ESG

It is our ambition to bring about positive, sustainable impact through transformative change.

Exterior entrance to The Mary Ward Centre with a person and a cyclist walking by.

Case Studies: Vassall Centre

We have helped Bristol Charities to make informed decisions for their multi-generational mixed use Vassall Centre. Under our guidance Passivhaus was chosen to achieve the desired NZC operational target, a low-energy choice centred around air quality where occupant health and mitigating fuel poverty risk was paramount.

St James Place

Recognising that one size does not fit all, we design spaces that are agile and adaptable, provide user flexibility and the ability to adapt through the lifecycle of the building - as achieved for St James's Place with an SKA Gold Rating.

Here + Now

Here + Now was the UK’s first commercial workplace refurbishment to achieve BREEAM Outstanding, Fitwel 3* and whole lifecycle Net Zero Carbon, featuring in the 2021 LETI Client Guide to Net Zero Carbon Buildings. The cohesive and coordinated approach we took with the client and the contractor was key to delivering this exemplar.

Glassfields

An outstanding whole life carbon assessment on our projects Leonardo Hotel and The Distillery at Glassfields saw both shortlisted for the CIBSE Building Performance Awards 2022 Embodied Carbon Award which recognises exceptional contributions to understanding and reducing embodied carbon in building services in completed projects.

Mary Ward Centre

Approximately 50% of the overall embodied carbon (compared to a new build alternative) was saved on the Mary Ward Centre for lifelong learning in London when we championed the positive impact of building re-use. There was a 40% overall carbon reduction compared to the proposed demolition and rebuild.

University Bath School of Management

The School of Management for the University of Bath has achieved a social value impact total of £4.1mn through the build. This positive outcome was measured in post occupancy and evidences the lasting social and community impact our projects are having.

Group picture of 50 staff.

We are committed to making a positive impact, placing people at the heart of what we do to enhance quality of life and create sustainable, resilient communities. As an employee-owned practice, we champion an equitable and inclusive working culture, promoting responsible leadership and innovation.

Regular staff appraisals and surveys help us understand the wellbeing and satisfaction of our people. Alongside this, external audits, including BM Trada’s reviews of our ISO 9001 and ISO 14001 certifications, ensure we maintain high standards across our business.

Measuring our social impact is an important part of our approach. We have developed an intelligent spreadsheet aligned with the Social Value Model, HACT, National TOMs and WELLBY frameworks to better understand and report on our contributions. Using ImpactOS, we can accurately forecast, track and record the long-term social benefits of how we design and deliver buildings. Supported by robust, government-backed metrics and the National Social Value Standard, this goes beyond simply measuring numbers. It helps us understand the real impact of our projects, ensuring we create places that respond to local needs, benefit communities and occupiers, and leave a lasting positive legacy.

Graphic of 3 circles. The first is green with a graphic of a tree and the text "Environmental". The second is purple with a graphic of people with the text "Social". The third is orange with a graphic of a building with the text "Governance".

We hold ourselves accountable through AWW’s ESG Framework, weaving our environmental, social and governance targets through both practice and projects. We do this for our partners, employees and supply chain, for the projects we design and deliver and for the people we deliver them for.

2 women sat on terracotta perpendicular-facing sofas in the Parmention building.

At AWW, we’re passionate about the way people interact with space through built form and understand that buildings and spaces give us the opportunity to live healthy, sustainable lives. We support our clients and partners to deliver their ESG targets. We do this through good design and leadership that enables positive social and environmental outcomes. Our goal is to deliver quality architecture and interior design that aligns with our own ESG strategy.

Our ESG Framework -

Environmental: To create a net-gain environmental impact
As a practice, we consider travel, office operations, energy consumption, waste management and regenerative practices. For our projects, we address the embodied and operational whole life impact, natural resource and habitat impact.

Social: To enhance people’s quality of life.
As a practice, we include equality, employee health and wellbeing, inclusion and diversity, education and training and contribution to local communities. For our projects, we measure social value impact during design, construction and in use.

Governance: To foster relationships and develop partnerships that both support our core values and improve our ability as designers and advocators to effect positive change.
As a practice, we embrace ethics, transparency, accountability and policies and practices relating to our ESG mission. For our projects, we manage and monitor all relevant policies and practices and report on their performance.

Our ESG activities are governed through several documents and processes, as well as in the everyday running of the company. The image to the left demonstrates the pledges we have committed to and hold ourselves accountable to as a company, and the diagram below highlights how these align to the UN Sustainable Development Goals and UK Social Value Model

A circular graphic with 4 rings. The outer ring represents the 17 UN Sustainability Goals, next the 5 UK Social Value Model elements, next the 8 AWW Pledges and finally the AWW Social Value definition.

AWW have committed to a science-based target carbon reduction through the SME climate hub and are signatories of RIBA 2030 challenge and Architects Declare.