RIBA Ethical Practice Guide 1914124723, 9781914124723

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RIBA Ethical Practice Guide

Carys Rowlands Alasdair Ben Dixon EthicalPractice.indd 1

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Table of Contents About the Authors iv

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Duty to Society and the End User 41

Dedication iv

Introduction 42

Acknowledgements v

Law, regulation and professional codes 42

Foreword vi

Social responsibility 44 Stakeholder identifcation and engagement 45

Introduction 1

Social value 50

History and defnitions 2

Regeneration 55

Approaches to ethics 3

Equity, diversity and inclusion 57

Ethical decision-making 4

Wellbeing 62

Professional ethics 6

Rights of future generations 65

The six ethical duties 9 The public interest 13

Evidence-informed design: post-occupancy evaluation 66

The context 14

Specifcation 72

Looking ahead 15

Health and safety 74 Key principles 74

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Duty to the Wider World 17

Introduction 18 Law, regulation and professional codes 22 Going further 29 Key principles 34

Conclusion 75 Dilemma – social housing 76 Views from others 77

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Duty to those Commissioning Services 79

Conclusion 35

Introduction 80

Dilemma – decision tree 36

Law, regulation and professional codes 80

Views from others 37

The client relationship 83 Key principles 90 Conclusion 92 Dilemma – community interest 93 Views from others 94

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Duty to those in the Workplace 95

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Duty to Oneself 133

Introduction 96

Introduction 134

Law, regulation and professional codes 97

Law, regulation and professional codes 135

Workplace structure and culture 100

Competence 137

Practice management 103

Continuing professional development 138

Other workplaces and workers 108

Health and wellbeing 139

Key principles 109

Support networks 142

Conclusion 110

Key principles 144

Dilemma – homeworking 111

Conclusion 147

Views from others 112

Dilemma – working pro bono 148 Views from others 149

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Duty to the Profession 113

Introduction 114

Conclusion – Resolving Ethical Issues 151

Law, regulation and professional codes 115

Recognising ethical issues 153

Reputation and value 120

Tools, techniques and resources 154

Knowledge and development 124

Ethical decision-making 157

Equity, diversity and inclusion 126

Why now? 163

Key principles 129 Conclusion 129

Further reading 166

Dilemma – sharing data and knowledge 130

References 167

Views from others 131

Index 175 Image credits 178

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About the authors Carys Rowlands is a barrister (unregistered) and Head of Registration and CPD at RICS. She is former Head of Professional Standards at the RIBA. Carys’ work for the RIBA involved professional conduct issues, dispute resolution services, specialist accreditation, conservation and heritage, and ethics in architectural practice. Carys has written publications in collaboration with the UN Global Compact, including Ethics in Architectural Practice. She was the staf lead for the RIBA Ethics and Sustainable Development Commission and has delivered CPD on ethical practice for the RIBA and independently for universities and schools of architecture.

Alasdair Ben Dixon is a founding partner of Collective Works, member of the Architects Declare steering group and co-ordinator of the Architects Climate Action Network. Alasdair has a long-held commitment to fnding a better way for architects to balance the needs of the wider world with the needs of clients and stakeholders. During his career he has balanced ethical demands within an established practice, an architectural charity, and whilst running a small practice. Alasdair sat on the RIBA Ethics and Sustainable Development Commission and speaks regularly on ethics, sustainability, and social value. His notable projects include the Brixton Remakery, the RISE Theatre in Waterloo and several NHS Social Prescribing pilot projects.

Dedication Carys:

Alasdair:

To Mum, Dad and Danny, for laying the foundations and for the continued support and encouragement.

To Mum and Dad, for always encouraging me to pursue my ambitions.

To D, for your understanding, patience, challenge and counsel.

To Frank, in memory of your strong belief in ethical practice.

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Acknowledgments Carys Rowlands:

Alasdair Ben Dixon:

Thanks to Alasdair for persisting through the challenges – always with a smile, good humour, understanding and a quiet determination to see it through. Thanks to Peter Oborn for calling me on my second day working at the RIBA and inducting me into the world of ethics and sustainable development. Thanks to my colleagues past and present for your understanding and encouragement of my preoccupation with ethical practice.

Thanks to Carys for accompanying me on this journey, with unending focus, diligence, empathy and compassion. Thanks to my partners and colleagues at Collective Works, for the consistent support and patience while we explored so many of these ideas over the last 10 years in practice. Thanks to colleagues past and present at Architects Declare, the Architects Climate Action Network and Architecture for Humanity UK; three enormously inspiring networks defning the future of ethical practice.

Together: Thanks to all the members of the RIBA Ethics and Sustainable Development Commission and its broader consultative group for your energy, drive and hard work, as well as: Alex White, Richard Blackburn, Alex Tait, reviewers and commenters, CPD attendees, students and course leaders, RIBA Education Team, RIBA CPD Teams. Last, but not least, many thanks to the incredibly talented authors who’ve inspired us and already laid such strong foundations on this topic.

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Foreword from Neal Shasore professional ethics’: from Ronan Point to Grenfell, from Carillion to Qatar, the consequences of ignoring fundamental ethical questions are viscerally apparent.

Questions of ethics are fundamental to the modern conception of professionalism – the question of maintenance of professional standards was foundational for the Institute of British Architects in the 1830s, even if a code of conduct was not formalised until the early 1900s. An assumption of disinterested ethical behaviour forms an essential component of the professional bargain for the public – privilege and power in exchange for deference to the public interest and public safety. But our conception of privilege, power, deference – of professionalism – continues to evolve and to be challenged. This has been particularly acute since the late 1960s and early 1970s when the Code of Conduct was increasingly contested by the profession itself. It is striking how this coincided with the dawning realisation of an environmental and ecological crisis. It is eloquently captured by Malcolm MacEwen’s Crisis in Architecture, published in 1974, the same year of John Poulson’s imprisonment for his part in corrupt building contracts. MacEwen described the urgent task ‘to reduce the consumption of energy and other scarce resources’ in part through ‘a drastic reeducation and reorientation of the professional approach to town planning, design, and construction.’ He spoke also of the ‘fundamental confict between commercial and

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What has all this got to do with design? And good design at that? Aesthetics and ethics are not unrelated – and at a moment when ‘beauty’, loosely defned, features again in the policy landscape, it is worth bearing this in mind. We operate in a discipline that is perhaps still too readily divides ‘pure reason’ from ‘aesthetic judgement’, in a post-Kantian mould. There is another intellectual tradition within the discourse of architecture – of Ruskinian thought which sought a much closer integration of the ethical and the aesthetic; which argued that the well-made was beautiful through the ethics of its making. That feels an argument worth re-visiting in our current context. As we explore the maintenance of competency across the career-span, educators and practitioners need to think more ambitiously about how we can support each other in keeping these questions centred and resonant. At a moment of profound and intersecting crises, critically refecting on the ethical frameworks within which space is contested and built environments are produced is vital, not just to tick of registration, but to create equitable, fourishing environments that will help to regenerate the planet’s depleted resources. The strength of this book is that it is neither a work of abstract theory nor an admonishing intonement – it provides, with lucidity, the tools to see and understand the ethical conundrums of contemporary practice and professionalism, and gives voice and draws attention to so many in architectural culture who have not just been calling for change, but who have developed powerful methods of efecting it. Neal Shasore, The London School of Architecture

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Introduction

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RIBA E THIC AL PR AC TICE GUIDE

Architects play a pivotal role in society, with the work they do impacting people’s lives at many levels. Whether designing a humble loft conversion or a nationally signifcant infrastructure project, the architect now has a far clearer understanding of the value of that work to its users, the impacts on the local community, and the environmental and social impacts – both immediate and through often-complex supply chains. In addition to the impact of buildings, the profession has also recently been coming to terms with the often-problematic nature of its workplaces. In architectural practices long hours, unpaid work and discrimination persist despite many wellmeaning initiatives, and in broader workplaces within the industry – particularly on construction sites and within supply chains, in the UK and internationally – there are examples of modern slavery. The widespread realisation and declaration of a climate and biodiversity emergency, as well as tragedies such as the fre at Grenfell Tower, have led to a greater public awareness of the role of the architecture profession – and indeed the built environment industry more generally. This heightened awareness of our industry’s impact has meant that all built environment professionals, and architects in particular, are facing increased scrutiny over their decision-making processes and the ethics of their day-to-day practice.

History and defnitions At its simplest, ethics is a system of moral principles. These moral principles afect how people make decisions and lead their lives. The term is derived from the Greek word ‘ethos’, which can mean custom, habit, character or disposition. It involves systematising, defending and recommending concepts of right and wrong behaviour.

FIGURE 0.1

RIBA Ethics and Sustainable Development Commission workshop, sticky-note suggestions, 2018.

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Business ethics is about creating and applying ethical principles and systems to business behaviour, in any and every business context. It’s about both the organisation and each member of staf ‘doing the right thing’.

