article regarding bespoke Architecture - February 2025
- **Future Build 2025 **- 20 x 20 talk regarding bespoke Architecture - March 2025
- Architecture Vogue - Podcast appearance - planned for April/May 2025