From Strategy to Action: Our 2024–2025 Social Impact Progress Report

We are proud to publish our 2024–2025 Social Impact Progress Report, marking the first full year of progress since launching our Social Impact Strategy. As architects, we recognise that the spaces we design influence how people live, learn, heal and connect. Social impact is not separate from our work. It shapes our decisions, informs our partnerships and underpins our responsibility to the communities we serve.

Over the past year, we have translated strategy into meaningful action across our three core pillars of Practice, People and Places. Within our practice, we have strengthened our culture and capability by investing in professional development, wellbeing and sustainable design expertise. We established a Menopause Champion, expanded equity and wellbeing training, enhanced our studio environments to better support collaboration and inclusion, and delivered One Click LCA training to embed carbon literacy and lifecycle assessment into our design workflows. Alongside this, we have reviewed our supplier framework to reinforce ethical procurement and maintain strong relationships with local businesses, ensuring our operational impact aligns with our wider values.

Beyond our studios, we have continued to invest in our local communities and future talent. This year we raised £21,500 for local charities, delivered 53 STEAM outreach activities including engagement with SEND schools and underrepresented groups, created 10 new roles across our technical and support functions, and provided six T-Level and apprenticeship opportunities. We also contributed more than 350 hours of pro-bono design and thought leadership, including our continued partnership with MAIN to support the Pathways to Independence Centre. Through mentoring, university collaborations and outreach programmes, we are actively broadening access into architecture and strengthening pathways into the profession.

Across our projects, we have focused on designing for dignity, inclusion and wellbeing. From co-designing complex healthcare environments that maintain service continuity, to delivering autism-inclusive supported living schemes and intergenerational later living communities, we have embedded evidence-based, trauma-informed and inclusive design principles into our work. We have continued to develop our Post-Occupancy Evaluation processes to better understand how our buildings perform in use, ensuring we learn from lived experience and continuously improve the quality and impact of our designs.

While we are proud of the progress made this year, we recognise that meaningful social impact requires ongoing commitment. We remain focused on expanding participation in our engagement processes, advancing equity within our profession, strengthening our partnerships with education providers, improving the depth and rigour of our Post-Occupancy Evaluations, and achieving net-zero operational carbon by 2050.

This report reflects a year of action, collaboration and learning. Most importantly, it reaffirms our commitment as architects to create places that enhance lives and strengthen communities.

Read our full 2024-2025 social value report here: From Strategy to Action: Our 2024–2025 Social Impact Progress Report