Approaches to ethics ESTABLISHED SCHooLS oF ETHICS

There are various long-established schools of ethical thinking, most of which were formalised by ancient Greek philosophers – particularly Socrates, Plato and Aristotle. While it is not necessary to engage with the detailed academic thinking underpinning these diferent schools, it is useful to have a basic understanding of the diferent types of ethical thinking and to note the thrust of each. In practice, it is common to see various schools of ethics at play, sometimes in combination, as people grapple with trying to fnd the best way forward in a given situation. Virtue ethics

The focus of virtue ethics is on being a good person and having a clear moral character. It is about being honest, having integrity and showing fairness. This school of ethical thinking is expressed in some way in codes of conduct across the built environment professions; most codes require their professionals to be honest and truthful. These traits are valuable in and of themselves – they are traits which we generally value in society and in the professionals we engage. In architectural practice, this school of ethics also seems to be the one which is of particular relevance to gaining commissions – does the client feel that the architect is honest, truthful and of good enough moral character to be trusted to take on the work? Deontological ethics

The focus of a deontological approach is on duties – does a professional have a duty to take the right action? For example, architects arguably have a duty to ensure that their designs are practically achievable, rather than just fanciful. There is a duty to do the right thing by providing the client with a design which is capable of execution, or by advocating for the most sustainable design possible. Social contract ethics

A social contract typically operates to grant someone or a profession exclusivity over a domain of knowledge in exchange for applying this knowledge for the beneft of all. This is especially critical in architecture as architects give form to the public realm. Architects have an ethical responsibility to society, as society has essentially granted them permission to shape and develop the public realm – the world around us all.

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‘Architects cannot make community, but they can help community take place, fourish and endure in built form. This is the ethical function of architecture.’ DR ALEXAnDRA STARA, In DEFInInG ConTEMPoRARY PRoFESSIonALISM, 2019

Utilitarian ethics

Utilitarian ethics is more focused on group beneft – what action can bring the most beneft to the greatest number of people? For architects, this may, for example, be a consideration when working on a project for a public building or public space, where consideration cannot just be given to meeting the client’s brief; rather, consideration must also be shown for the impact on the existing community, the society around the project, future users of the building itself and the environmental impact of the project. In this school of ethical thinking, decisions about design or materials or method of construction must be taken to beneft the greatest number of people possible. Consequentialism

Consequentialism looks to the consequences of someone’s conduct as the basis for judging the conduct to be right or wrong, good or bad. That is to say, it is not the conduct itself that is judged in isolation, but rather the conduct is judged in light of the impacts or consequences fowing from it. Here we can see a diference from virtue ethics – virtue ethics would deem the telling of a lie (dishonesty) to be wrong, but consequentialism would look to the consequences of the act of lying to inform judgement of the action. If, for example, someone told a lie in order to save someone else from harm, consequentialism would deem the lie to be right or good. Consequentialism is therefore sometimes seen as a school of thinking where the end justifes the means. ALTERnATIVE THInKInG

Over time, other alternative thinking on ethics has emerged (and continues to do so). Notable representative philosophers include: Immanuel Kant,1 who developed the idea of ‘pure reason’ and ethical action being ‘rational’ action; John Stuart Mill,2 an exponent of modern utilitarianism; Peter Singer,3 a leading thinker in applied ethics; and Onora O’Neill,4 a moral philosopher who has developed Kantian ethics with a particular focus on the role of trust, consent and respect. Two key areas of alternative thinking warrant expansion here: • the ethics of care • the three main schools of contemporary philosophy. Ethics of care

The ethics of care is a normative ethical theory that holds that moral action should be informed by interpersonal relationships and care, or benevolence, as a virtue. It

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focuses on the individual, rather than the general. Where more traditional schools of ethical thinking may lead to the question ‘What is just?’ or ‘What is right?’, the ethics of care leads to the question ‘How to respond?’, that is, how to respond to the individual concerned. The ethics of care was borne out of a critique, even criticism, of traditional schools of ethical reasoning; it challenged the application of generalised standards as ‘morally problematic, since it breeds moral blindness or indiference’.5 Contemporary philosophy

• Meta-ethics deals with the nature of moral judgement. It looks at the origins and meaning of ethical principles. • normative ethics is concerned with the content of moral judgements and the criteria for what is right or wrong. • Applied ethics looks at controversial topics like war, animal rights and capital punishment.6

Ethical decision-making ETHICS noT MoRALS

While ethics can be defned as a set of moral principles, it is worth explaining how ethics, although closely related, are distinct from morals. A person’s morals tend to be shaped by their surrounding environment and belief system, whereas ethics tend to be a more specifc personal or professional consideration and selection. Morals are really guiding principles, and ethics are specifc rules and actions, or behaviours of a group.7 In the context of architects, or professionals in general, ethics can also be explained as external systems that one buys into – for example, when one joins a profession; this is not just the agreement to a code of conduct, but a selection to support and develop the ethical standpoint of a profession (including over and above specifc codes and policies). IMPACT oF DECISIonS

If ethical theories are to be useful in practice, they need to afect the way human beings and communities behave and the way they make decisions. Ethical decision-making in our private lives is important, but ethical decision-making in our professional lives has greater scope for impact. This is particularly true for architects, whose sphere of infuence as a professional is far greater than their infuence as private individuals (at least for most people). Think how many people interact in some way with the work of an architect (and the construction professionals who build the designs) – the client, anyone who uses the building or space, anyone who

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RIBA E THIC AL PR AC TICE GUIDE

lives near the building or space, anyone who visits or sees it, anyone who engages with other architecture inspired or infuenced by the original design, and so on. The sphere of infuence is great, meaning the need for ethical decision-making and the reach of that decision-making is equally great.

Professional ethics TEACHInG AnD LEARnInG ETHICS

It seems clear that ethics come into play at every stage of the architectural process; however, it is also clear that they aren’t currently heavily featured in the architectural curriculum. As a result, we are, as Thomas Fisher points out, at times guilty of placing too much emphasis on the drawn output of our profession while not worrying enough about the nature of our social contract or the consequences of our work. That is to say, architects often focus on the technical, physical, drawn output of their work to the exclusion of their ethical impacts. Without discussion of ethical issues and ethical reasoning within architectural education and training, what hope is there for ethical reasoning and ethical action in architectural practice? ‘It is striking that the literature dealing with the meaning of ethics as such, in the context of architecture, is actually very infrequent, numbering less than a dozen monographs. Within this small group, those that discuss issues of Ethics in relation to architectural education are even more rare.’ LEonIDAS KoUTSoUMPoS, THE ETHICAL FUNCTION OF ARCHITECTURE ON EDUCATION, 2017

With changes to both the Architects Registration Board’s (ARB) education criteria and the RIBA’s validation procedures and criteria, together with the RIBA’s planned mandatory competence in ethical practice,8 there is some scope for more of an emphasis to be placed on ethics, ethical decision-making and ethical practice going forward. That is not to say that there is currently a blank canvas; some schools of architecture, in the UK and internationally, have already engaged with ethics – either explicitly or implicitly through the handling of other subjects. ‘In our age of social inequality, ongoing environmental damage, an exponential increase in human population, the rapid depletion of fnite resources, and extinction of irreplaceable species, architects have necessarily expanded the scope of what they care about, and that has led to an ethical turn in the profession.’ THoMAS FISHER, ARCHITECT MAGAZINE, 13 SEPTEMBER 2019

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ETHICS AnD ARCHITECTURAL CULTURE

Ethical decision-making runs through architectural practice. However, some ethical issues and decisions are easier to identify and navigate than others. Some ethical decision-making has the beneft (or sometimes burden) of being informed by legislation and regulation. Other ethical decisions may also or alternatively be informed by professional duties – codes of practice and conduct. However, blindly following legislation and codes is not enough – architects should refect on the decision they are making, how laws and/or codes impact it and how they should act, taking into account all of the circumstances. Law and regulations need to be applied to the practical situations that architects face, and that needs to be done in an ethical, considered way; where there is room for interpretation of law and regulations, then it is incumbent on architects to interpret ethically, weighing up all of the competing interests and identifying the best way forward. The more signifcant area of ethical practice and reasoning is where law, regulation and codes are silent or do not go far enough – where choices for action remain; it is this sphere of practice – of going above and beyond stipulated requirements – where ethical decision-making is often at its most difcult and where debate, discussion and professional consensus may shape and inform ethical practice over time. For example, an architectural practice may be fully compliant with employment law in the employment of its staf; however, choices remain for more ethical practice through, for example, ofering enhanced parental leave or ensuring salary transparency. Similarly, an architect may design in full compliance with minimum space standards,9 but may deem those standards to be unethical and therefore advocate that their client adopts a more ethical approach, going above and beyond the technical legal and regulatory requirements. Ethical decision-making is informed by the contemporary context, which is increasingly global and fast-moving. This often makes it difcult to decide what actions or projects are unethical. Forming any kind of consensus as a profession is challenging and timeconsuming, as the eforts of Raphael Sperry in spurring a national conversation (in the USA) and consensus around ethics, design and the prison industrial complex serve to demonstrate.10 However, the discussions and the potential outcomes are tremendously important; professional consensus allows for group action, and also diminishes the opportunity for the response ‘If I don’t do it, someone else will’. It is worth noting that this development and establishing of consensus is one of the core tasks of professional formation – that is, of membership bodies and trade organisations. ‘Today, it’s far more difcult to decide what makes a project unethical. Architects have justifed their work by saying they’re “just doing business” or “if I don’t take the project, someone worse will”. Such arguments suggest that they can somehow wipe their hands clean of the consequences of their designs, be they horrifying labor conditions or gentrifcation.’ K ATE WAGnER In THE ETHICAL FAILURES oF MoDERn ARCHITECTURE, THE NEW REPUBLIC, 26 MARCH 2020

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FIGURE 0.2

Ethical Decision Making

Pyramid of ethical decisionmaking.

