Eco architects London: what to look for and why it matters
The phrase eco architect gets (over) used a great deal in London. It appears in practice profiles, on website homepages and in planning statements with a frequency that has, if anything, made it harder to know what it means. Some practices use it to describe a genuine commitment to low carbon design and material sustainability. Others use it to describe the inclusion of a green roof or a solar panel on an otherwise conventional project.
The difference matters, and it is worth understanding before you appoint an architect for a project where sustainability is genuinely important to you.
What eco architecture actually means
Eco architecture, at its most rigorous, means designing buildings that have the lowest possible impact on the natural environment across their full lifetime. That includes the carbon embedded in the materials during their manufacture and construction, the energy the building uses in operation over its life and the impact of the building on biodiversity, water, air quality and the wider urban environment. As well as the carbon the building may emit in it’s demolition.
The most important of these, and the one that is most often underweighted in conventional architectural practice, is embodied carbon: the carbon that is already in the building before anyone moves in. A building made from concrete, new brick and petrochemical insulation carries a very large carbon debt before it has operated for a single day. A building made from reclaimed brick, timber and natural insulation carries a fraction of that ‘debt’.
What New Makers Bureau does differently
New Makers Bureau is an award-winning RIBA Chartered architecture practice with sustainability and creative reuse at the foundation of everything we do. We measure the environmental impact of our buildings. We track embodied carbon from the early design stages. We have developed strong relationships with suppliers of reclaimed and natural materials and we understand how to use them well.
We also understand that genuine eco architecture is not about sacrificing design quality. Our most admired projects are also our most sustainable ones. The constraints of working with reclaimed materials, designing for breathability and minimising new construction are constraints that push us toward solutions that are more inventive, more rooted in their place and more genuinely beautiful than a conventional approach would produce.
Types of project
New Makers Bureau works across a range of project types in London and beyond.
Home extensions: sustainable extensions to London's Victorian and Edwardian terraces, using reclaimed brick, timber frame and natural insulation
Whole-house retrofit: improving the energy performance and fabric quality of period homes without compromising their character
Cultural buildings: low carbon buildings for arts organisations, community groups and educational institutions
Workspace and commercial: transforming underused buildings into productive, characterful workspaces
Placemaking and masterplanning: larger-scale thinking about how places can be made more sustainable, more liveable and more resilient
How to start a project with New Makers Bureau
The first step is a conversation. We want to understand your project, your brief and what sustainability means to you. We do not assume that every client has the same priorities, and we work hard to understand what matters most before we start designing.
What Does an Eco Architect Actually Do Differently?
Eco Architecture in London: Why Older Buildings Are the Biggest Opportunity
How to Brief an Eco Architect in London
