How to brief an eco architect in London: the questions that matter
Briefing an eco architect is not fundamentally different from briefing any architect. You need to communicate what you want, what you need and what matters to you. But there are some questions that are particularly worth asking when sustainability is a genuine priority, and some answers that will tell you quickly whether the practice in front of you is genuinely oriented toward eco design or just using the language:
What to tell your architect before the first meeting
Before you meet an architect for the first time, it is worth thinking through your priorities. Not in technical terms (you don’t need to know the difference between wood fibre and hemp insulation before your first meeting), but in values terms. Do you care most about reducing the carbon of the build, or about low running costs, or about natural materials? Are you prepared to pay a premium for a more sustainable specification, or is the budget fixed and you need the architect to work within it creatively?
These are the questions a good eco architect will draw out through conversation, but arriving with some sense of your own priorities makes the early design stages more productive and will result in a better building at the end.
Five questions that reveal whether a practice is genuinely eco
Can you show me a completed project and explain the specific embodied carbon decisions you made? (Look for specific material choices with carbon numbers, not general statements about sustainability commitment.)
How do you approach the existing building, and what is your instinct about what should be kept and what should be changed? (A genuine eco architect will start by looking hard at what is already there and creativley working to keep as much of it as possible.)
What natural and reclaimed materials do you use, and do you have established supplier relationships? (Material knowledge is a core skill; practices that have it will talk about it in specific terms.)
How do you think about the relationship between a new extension or retrofit and the existing building fabric, particularly in terms of breathability and moisture? (This is a technical question with a specific right answer; the response will tell you a lot.)
What does your Design and Access statement for a planning application look like? Can you show me one? (A good Design and Access statement is specific and structued, not generic; ask to see one.)
Red flags to watch for
A few things that suggest a practice is not genuinely an eco architect, whatever its website says.
They talk about sustainability in terms of technologies rather than fabric: solar panels, heat pumps, EV chargers. These are important but they come after the fabric, not instead of it.
They cannot show you a completed project with real material decisions and real carbon numbers.
They treat sustainable materials as a premium option rather than a default.
They do not ask about the existing building's fabric, construction history or moisture behaviour.
Their Design and Access statements are generic and could apply to any project.
How New Makers Bureau runs its early design process
New Makers Bureau starts every project with a workshop. Not a presentation of our ideas, but a conversation about yours. We want to understand the building, the brief, how you live or work, and what you want this project to do for the next thirty years. From that conversation we develop a brief document that captures the priorities, the constraints and the sustainability ambitions. We share it back with the client before we start drawing, and we use it as the reference point for every design decision we make.
Eco Architects London: What to Look For and Why It Matters
How to Brief an Architect for a Sustainable Home Extension