Ethical Practice

Best Practice

Codes of Conduct

Mandatory

Legislation & Regulation

THE ‘BUSInESS CASE’ FoR ETHICAL PRACTICE

While the need for ethical practice in architecture should be apparent, there is merit in highlighting some of the more commercial drivers to encourage its adoption. These include: • increased trust from suppliers and clients • decreasing risks through supporting staf and listening to their concerns • improved transparency of management practices, which improves trust in the workplace • enhanced reputation and reduced risk of damaging reputation • attraction of like-minded clients • attraction and retention of high-quality staf • avoiding or minimising (costly) litigation and disputes • lower insurance premiums • easier and more successful progress through the planning process • more thorough and accountable decision-making. These benefts of ethical practice are often met with retorts, such as: • being undercut by less ethical competitors • being perceived as ‘difcult’ by clients • transparency leading to being more vulnerable to legal action • staf being poached by competitors.

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All of these retorts can be answered and are covered in the following chapters. As a starting point, however, these concerns emphasise the need for a collective, consensus approach to ethical practice in architecture and across the built environment; with a more collective ethical approach, these concerns are reduced or disappear.

The six ethical duties As a profession, architects have agreed to comply with codes of conduct which are a standard way for a profession to manage the conduct of its members. The built environment think-tank the Edge11 argues that there should be a shared code of conduct across the built environment (possibly with local variations) as there are still areas where signifcant variation exists between discrete professions. Such a shared code would arguably beneft the industry, clients, co-professionals and broader society as it would lead to greater consistency, better understanding and fuller compliance. Codes of conduct, when appropriately drafted and updated, should refect the changing professional landscape – ensuring that they mandate good practice as it develops over time. ‘To grasp the role of the architect in society and to navigate our practice… architects must be careful not to limit their ethical perspective to the “friendly confnes” of a professional ethical code that is held in common. Looking beyond the code is likely to raise questions and issues that we might not otherwise encounter, but it can also help set the framework to defne the appropriate hierarchies of obligations that architects face.’ CoRnELIUS DUBoIS, ‘THE ETHICS oF ARCHITECTURAL PRACTICE’, 1 FEBRUARY 2017

Ourselves Our clients

Our sta˜

Our society

Our profession Our Natural Environment

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FIGURE 0.3

Priorities in practice.

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10 R I B A E T H I C A L P R A C T I C E G U I D E

While codes cannot capture all aspects of ethical practice and cannot be the only source of information for ethical decision-making, they do broadly cover and fall into six categories, which can be said to be applicable across all professionals, with certain detail being added for architects in particular. Broadly, these six ethical duties are: 1. Duty towards the wider world • The environment – to minimise, repair and restore any adverse impacts on the natural environment now and into the future. • Use of resources – to respect the limited availability of natural and human resources in your supply chains; to support the circular economy, including through the use of ‘forever’ materials, through considering recyclability (including demountability), through minimising or eradicating the use of pollutant-rich materials, and through careful consideration of and interaction with embodied carbon. • Future-proofng – to allow for the needs of future generations, taking into account any reasonably predictable circumstances, including the efects of climate and demographic change. • Accounting – to demonstrate for each project, by an appropriate audit trail, that all reasonable steps have been taken to ensure that the above issues have been adequately addressed. • Feedback – to monitor, evaluate and refect upon the performance in-use of projects and feed back the fndings. 2. Duty towards society (and the end users) • Public interest – to act consistently in the public interest and take the interests of all stakeholders in any project properly into account, including future generations. • Community engagement – to advocate for and engage in meaningful community engagement on projects. • Social value – to have a proper concern for the impact that projects may have on both users and local communities and to create lasting value and keep options open for the future. • Impact – to consider the broader impact of projects on society, the industry and government. • Heritage value – to conserve, protect and make accessible for future generations. • Health and safety – to take all reasonable steps to protect the health and safety of occupants, users and members of the public afected by projects over their full life cycle.

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• Consultation with building users – to consult, including in respect of wellbeing, comfort, cleanliness and key services. • Integrity – to act with objectivity, responsibility and truthfulness. • Impartiality – to exercise impartial and independent professional judgement. • Responsibility – to provide timely information and warning of matters that may adversely afect others, when they become apparent. • Aftercare, stewardship, learning lessons and feedback – to engage with a client and project after delivery to help ensure successful outcomes and improved knowledge and feedback loops. • Fairness – to treat all persons fairly and with respect and to embrace equality of opportunity, diversity and the elimination of discrimination. • Use of evidence – to base professional advice on relevant, valid and objective evidence and the best-quality knowledge that can be reasonably accessed. 3. Duty towards those commissioning services • Honesty – to act for each and every individual or company commissioning one’s services, in a reliable and trustworthy manner. • Transparency – to keep identifed and relevant individuals informed of the progress of projects, any key decisions made and any potential issues. • Competence – to be competent and knowledgeable to carry out the professional work undertaken, and if others are engaged, to ensure that their work is also competent and adequately supervised; to act within the limits of one’s own competence and to maintain knowledge and competence over time, including by keeping up to date with laws, regulations, best practice, technological innovation and relevant research. • Diligence – to apply high standards of skill, knowledge and care in all work undertaken. • Knowledge and skills – to maintain and develop new knowledge and skills to ensure services are kept up to date and efective. • Duty of care – to discharge professional duties with fdelity and probity. • Accountability – to take full responsibility for services provided and outcomes delivered. • Communications – to be open and share (as appropriate and necessary) information with service commissioners and/or others in a way that is readily understood; to communicate in a manner which ensures a high quality of user experience and continuity of the interface with the client; to communicate in a way which ensures efective collaboration across a wider team. • Confdentiality – to maintain and protect confdentiality of client information.

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12 R I B A E T H I C A L P R A C T I C E G U I D E

• Risk management – to appropriately and responsibly manage risk, including by carrying appropriate professional indemnity insurance. • Complaints – to have in place (or have access to) efective procedures for dealing promptly and appropriately with disputes and complaints. 4. Duty towards those in the workplace • Respect – to show respect for those in the immediate and wider workplaces, including respect for their backgrounds and diferent points of view. • Equity, diversity and inclusion – to encourage and promote EDI across all workplaces. • Good employment practice – to engage in and advocate for good employment practices, including the provision of contracts of employment for all employees and contracts of appointment for any freelancers/ consultants/contractors. • Training and learning – to provide and/or advocate for training and learning opportunities which ofer useful and meaningful development for employees and others in the workplace. • Work environment and company culture – to promote and encourage a positive, healthy work environment and culture which safeguards wellbeing; to ensure health and safety in the workplace, including on construction sites. • Collaboration – to fully collaborate with colleagues and co-professionals to procure the best outcomes. • Whistleblowing – to support, facilitate and respect proper whistleblowing, including by having adequate policies and procedures in place to protect whistle-blowers. 5. Duty towards the profession • Reputation and value – to contribute to the maintenance of the reputation and value of the profession, including avoiding actions which may bring the profession into disrepute. • Promote high standards – to promote high standards of practice and to encourage the profession to exceed minimum standards. • Contribute knowledge through research and innovation – to contribute knowledge, feedback, lessons learnt, research and data to assist the development of knowledge and practice across the profession. • Report misconduct – to report potential serious misconduct of coprofessionals so that standards and reputation are upheld.

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6. Duty to oneself • Principles and values – to identify and articulate your principles and values, including clear red lines. • Integrity – to act with integrity at all times, including through demonstrating independent judgement. • Truthfulness – to act with honesty and tell the truth in all professional dealings. • Accountability – to be accountable and responsible for your actions and decisions. • Wellbeing and good mental health – to look after your own wellbeing and mental health, including through establishing a healthy work-life balance; to secure good working conditions, including having an employment contract and appropriate, reliable pay. • Evaluation and refection – to take time for self-refection and evaluation of work undertaken, lessons learnt, approaches deployed and outcomes achieved. • Maintaining competence – to act within the limits of your competence and maintain and develop your competence over time, including through identifying areas for learning and development; to seek good advice and opportunities for mentoring.

The public interest The obligation to act in the public interest is not an automatic part of the defnition of a profession (although going beyond self-interest is), but it is a necessary part of any profession seeking the endorsement of a Royal Charter. The term ‘public interest’ is not, however, defned; and nor is it policed by the Privy Council,12 which administers the Royal Charter system. However, when overhauling the Code of Professional Conduct in 2019, the RIBA explicitly handed down to its members a duty to act in the public interest and, if two or more duties were ever to come into confict, a duty to resolve conficts in favour of the public interest. While in practice it is hoped that conficts will not arise between diferent duties expressed in the codes, if such a confict arises professionals should refect and try to identify a way forward which most directly serves and supports the public interest; this means, for instance, that if a duty to society comes into confict with a duty to the client, professionals should try to fnd a way to resolve the confict in favour of the duty to society, which carries the most public interest. If, for any reason, this is not possible or would lead to breaches of law, regulations or the codes then further advice should be sought and the RIBA should be notifed.

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Context This text has been informed and shaped by a number of infuences and contextual events, including: other authors, practicing architects, academics, students, other built environment professionals, other professions, RIBA Ethics and Sustainable Development Commission, delivery of core RIBA CPD, climate and biodiversity emergency, Black Lives Matter movement, coronavirus, the Edinburgh schools PFI disaster, Lakanal House fre and Grenfell Tower tragedy. The events at Grenfell Tower bears particular emphasis given the scale of the tragedy, as well as the surprise of many that such a disaster was possible in the UK, the fndings of the Public Inquiry, and the implications for the built environment sector. While the disaster has led to some changes in the legislative and regulatory landscape for the industry in the UK, including the Building Safety Act 2022, it has undoubtedly exposed ethical failures which need to be addressed. Legislation and regulation can only go so far. Both systems are only as good as the people upholding them and those operating within them. Legislation and regulation will always leave room for interpretation. As the play Grenfell: System Failure elucidates, not only did this tragedy uncover shocking systemic gaps and weaknesses, but also countless failures in decisions made by individuals. These include decisions to undertake work beyond their competence and experience, decisions to withhold information from key stakeholders, decisions to be selective in information shared publicly, decisions not to whistleblow or share information with authorities.13 All arguably within the law and regulations, but all arguably deeply unethical and blind to our responsibilities to others, especially those who inhabit and use the spaces we create.

