Material Cultures, Useful Simple Trust, Exploration Architecture, Studio Knight Stokoe, Elliott Wood and Stallan-Brand explain how their practice purpose is aligned with the planetary emergency.
Being a good ancestor
Responses in this section were assessed by Architects Declare’s Alasdair Ben Dixon, Tom Gibson, Deepthi Ravi, Zoe Watson and Jacqueline Wheeler, with expert insight from Regenerative Architecture Index ambassador, social philosopher and author Roman Krznaric.
Practice Question 1
Does the practice have a clearly stated purpose aligned with the planetary emergency? We’re looking for a bold ambition here, and a practice culture which recognises the need for long-term thinking. For example, a strong mission, a theory of change, or a sustainability roadmap.
Joint front-runners
Material Cultures
We are an interdisciplinary, not-for- profit research, action and design studio working to address the issues of climate and social justice in the built environment. We argue for the reintegration of architecture and agriculture, understanding buildings as irrevocably linked to landscapes of extraction. We challenge the systems, technologies, supply chains, regulations, and materials that make up the construction industry, with the aim of transforming how we build and who we build for. Our mission is to work towards a bio-regional construction industry that is integrated into regenerative and socially just land and building systems. We do this through three key activities: designing buildings, carrying out strategic research, and creating practical learning spaces for exploring bio-regional construction.
Useful Simple Trust
Our 2024-2028 business plan sets our purpose to ‘blaze a trail in regenerating our built and natural environment to meet the needs of all people and the planet.’ Inspired by Doughnut Economics, our vision shifts from provision to regeneration, recognising that the majorityof our built and natural environment already exists, and much work is needed to transition to a zero carbon, resilient, and inclusive society. Our 2025 Carbon Transition Action Plan outlines our path to achieving a science-based near-term target: a 46 per cent reduction in emissions across all scopes by 2030 (from a FY 22/23 baseline), with residuals offset to align with SBTi’s 1.5ºC pathway. This year, we introduced our ‘Handprint’ process, assessing each project’s impact on a scale from degenerative to regenerative, aligned with the UN Sustainable Development Goals. We also reinvested almost ten per cent of our profit into pro bono professional services, outreach activities, and mission-aligned R&D.
Ones to watch
Exploration Architecture
We experienced a turning point after the 2018 IPCC report. Realising that conventional sustainability had not brought society onto a safe pathway for the future, we committed to trying to transform the industry by helping to establish Architects Declare and writing a co-authored book about the shift to a regenerative paradigm.
Our long-term purpose is to be co-enablers of the flourishing of all life for all time, and to work towards restoring planetary health. Out of a concern that much current architecture will not benefit future generations, we only undetake work that we believe could pass the test that Drew Dellinger suggests a grandchild might ask in 20 years: “What did you do once you knew?” We also take inspiration from the World Future Council member Wes Jackson who declared, “If you can achieve your aims in your lifetime then you’re not thinking big enough.”
Studio Knight Stokoe
Our practice has established a clear mission aligned with addressing the planetary emergency through a framework of regeneration and ecological resilience. We’ve legally embedded our environmental commitment by amending our articles of association to recognise the environment and society as key stakeholders. B Corp certification validates our high standards of environmental performance and accountability.
Three design drivers guide our approach: resilient, regenerative, and empathic. Collectively, they ensure our work withstands environmental stresses, restores ecological systems, and considers social equity. To operationalise these principles, we’ve developed an internal regenerative design framework aligned with the RIBA/LI work stages, ensuring consideration for climate and biodiversity emergencies are integrated into every project phase.
Currently, we’re finalising our Regenerative Practice Roadmap, which outlines our short- and long-term approaches to resilient, regenerative, and empathic design and practice management, demonstrating our commitment to long-term thinking and transformative action.
Elliott Wood
Five years ago, we created a manifesto called ETHICS. We asked some big questions on prevalent issues around education, technology, health, infrastructure, culture, and sustainability. We presented insights from fellow thinkers, doers and communities. We didn’t have all the answers, but we recognised the urgency. Five years later, despite an uprising of sustainable intent, the industry continues to be just less bad – we haven’t moved the dial enough, and it’s taking too long. In awareness that not enough had been done in 2024, we launched ETHICS 2.0, which is a call to action for our community. We can’t engineer a better society alone and, while we still don’t have all the answers, we are optimistic that we can make a difference.
We are driven to make a difference in our team, our community, and our industry. Our community-led co-working space, The Society Building, enables a platform for our industry to connect and collaborate, working together to have a positive impact in the built environment.
Our B-Corp certification is an acknowledgment of the impactful initiatives and work we’ve delivered, and the way we operate as a business. We have co-chaired the Structural Engineers Declare movement for the last three years to demonstrate leadership within the structural engineering community. We have also launched new services to further support a regenerative approach, including innovation, heritage and conservation, and digital services.
Stallan-Brand
Glasgow is our muse, and our simple mission statement is that we want our architecture to save people’s lives. As a practice borne of Glasgow – a city with the lowest life expectancy in Europe and unacceptable levels of deprivation and poverty – we have come to understand the critical role architecture has in our well-being.
There is a phenomenon urbanists call the Glasgow Effect, which references the city’s traumatic legacy of post-war planning that destroyed its urbancommunity and condemned generations of displaced people to poor education, health, and employment prospects. We see our work designing projects across the whole of Scotland and the wider UK as central to addressing this legacy of community disconnection – understanding that the key to regeneration is our younger generation and the need to address the challenges they face.