FIGURE 0.4

RIBA Ethics and Sustainable Development Commission meeting, 2018.

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InTRoDUCTIon

15

With hindsight, such decision-making is reprehensible and completely unacceptable, but there is risk in simple condemnation. It is a risk of silencing useful voices; of writing it of as an isolated freak tragedy; of missing the opportunity for discussion and debate; of failing to learn from mistakes; and of not making meaningful change, as Sam Webb MBE warned countless times following the collapse at Ronan Point in 1968 and the fre at Lakanal house in 2009.14 As Emma Dent Coad, MP for Kensington from 2017 to 2019, stated: “Someone needs to stand up and say: I may not be personally responsible for Grenfell, but we are accountable; the buck stops here and we will take charge”.15 For architects, and other built environment professionals, ‘taking charge’ needs to involve a full understanding of and respect for the extent of one’s professional duties and responsibilities together with rich debate and discussion about ethical decisionmaking and outcomes across the industry.

Looking ahead This book will explore the various duties of the professional architect – those to the client, yes, but also those to the wider world, those to society and the end users of the buildings and spaces created, those to their colleagues and peers, those to the architectural profession as a whole, and those duties they hold towards themselves. It delves into issues of social value, of equity, diversity and inclusion; it explores postoccupancy evaluation, mental wellbeing, professional competency, integrity, the climate and biodiversity emergency and much more. These interrelated issues will be explored to help broaden awareness, to inform a critical approach and encourage meaningful action on the dilemmas which most commonly arise in practice. ‘Since architecture is about making environments for people, with people, it will always have an ethical dimension.’ FLoRA SAMUEL, WHY ARCHITECTS MAT TER, 2018

This book aims to provide a foundation to support the RIBA’s new Education and Professional Development Framework, detailed in The Way Ahead.16 In particular, this text underpins the knowledge schedule for the ethical practice mandatory competency, but it also supports the ethical and professional practice themes and values, as well as the architecture for social purpose CPD core curriculum topic. The following content seeks to upskill architects, while also showcasing them to clients and the public, as the independent, ethical professional – the built environment professional who will best weigh up all competing considerations and interests and

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reach a practical and ethically reasoned recommendation for the way forward; it aims to provoke both self-refection and discussion across the architecture profession and the built environment more broadly. Each of the following chapters introduces a particular ethical duty, sets out the relevant legal, regulatory and professional context and then goes on to explore the detailed subject matter and key principles. Each chapter ofers some concluding thoughts, before presenting an ethical dilemma. The dilemmas are simplifed for the sake of this text, but point to common dilemmas which may be faced in practice; possible responses to the situation depicted are presented, inviting consideration of your own response, refecting on the various considerations and lines of reasoning. In many cases, none of the options presented is completely satisfactory, leading you to refect and then construct your own more complete and considered response to the situation at hand. The aim is not to focus on ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ answers, but to refect on the diferent interests, impacts, consequences and considerations at play and to engage with an exercise in ethical reasoning to reach a considered and balanced position. This position and the reasoning behind it can then be the basis for discussion with others. Each chapter then closes with some views from others – other voices which have been invited to contribute to this book, with their own refections on a particular ethical duty. Ethical practice isn’t easy to write about. It can be both deeply subjective and an extremely broad topic. Despite that, we have endeavoured to create a unifed guide which shines a light on the many areas where ethics and architecture intersect. It will be imperfect, some of the content will no doubt divide opinion, and some will argue this doesn’t go far enough, particularly in light of the multiple crises we are facing. Others will argue that ethical practice requires stronger and better leadership, especially from professional institutions. Your critique and suggestions for improvement are therefore very welcome. We know that ethical progress emerges from discussion, and we hope this book can generate more discussion on this topic within practice and across the built environment, where change is both necessary and possible.

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1 Wider World

1

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Introduction The decision to place the wider world frst in this book came down to the simple understanding that without earth’s ecosystems to support human existence, there would be very little need for the other considerations. Starting with that broad context means recognising the signifcant human impact on earth’s ecosystems, and specifcally the built environment’s role in resource depletion, biodiversity loss and climate change. THE CLIMATE AnD BIoDIVERSITY EMERGEnCY

We now fnd ourselves in a period of considerable concern for global health, with the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) reports in 20181 and 20212 making it abundantly clear that the role of human infuence on the climate system is undisputed, and that every tonne of carbon counts and should be limited. In addition to this, the impact of Covid-19 on society during 2020 and beyond has made it clear that we can no longer consider ourselves as separate from nature. The ecosystems which we rely on for clean air, food and a stable climate are intimately connected to and being increasingly pressurised by human infuence. While not widely discussed, there is evidence that natural ecosystem destruction was to blame for breaking down the bufer which would usually protect us from wildlife-borne viruses such as Covid-19.3 The understanding of the interconnected nature of things has been further reinforced by the 2021 Dasgupta review, which sets out clearly that: We are part of Nature, not separate from it. We rely on Nature to provide us with food, water and shelter; regulate our climate and disease; maintain nutrient cycles and oxygen production; and provide us with spiritual fulflment and opportunities for recreation and recuperation, which can enhance our health and wellbeing. We also use the planet as a sink for our waste products, such as carbon dioxide, plastics and other forms of waste, including pollution.4

The report goes on to state: Our unsustainable engagement with Nature is endangering the prosperity of current and future generations. Biodiversity is declining faster than at any time in human history. Current extinction rates, for example, are around 100 to 1,000 times higher than the baseline rate, and they are increasing. Such declines are undermining Nature’s productivity, resilience and adaptability, and are in turn fuelling extreme risk and uncertainty for our economies and wellbeing. The devastating impacts of Covid-19 and other emerging infectious diseases – of which land-use change and species exploitation are major drivers – could prove to be just the tip of the iceberg if we continue on our current path.5

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FIGURE 1.1

Ancient woodland in the Lake District.

‘In Architecture Depends, Jeremy Till notes that to help regain trust, and to give real substance to the prioritisation of public interest, the single most efective ethical principle for a professional must be a commitment to full awareness of the consequences of his or her actions, decisions and behaviours. It is not that the architect needs to adhere to a higher ethic than anyone else, but that his or her job carries a wider and greater responsibility.’ SUnAnD PRASAD, In DEFINING CONTEMPORARY PROFESSIONALISM, 2019

RESPonSIBILITY

To follow Sunand Prasad and Jeremy Till’s assertion here, one would expect that an ethical architect is one who has adequately examined the impact that their

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professional life has on the world around them. A duty to consider the environmental impact of one’s work is a basis for many of the professional codes. While many students enrol in architectural education to make the world a better place, there is no implicit link or automatic connection between designing, building and making the world a better place. Although buildings provide much-needed shelter, and space to live, work and play, the operation of them, and the ways of working of our industry, are rarely good for our planet. Looking at the UK picture, the built environment contributes around 40% of the UK’s total carbon footprint6 and is one of the hardest sectors to decarbonise. This statistic stays true globally,7 with other countries seeing a similarly large proportion of their resources being consumed in the construction and operation of buildings. However, it is worth stating that an annual snapshot of emissions does not recognise historic responsibility for emissions, as well as the heavily skewed emissions from richer nations. As the economic anthropologist and author Jason Hickel notes, ‘The global North is responsible for 92% of emissions in excess of the planetary boundary, while the global South bears the brunt of the destruction. Climate breakdown is a process of atmospheric colonisation, and is playing out along colonial lines.’8 ‘Every tool, big and small, heroic and expedient, needs to be brought to bear on the urgent race to decarbonise. Net Zero Carbon by 2050 is possible, but it is not going to happen without everyone making eforts and sacrifces, informing themselves and taking clear ethical decisions to live and work as sustainably as they can. The consequences of failure would be catastrophic.’ BARnABAS CALDER, ARCHITECTURE – FROM PREHISTORY TO CLIMATE EMERGENCY, 2021

ACTIon

The knowledge of our predicament and the increasingly short window of time we have to transform our industry make it clear that an ethical response from rich countries would be to decarbonise rapidly, utilising all means available, in a transformation similar to that seen during wartime or, at the very least, in response to the Covid-19 pandemic. ‘It is… incumbent on experts in any discipline that deals with the future of the biosphere and human well-being to eschew reticence, avoid sugar-coating the overwhelming challenges ahead and “tell it like it is”. Anything else is misleading at best, or negligent and potentially lethal for the human enterprise at worst.’ VARIoUS AUTHoRS, FRONTIERS IN CONSERVATION SCIENCE, 13 JAnUARY 2021

The relatively recent comprehension of quite how much the built environment contributes to climate change can be alarming and deeply concerning for architects

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FIGURE 1.2

UK climate protests pushing for urgent action.

and built environment professionals wishing to positively contribute to society at large. To transform our industry and decarbonise rapidly, it is important to refect on our own contributions – particularly those in our professional lives. Acknowledging the complexity is part of the challenge here, as it is not fully known what proportion of buildings are built with the assistance of an architect and so the relative agency we, and our fellow built environment professionals, can have over global fows of materials and labour is not fully known. This comprehensive entanglement with capitalism works at the broadest scale and so recognising the contradictions of scarcity,9 which we create both intentionally and unintentionally within the design profession, is essential. We don’t see that which we have plundered to achieve success, but we are being held to account more now than ever for those decisions. We need to retool our practices to create more productive relationships with materials and labour to generate value more carefully. We’ll explore the skillsets required for a healthier paradigm at the end of this chapter after we have set out where that response currently lies and explain why, considering the knowledge we have, our current situation is broadly untenable. The eforts required to rise to this challenge will redefne our industry in the coming decades and regenerative design must become the new paradigm, learning from

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old and new technologies. Nature-based solutions are essential, as is the reduction of high-carbon material use. As Hattie Hartman commented in her ‘Climate Champions’ podcast, ‘Architects have always designed intuitively and that goes a long way, but times have changed and we now need to be able to measure and evidence aspects of our work.’10

Law, regulation and professional codes LAW AnD REGULATIon Planning obligations

Some 74% of district, county, unitary and metropolitan councils have declared a climate emergency to date;11 this means that in meeting your duty to the environment you are likely to have allies within your local planning departments, or at the very least teams who have recognised this issue. Achieving planning requires a design and access statement, which is where you will frst discuss issues of sustainability in planning. Guidance on how councils should assess and approve or deny those permissions is evolving in relation to climate. The most recent planning policy to come into efect is the revised National Planning Policy Framework and newly launched National Model Design Code. The revised National Planning Policy Framework12 leads with specifc reference to the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals and includes a presumption in favour of sustainable development. In addition, there are references to the Climate Change Act 2008 and an expectation that all new development should take a proactive approach to mitigating and adapting to climate change. The National Model Design Code (NMDC)13 is a toolkit to inform local planning authorities on design issues to consider and ways of engaging with local communities throughout the planning process. Where a local plan does not exist, local authorities can defer to the NMDC. While this is only guidance, it is encouraging to see embodied carbon, which is responsible for around 10% of the UK’s annual greenhouse gas emissions, explicitly addressed in R.2 Sustainable Construction within the Resources guidance.14 While decisions are beginning to be taken on the grounds of more advanced sustainability criteria, the level of knowledge and ability/resources required to take considered decisions is not necessarily present. In relation to biodiversity targets, it was recognised that simply stating that there would be no net loss of biodiversity on sites was not efective and so DEFRA has been

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consulting on making biodiversity net gain mandatory within the English planning system.15 Many developers are already designing net gain into their development projects as this is already encouraged through the National Planning Policy Framework mentioned above. It is also positive that the London Plan Policy SI 2 requires notifable projects to calculate and reduce their whole-life carbon emissions.16 This requirement applies to planning applications which are referred to the Mayor, but assessments are encouraged for all major applications. Case law

In 2021, a landmark case was settled with the planning inspector’s decision to refuse the Tulip skyscraper, proposed for London’s Square Mile, at least partly on the grounds that the embodied-carbon impact was not acceptable. As the Architects’ Journal explained, ‘It’s a sign of how fast the climate debate is moving that embodied carbon has graduated from a planning “downside” to a solid ground for refusal – planning inspector David Nicholson concluded the building had “very high embodied energy and an unsustainable whole life cycle”.’17 This clearly sets a precedent for future applications and suggests an increase in the focus on embodied carbon within planning. other policy

Also related to constraining the use of resources is draft London Plan Policy SI 7,18 which requires that Circular Economy Statements should also be prepared for referable applications. The circular economy principles which should be achieved are as follows: • conserving resources, increasing resource efciency and sourcing sustainably • designing to eliminate waste (and for ease of maintenance) • managing waste sustainably and at the highest value. While it is positive that these are being requested of notifable projects, it will likely be some time before we see the same being required for most small applications. We are also yet to see a UK carbon budget pathway which connects our aim of net zero by 2050 to the volume of development permitted. Looking ahead, a consultation on the Planning for the Future White Paper has outlined new planning legislation which, among other things, sets out proposals for a fast-track system for beautiful schemes.19 These proposals are also likely to reduce the time taken to draw up local plans. Critically, the intention is to make it mandatory for all new homes to be carbon neutral by 2050. However, this is widely seen as too slow, especially given that this standard was originally supposed to have been met by 2016, before being scrapped.

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Regulation

The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities is responsible for the Building Regulations 2010 in England. These regulations are structured as a series of approved documents providing guidance on the design and construction of most new buildings and alterations to existing buildings. While there are some exemptions, such as temporary buildings and greenhouses, it is widely understood that these regulations set an infuential baseline for the safety and sustainability of construction. The parts which are most pertinent to the use of resources are Parts L and F, which include: • conservation of heat and power • U-values (foor, wall, roof, window, door) and Y-values (thermal bridging) • air permeability • heating appliances • heat emitter type • ventilation system. Additionally, aspects of Part B – Fire Safety are also having an impact on the industry’s appetite for using structural timber, which is re-emerging as a sustainable, lowcarbon alternative to typical steel and concrete frame systems.20 Although currently under review, the standard met by a fully compliant building under the regulations is unlikely to meet the challenges of the climate and biodiversity emergency. We urgently need higher levels of performance monitoring to ensure that we close the energy use and performance gaps, to save households money on their bills, avoiding fuel poverty while also reducing in-use emissions.21 The room for interpretation within the regulations, as well as the lack of measurements of completed buildings, means many buildings are often consuming as much as twice their expected energy. Current regulations set an inadequate baseline for performance across build quality, air quality, heating, toxicity of products, breathability, embodied carbon, noise, efciency, cold bridges and levels of recycled content. The UK regulations sit well below standards set in EU countries and building an energy-efcient home with high indoor air quality is well beyond UK building regulations. Improving these regulations will create an uplift in the health and wellbeing of occupants, as well as help reduce emissions associated with their construction. Nordic countries go much further and should be seen as a source of inspiration. A signifcant consultation on the Future Homes Standard and the Future Building Standard were underway at the time of writing and many have lobbied the

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government for an ambitious uplift in the energy efciency of new homes through changes to Part L of the building regulations.22 The Future Homes Standard will require new-build homes to be future-proofed with low-carbon heating and worldleading levels of energy efciency; it will be introduced by 2025.23 While we await changes to the regulatory framework, the case can be made that it is ethical for any practising architect to aim to deliver beyond the current regulations in order to future-proof their client’s project and reduce overall emissions and impacts as far as is practical. CoDES Individuals

Above the need to meet what is required by both planning and building regulations, architects and chartered architects are bound by their codes of conduct, as set out by the Architects Registration Board (ARB) and the RIBA. Historically, the more consumer-focused ARB code can be seen as a baseline for practising architects, while the RIBA code aims to go beyond those stipulations to set out a higher standard required for Chartered Members. That contrast can be seen in duties to the environment, where the ARB code requires that ‘Where appropriate, you should advise your client how best to conserve and enhance the quality of the environment and its natural resources.’24 The RIBA Code of Professional Conduct, which came into efect on 1 May 2019 and was updated in 2021, runs to nine duties under the environment heading.

THE RIBA CoDE oF PRoFESSIonAL ConDUC T – THE EnVIRonMEnT 13.1 Members should consider the environmental impact of their professional activities, including the impact of each project on the natural environment. 13.2 Members shall advise their clients on the need, if any, for specialist professional advice required to ensure that their project safeguards the local environment, ecology and biodiversity. 13.3 Members should promote sustainable design and development principles in their professional activities. 13.4 In performing professional services, Members shall advocate the design, construction and operation of sustainable buildings and communities. 13.5 Members shall inform clients of sustainable practices suitable to their project and shall encourage their clients to adopt sustainable practices at the earliest opportunity. 13.6 When performing professional services, Members should develop and discuss with their client a written Sustainability Strategy for the project, where appropriate.

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13.7 Members must use reasonable endeavours to specify and use sustainable materials on their projects. 13.8 Members must use reasonable endeavours to minimise whole-life carbon and energy use. 13.9 Members should practise evidence-informed design and should keep records of the evidence used in reaching design decisions. 25

In response to a survey and pressure from action groups26 on the single-sentence environment duty within the ARB code, the ARB published sustainability guidelines in March 2021, recognising that the wording of the code now needed expansion in order to provide sufcient guidance to architects on how to approach the challenges of the climate emergency. Within that guidance note27 the topic is expanded signifcantly.

ARB CoMPETEnCE GUIDELInES: SUSTAInABILIT Y A. Ethics and professionalism You should: SA1. Understand the principles of climate science so that you are able to make informed and responsible decisions with regards to actions and inaction that may afect this issue. SA2. Understand the impact that resilience, mitigation and adaptation of the built environment can have on climate change, and do everything within your remit to minimise the negative impact your practice has on the environment. SA3. Advocate for sustainable or regenerative design solutions and ethical sourcing throughout the life cycle of each project. SA4. Maintain your knowledge of the key legislation, regulations and policies in respect of the climate and ecological crisis. SA5. Share building performance data to raise industry awareness and encourage the growth of a zero-carbon culture. B. Sustainable design principles You should: SB1. Understand the relationships between buildings, settlements, communities and a changing climate, and be able to design low- and zero-carbon buildings. SB2. Understand social sustainability and social value as tools to measure the impact of development upon communities. SB3. Be able to design to preserve, integrate and enhance natural habitats which encourage biodiversity and support access to green infrastructure space for communities.

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SB4. Be able to apply the design principles of: • retroft frst • fabric frst and thermal/energy efciency • passive design • daylighting • appropriate renewable technologies • life cycle assessment and costing • whole-life carbon and low embodied carbon design • water cycle, demand, supply and reduction. C. Environmental and building physics You should: SC1. Understand the environmental science relating to temperature, humidity, sound and lighting. SC2. Understand the principles of human comfort and indoor air quality in relation to energy use. SC3. Be able to calculate predicted operational and embodied energy use and carbon emissions. SC4. Be able to carry out post-occupancy evaluations/building performance evaluations to understand performance gaps and inform future projects. D. Construction technology You should: SD1. Understand the embodied carbon and resource implications of diferent methods of construction and performance of building materials. SD2. Be able to produce adequate detailed designs to allow for airtightness and thermal integrity. SD3. Understand the performance of major energy demanding building technologies (ventilation, heating, cooling, hot water and lighting), and the use of onsite renewable energy generation or further ofsetting to achieve decarbonisation. SD4. Understand and be able to apply circular economy principles to the design life cycle of each project.

The improved clarity within both codes provides good guidance for the architects and while there is little evidence of architects being reprimanded for not meeting these sections of the codes, we can expect that in the coming years more cases will be brought to the standards committees as the severity of the climate and biodiversity emergency unfolds.

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When discussing the professional codes, of course, it is also worth being reminded of Jeremy Till’s counter point within Architecture Depends: ‘The problem lies in the assertion that the codes provide “ethical guidance”; they do not, often quite the opposite… Serving the client through fulflling the code of conduct is not only likely to be incommensurable with the wishes and needs of future users, but may actually work against them. It may in fact be unethical on my terms.’28 This makes it clear that while codes may be seen as broadly advancing the cause of ethical practice, they remain controversial, and it can’t be assumed that simply by meeting the rules set out you will be seen as ethical in the eyes of others. Chartered Practices

RIBA Chartered Practices are required to have a Quality Management System (QMS) in place29 and this includes an environmental management policy. The RIBA provides a template for this covering both ofce activities and design approaches within the Chartered Practice Toolbox.30 The size of a practice will determine the scope of the Quality Management System and practices should follow at least the minimum as set out below. Small practices (up to 10 staf): Prepare a Project Quality Plan (PQP) for each project. Medium practices (11 to 50 staf): Set up a system that covers all project and practice procedures: • a PQP for each project • a practice manual • standard forms. Large practices (51+ staf): • Adopt an externally certifed ISO 9001 QMS. • Adopt a full set of policies developed with the practice’s own resources. While important in setting tone, capturing policy and preparing for bids, these policies have had limited success in creating a culture of responsibility towards environmental goals. As a result, the RIBA has introduced a more structured system, in the form of the Sustainable Business Development Toolkit.31 This seeks to further support practices by ofering activities which embed ethical and social considerations, as well as defning clear steps for those starting out on their sustainable business management journeys. The Toolkit aligns with work done by Architects Declare (see page 31) in 2021 and comprises the following steps: Understanding impact: Creating a baseline from which future improvement can be measured and success quantifably demonstrated. Practices measure

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their carbon footprint using standard methodologies that comprise direct and indirect emissions. Optimise and improve: Identifying opportunities for improvement and optimising efciency. Practices commit to continuous learning and evaluation of sustainability impacts and publicly commit to continuous improvement. Finance and business: Considering the efects of fnancial decisions. This might involve looking at the ethical credentials of the fnancial service providers you use; using your purchasing power to support fair trade and appropriately certifed products; having equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) policies in place, and opting to extend commitments by joining the RIBA’s Inclusion Charter; investigating opportunities for local community support and investment. Understand control vs infuence: Determining the practice’s spheres of infuence. Beyond the direct control you will have over your own business operations, your practice will also have some control over the sustainability outcomes of their designs. Practice management can also exert a positive infuence on staf, professional peers, clients and the supply chain. Annual disclosure: The practice’s environmental policy should be reviewed and updated, ensuring its scope includes social and ethical ambitions, and practices should commit publicly to sharing their progress from the established baseline through annual reports.32 The Toolkit has a comprehensive resource section signposting further guidance and many freely available tools, such as calculators, checklists and a carbon footprint database for benchmarking purposes. Following these steps will give practices a clearer framework to report progress against environmental goals and ensure that they are walking the talk when it comes to sustainability. This makes it far easier to have authentic conversations with clients about the decisions they’ll need to take to ensure their projects are sustainable.

Going further Having considered the current professional context with regard to our duty to the environment, it is important to look ahead to the frameworks, initiatives and emerging responsibilities to understand what lies beyond – in the realms of best practice at the frontier of ethical practice. Understanding these initiatives can help future-proof your practice as well as help you protect your clients’ best interests by avoiding stranded assets and by being ahead of the curve on developing legislation.

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Implicit in all of these initiatives and the actions of various groups is the very real need to avoid greenwash. The imperative now is for meaningful action, not just words. ‘The UK now urgently needs to invest in massive improvements to its housing stock in order to protect citizens, reduce energy consumption and make extreme weather bearable in the future. New construction is intensely polluting, so the way forward lies in upgrading existing buildings rather than demolishing them to start from scratch.’ PHInEAS HARPER, THE GUARDIAN, 20 JULY 2022

KEY InDUSTRY InITIATIVES The RIBA 2030 Challenge

The RIBA has developed the 2030 Climate Challenge33 to help architects design within a climate-conscious trajectory by providing a stepped approach towards net zero. The 2030 Climate Challenge targets are as follows: • Reduce operational energy demand by at least 75%, before ofsetting. • Reduce embodied carbon by at least 50–70%, before ofsetting. • Reduce potable water use by at least 40%. • Meet health and wellbeing metrics.

FIGURE 1.3

Nest House, an eco-home by Studio Bark, 2021.

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LETI

LETI is a voluntary network of more than 1,000 built environment professionals, working together to put the UK and the planet on the path to a zero-carbon future. LETI’s vision is to understand and clarify what this means in the built environment and develop the actions needed to meet the UK climate change targets.34 The Climate Framework

The Cross-Industry Action Group has developed a shared curriculum framework, the Climate Framework, as well as a platform for holistic climate knowledge which has informed the RIBA’s Mandatory Competence on Climate Literacy.35 According to the Climate Framework website, ‘The aim is to break down silos and establish common ground, defne a common language, and identify the holistic knowledge and skills every built environment professional must be equipped with to deliver truly sustainable built environments.’36 ACTIon GRoUPS

As Farhana Yamin highlighted in her keynote speech at the RIBA’s 2021 Built Environment Summit,37 ‘We cannot leave it to the lawmakers and to the government and we cannot wait for the building regulations to arrive and then build to them. You have to act frst and push for those changes; you have to add the word activist to your professional title.’ Architects Declare

Architects Declare38 is a network of architectural practices committed to addressing the climate and biodiversity emergency. It was originated by architects Steve Tompkins and Michael Pawlyn, and launched on 30 May 2019 by 17 UK recipients of the Stirling Prize. The initiative quickly attracted hundreds of architectural practices from across the UK and now numbers over 1,100 signatories committed to the following 12-point declaration. We will seek to: 1.

Raise awareness of the climate and biodiversity emergencies and the urgent need for action amongst our clients and supply chains.

2.

Advocate for faster change in our industry towards regenerative design practices and a higher Governmental funding priority to support this.

3.

Establish climate and biodiversity mitigation principles as the key measure of our industry’s success: demonstrated through awards, prizes and listings.

4.

Share knowledge and research to that end on an open-source basis.

5.

Evaluate all new projects against the aspiration to contribute positively to mitigating climate breakdown, and encourage our clients to adopt this approach.

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6.

Upgrade existing buildings for extended use as a more carbon efcient alternative to demolition and new build whenever there is a viable choice.

7.

Include life cycle costing, whole-life carbon modelling and post occupancy evaluation as part of our basic scope of work, to reduce both embodied and operational resource use.

8.

Adopt more regenerative design principles in our studios, with the aim of designing architecture and urbanism that goes beyond the standard of net zero carbon in use.

9.

Collaborate with engineers, contractors and clients to further reduce construction waste.

10. Accelerate the shift to low embodied carbon materials in all our work. 11. Minimise wasteful use of resources in architecture and urban planning, both in quantum and in detail. 12. Support those who are working for climate justice and strive to ensure equity and an improved quality of life for all.

Arguably, this declaration goes beyond what is required in the ARB and RIBA codes. ACAn

The Architects Climate Action Network (ACAN) has been instrumental in recent years in coordinating built environment professionals to take action, demanding a new kind of professionalism. It argues that architects should no longer remain siloed but should harness their collective agency to bring about necessary changes to the built environment industry.39 With the knowledge of the climate emergency, we have a professional duty to tell the truth around the issues we see ahead. EMERGInG PoSITIonS Climate justice

The climate emergency disproportionately afects those already facing social injustices. Climate justice is a term used to frame climate change as an ethical and political issue, rather than one that is purely environmental. This is done by relating the causes and efects of climate change to concepts of justice, particularly environmental justice and social justice, and by examining historic responsibilities for climate change.40 Rights of nature

Ecuador was the frst country to recognise rights of nature in its constitution, a great frst step towards a change of paradigm. The 2008 Ecuadorian Constitution41 includes a chapter enshrining rights of nature and allowing the people of Ecuador legal authority to enforce these rights on behalf of ecosystems. The ecosystem itself can be named as the climant.

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FIGURE 1.4

Structures assuming the shapes and patterns of the natural world in Park Güell, Barcelona, designed by Antoni Gaudí.

‘How can we be part of nature, not hurting nature, and how can we be a good part of society rather than exploiting it?’ AnnA HERInGER, DESIGN STUDIO VOL. 1: EVERYTHING NEEDS TO CHANGE, 2021

Law of ecocide

Ecocide means unlawful or wanton acts committed with knowledge that there is a substantial likelihood of severe and either widespread or long-term damage to the environment being caused by those acts. A series of pressure groups inspired by the late Polly Higgins, together with a growing global network of lawyers, diplomats and people from all sectors of civil society, are working towards making ecocide an international crime.42 Regenerative design

One concept which Michael Pawlyn, Sarah Ichioka, Kate Raworth and others are advocating in response to our current crisis is regenerative design.43 This is central to the message of Architects Declare and addresses the issue that almost 30 years of sustainable design have simply shifted our industry to doing slightly less bad, rather than shifting to a paradigm which actively restores and regenerates ecosystems.

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‘Instead of doing less damage to the environment, it is necessary to learn how one can participate with the environment by using the health of ecological systems as a basis for design. Ideally we should be creating a whole system of mutually benefcial relationships and by doing so moving beyond sustaining the environment to one that can regenerate its health – as well as our own.’ BILL REED, BUILDING RESEARCH AND INFORMATION, 2007

Saying no

As well as advocating for change and seeking to educate clients on issues of climate and biodiversity, turning down work on ethical grounds will be one way that architects can take their ethical role more seriously and it can be a productive way to help protect supply chains, wider society and the planet itself. Practices also risk increasing reputational damage by taking on unethical projects and we may well see an improved public standing for the profession if problematic work is more regularly refused. ‘“If we didn’t design it someone else would” – this only serves to highlight a worrying abdication of ethical responsibility by some of the world’s leading design frms. None of this helps the image of the architect.’ DonALD MCnEILL, GLOBALIZATION AND THE ETHICS OF ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN, 2006

Key principles In order to follow the RIBA Code of Professional Conduct, ‘Members should promote sustainable design and development principles’.44 While the code and many other sources expand on how this can be interpreted, we present here three key principles which help to summarise an ethical approach. SET TARGETS

From the outset of any project, discuss measurable, ambitious and unambiguous project sustainability outcomes following consultation with the client and project team. Carry out precedent studies and verify that the targets set are achievable and will meet or exceed regulatory compliance and local authority expectations. MEASURE PRoGRESS

At each project milestone ensure that both the design and design team are on track to meet the expected targets. If the targets have slipped or appear unachievable, adjust resources or the programme to compensate.

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VERIFY oUTCoMES

Put in place certifcation requirements for the fnished building and identify experts responsible for evaluating outcomes, rectifying poor details or energy overuse, and publishing fndings.

Conclusion The challenge we now face is unique, a disaster has unfolded over many decades and now requires an urgent transformation across all walks of life. Over those same decades, our industry’s environmental impact has become far clearer and with that our duty to the wider world has become far more critical. If we

FIGURE 1.5

The Eden Project aims to explore the connections between all living things.

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can respond adequately over the next decade, we can protect earth’s relatively stable atmosphere and safeguard conditions for fourishing life. Responding adequately will be enormously challenging and must become our principal focus, with both appropriate solutions and the required urgency. We cannot wait for perfect solutions so instead must fnd inspiration in the many good solutions which already exist and establish more common ground with those in the industry who have been diligently addressing these issues for many years.

Dilemma – structural challenge SCENARIO

You have been designing a 40-unit housing scheme for a private developer. The client agreed to your suggestion that the scheme should aim for the RIBA 2030 Climate Challenge targets. The structural engineer put forward a majority timber structure which helps the project achieve the embodiedcarbon target. The scheme was recently submitted for planning and the design and access statement made reference to the timber structure. While planning is being determined, the quantity surveyor contacts the client and design team with concerns about higher costs stemming from the timber structure and potential issues insuring the completed building.

OPTIONS

The initial options you might consider may include: A Leave it to the structural engineer to respond. B Advocate for retaining a majority timber structure, citing the agreed target and alignment with the planning application. C Request additional fees to redesign the scheme with a reinforced concrete frame while planning is being determined.

CONSIDERATIONS

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•

Many local authorities have declared a climate emergency and will look favourably on schemes meeting ambitious sustainability targets. If the planning application is approved, the target may be conditioned within the approval notice.

•

The insurance issues are a valid concern and will be attributable to both fre and water risks. These ought to be manageable with appropriate risk mitigation measures such as project-specifc fre testing, peer-reviewed design information, moisture sensors and fully encapsulated voids.

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Cost variations are also a valid concern but aren’t unique to timber – steel prices have fuctuated signifcantly in recent years.

•

By proceeding with a timber structure, the scheme is likely to save signifcant amounts of carbon compared to a concrete or steel alternative. This low-carbon approach will also be a marketable feature of the development, giving the client a unique selling point over other similar developments. Additionally, the development of mass timber schemes helps shape the future market for natural materials in construction.

•

The communication from the QS has come at an awkward time and suggests the design team may not be collaborating efectively. Relying on the structural engineer to respond makes sense, given that it is their proposal that is being questioned, but the architect should also respond since they suggested the targets.

•

The request for additional fees may not go down well with the client and work carried out during planning determination will be carried out at risk, as it may be abortive should the scheme be refused, or the timber structure be conditioned within the approval.

•

The regulatory landscape is changing signifcantly, and it is likely that building in timber is likely to become easier and more widely acceptable in the coming years.

•

If the client is particularly risk averse, then switching to concrete may emerge as the favoured solution. In this case, sustainability targets for operational energy, water use, and health and wellbeing could perhaps be enhanced.

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Views from others Farhana Yamin is an internationally recognised environmental lawyer and a climate change and development policy expert. Below is an abridged transcript of her keynote speech at the RIBA’s 2021 Built Environment Summit. Your profession, my profession, everyone must act now because the politicians have let us down. Our legal frameworks are not good enough and we are committing current and future generations to horrifc ecological meltdown, unfairly afecting those who are most vulnerable on our planet. With Covid we have seen how the historic inequalities are built into the system, with access to vaccines demonstrating how responses to climate may well play out.

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With low-quality retrofts we are failing future generations who require far more liveable cities with a very diferent kind of space with access to nature and an ecologically balanced way of living. This is at the heart of many of the movements from the global South and people are rightly marching in protest and asking for a very diferent way of life. We have been unfair to nature and unfair to people. I’m a lawyer and I’m frankly embarrassed of my profession because we always use the excuse that it’s our clients who are making these decisions and we should simply be neutral and ofer them advice. There is a lot of that thinking in your profession and many other professions and my appeal to you is to step beyond that kind of thinking. It’s no longer enough to follow clients’ money and pursue rewards which come from shiny new buildings based on very unsustainable materials. It’s time to educate ourselves and our clients in what to do at this moment. It’s not a time to be neutral about the fate of the planet; it’s time to be active citizens, it’s time to take your professional responsibilities more seriously not just to interpret them narrowly. As architects, as designers, as planners, as those who work directly with clients, it’s up to you to bring great ideas and shake things up because there are many great ideas and projects which you can use to not just hit the 2050 net-zero target but to actually bring it forward so that richer countries, those with deeper pockets and historic emissions, can deliver that by 2040 or perhaps 2030, where it really needs to be. We cannot leave it to the lawmakers and to the government and we cannot wait for the building regulations to arrive and then build to them. You have to act frst and push for those changes; you have to add the word activist to your professional title and think about how far you can take your own need to educate yourself in order to address the discomfort we should all share around projects which are locking in carbon emissions at this crucial moment in history. Keep having these discussions and keep coming forward to challenge yourself and challenge your colleagues on why business as usual continues. The fnancial industry, the marketing industry, the legal industry: we should all be responsible for the emissions of our clients because in some ways we are the enablers of business as usual and we currently get of scot-free because we can say we’re simply in the service industry and we don’t have to take responsibility for our clients’ emissions when actually we are responsible because we’re actually doing the design. We’re ethically culpable, if not morally, professionally and legally culpable.

Justin Bere, founder of bere:architects, is a specialist in lowenergy buildings, and designer of the frst certifed Passive House building in London in 2010. Justin was named one of the most infuential people in UK sustainability by Building Design magazine in 2012. He sat on the RIBA’s Sustainable Futures advisory group from 2010 to 2016 and regularly advocates on sustainability within the built environment.

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As the moral philosopher Toby Ord argues, ‘Our descendants are in the position of colonised peoples: they’re politically disenfranchised, with no say in the decisions being made that will directly afect them or stop them from existing.’45 The reason that we are all here is because our ancestors took selfsh decisions that in the short term benefted the survival of their own genes. Those who consumed the most, often achieved the most, and we have inherited these same genes that afect our own temperament. Our ancestors became a social species about 4 to 5 million years ago because strong teams that prospered conveyed benefts to contributing individuals. Those at the top of a social hierarchy benefted most of all. The main beneft of teamwork was to achieve the means to increased consumption; frstly, to produce food to grow brain and body; secondly, for some of the trappings of status. To maintain their position, or to climb the ladder of social status, our most successful ancestors gave no more for the common good than was necessary to maintain a certain degree of status that benefted themselves and their ability to procreate and to give their ofspring a chance to produce another generation. So we have continued to the present day, accumulating the most we can, and giving not much more to others than is benefcial to ourselves. Our distant descendants don’t ofer benefts to ourselves because they are yet to be born, so their interests aren’t considered. The short-sighted self-interest of the human is thereby in the advanced stages of destroying the future life of the planet. Our species has no right to destroy the life chances of millions of species and billions of years of life on earth in just a few generations. Our generation has now so overstepped reasonable boundaries that we must be the frst to strongly restrain ourselves from carrying out needless and wanton destruction. Instead, we must be the frst generation to make peaceful sacrifces for future generations of all life on earth. We must now choose between letting change unfold in unplanned and terrifyingly painful ways that are becoming easier to imagine each day, or we can create a new way of human existence that most people cannot imagine. This is why those of us who have chosen to be architects; designers of life; those of us with imagination and the gift to visualise new ways of living must now, in the last moments before irreversible disaster, accept the responsibility to use these powers absolutely for the beneft of future generations. So, whenever we design or make plans, I believe that we must always think, ‘What will people in 200 or 300 years think about our proposals?’ If we can see they will look back and say of our projects, be they small or large, ‘That was a stupid waste of resources’ or if they might say in the future, ‘Why did they put their own business interests above the long-term benefts of future generations?’ then we must go no further, despite the loss of our own interests – fnancial, personal or business status – or however we or our immediate dependents might lose out; we must not proceed. Only if we can imagine future generations in centuries to come looking back and saying of our work, ‘What they did then was part of a bigger plan that gave us, now, the opportunity to occupy a sustainable niche within the natural world’, really then, and only then, should our project be considered eligible to be built.

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2 Society

2

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Introduction ‘Whether architecture provides a coherent expression of the needs and values of society at any given time depends on the authority of the people commissioning buildings and the level of consensus in society.’ PEnnY LEWIS, ARCHITECTURE AND COLLECTIVE LIFE, 2022

Architecture and society are interdependent and while architects won’t play a role in every building built, we must take our duty to society with utmost seriousness. Losing sight of the end users of our buildings and society at large is an ever-present threat to a profession which practises the most public of the arts. Neglecting our duty to society in favour of capital or client demands risks a loss of trust, and with that the social licence to operate that provides us with the relative freedom we currently enjoy. The numerous exchanges and concessions which must take place while an architect creates new buildings within an existing urban fabric have given rise to many concepts, frameworks and modes of engagement, which we shall introduce and explore. We’ll also explore the injustices which persist in our built environment and ofer advice on how equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI) can and must be embedded into our organisations, engagement strategies and built output. ‘Our shared built environment forms all of us inescapably. Therefore, its authorship is a form of franchise that should be extended to everyone if we are to be a truly inclusive society. Especially when it’s paid for from the public purse. Anything else is a regressive redistribution of wealth based on the race of those who are routinely excluded from contributing.’ DAVID oGUnMUYIWA, SOUND ADVICE, NOW YOU KNOW, 2022

Lastly, we’ll look at the delicate act of ethical specifcation, the need for more evidence-based design, and remind readers about the importance of health and life safety, which we must all take reasonable steps to protect over the life of a project.

Law, regulation and professional codes LAW AnD REGULATIon

An architect’s duty to society is understandably one of the most heavily regulated duties, with planning and housing Acts, building regulations and the Health and Safety Executive all passing down signifcant restriction, policy and guidance on what you can build in the UK.

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Having due regard for the wellbeing of future users of buildings and the wider community is regulated through the planning process. Having due regard for the immediate and long-term safety of building users and those constructing buildings is regulated through the building regulations. CoDES ARB

While the Architects Registration Board (ARB) code doesn’t explicitly outline a duty to the public interest or society, it is implicit within the code that many duties are there to protect members of the public from problematic actions. Honesty, competence and adherence to standards, of course, beneft society. Recent guidance notes on the impact of work also include reference to ‘social sustainability and social value as tools to measure the impact of development upon communities’.1 RIBA

PRInCIPLE 1: InTEGRIT Y Members shall behave with integrity and shall strive to safeguard and improve the standing, reputation and dignity of the Institute and its Members in all their professional activities. Members shall consistently promote and protect the public interest and social purpose, taking into account future generations.2

The frst principle in the RIBA Code of Professional Conduct requires that members act with integrity, and this broadly applies to the members’ duty to society. Meeting components such as impartiality and avoiding conficts of interest and bribery can be understood as benefting society.

PRInCIPLE 2: CoMPETEnCE Members should continuously strive to improve their professional knowledge and skill. Members should persistently seek to raise the standards of architectural education, life-long learning, research, training and practice for the beneft of the public interest, those commissioning services, the profession and themselves. Members should strive to protect and enhance heritage and the natural environment.3

The second Principle in the code makes the most specifc reference to the duty to society, in Section 14, Community and society.

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14. CoMMUnIT Y AnD SoCIET Y 14.1 Members shall have proper concern and due regard for the efect that their professional activities and completed projects may have on users, the local community and society. Gn 14.1: This may involve conducting consultations with the local community before starting work on and during a development. It may also involve carrying out consultations with the local community after completion of the project so that lessons can be learnt and information shared to improve future projects. 14.2 In performing professional services Members should promote stronger communities and improve equality, diversity and inclusion in the built environment.4

PRInCIPLE 3: RELATIonSHIPS Members shall respect and seek to uphold the relevant rights and interests of others. Members shall treat people with respect and shall strive to be inclusive, ethical and collaborative in all they do. Members shall seek and promote social justice.5

Principle 3 relates to our duty to society through the lens of equity, diversity and inclusion, handling complaints, insurance and whistleblowing, which will be essential in cases where a decision or action creates societal harm and should be exposed.

Social responsibility In September 2015, after an unprecedented three-year consultation, all 193 Member States of the United Nations adopted a plan for achieving a better future for all (Agenda 2030). At the heart of the plan are the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) which clearly defne this vision. The SDGs consist of 17 high-level goals, backed up by 169 more specifc targets. The RIBA is one of more than 12,500 companies and organisations which have signed up to and support the UN Global Compact (UNGC) and have undertaken to make its principles and the SDGs part of organisational strategy, culture and daily operations. The RIBA, together with many other signatories, has committed to engage in collaborative projects which advance the SDGs in particular and the work of the UNGC more broadly. The RIBA and its membership are part of a diverse group of stakeholders, working as a global partnership to achieve the goals and to champion ethical practice within business.

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Agenda 2030 and the SDGs are well aligned with long-term business interests and present many opportunities for businesses to thrive through ethical practice. Below are some suggestions of what architects might do in practice to better engage with the ethical considerations raised by the Sustainable Development Goals. The following are ideas for the ‘basics’ and a starting point across four overarching areas. Human rights: Businesses should support and respect the protection of internationally proclaimed human rights; and make sure that they are not complicit in human rights abuses. Labour: Businesses should uphold the freedom of association and the efective recognition of the right to collective bargaining; the elimination of all forms of forced and compulsory labour; the efective abolition of child labour; and the elimination of discrimination in respect of employment and occupation. Environment: Businesses should support a precautionary approach to environmental challenges; undertake initiatives to promote greater environmental responsibility; and encourage the development and difusion of environmentally friendly technologies. Anti-corruption: Businesses should work against corruption in all its forms, including extortion and bribery. There are numerous ways to develop strategy or policy on specifc topics. To be efective, this development must involve full consideration of, and engagement with, each topic; more practically, ‘developing’ a policy or strategy entails committing it to writing so that it can be referred to, distributed and relied upon. Further information about applying the UN Sustainable Development Goals in practice has been developed by the RIBA.6

Stakeholder identifcation and engagement ‘It is now generally accepted that users or inhabitants have particular experience or knowledge that cannot be replicated by outside “experts”… that involvement in the production of the built environment creates benefcial “ownership” of outcomes – leading to more sustainable placemaking.’ DAISY FRoUD, MAKING GOOD: SHAPING PLACES FOR PEOPLE, 2017

There are strong social, environmental and economic benefts to engaging with the people local to your projects. Evidence of consultation and participation is required by the UK planning system and as such is one of the key roles architects will be expected to play on public and medium- to large-scale projects. The level

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FIGURE 2.1

A community design consultation during the development of the Brixton Remakery, a reuse cooperative.

of engagement required will, of course, depend on the specifc typology, scale and location of the development. A strategy for engagement must be proportionate, and recognise that the development process is complex, with many groups impacted by development often hard to reach and future users often not present and therefore hard to envision or identify. Any strategy must therefore be decided with some knowledge of the local community, and a respect for the embedded knowledge it contains. At each step of the engagement process it should be clear to participants how their input has been gathered and what impact they have had on future iterations of the design. During the engagement process, the line between your duty to wider society and your duty to the end user may well blur as it will be hard to predict who may end up using the building extensively and who will simply live with it as part of their neighbourhood. PARTICIPATIon – DRIVERS AnD BARRIERS

In 2022, the UK Collaborative Centre for Housing Evidence published extensive research into public participation in planning in the UK7 and shared some important fndings, which we present short summaries of below. Why people participate

Hope: Because they are optimistic about improving their surrounding areas. Place attachment: Because they enjoy their neighbourhood and wish to improve it.

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Place protection: Because they enjoy their neighbourhood and wish to protect it. Civic activism: Because of an ideological commitment to protecting or promoting certain aspects of their neighbourhood. Perceived penalties: Because they are concerned that not participating will lead to poorer outcomes for themselves and their community. Threat: Because they are resisting a specifc perceived threat and are willing to make an immediate intervention. Control: Because they wish to gain more control in local decisions and assert their view. To air fundamental diferences: Because they disagree with the general trajectory of local decision-making and projects and decide to take a clear oppositional stance. The honeypot efect: Because the participation exercises are engaging and appealing.8 What prevents participation

Communication and language skills: Because efective participation often requires skilled public speaking and/or written articulation of views. Technical knowledge: Because engaging in participation often requires some technical understanding of planning and the associated complex presentations and reports. Adversarial settings: Because engagement is often perceived as confrontational, with attempts to present a unifed community voice inefective or oversimplistic. Social capacity: Because the time involved in participating is not available to those more concerned with challenges of day-to-day survival. A ‘Why bother?’ approach: Because of the feeling that the powerful are always privileged in these exercises and that the UK planning system has been undermined by capitalist realism. Systemic feelings of unfairness: Because of a general lack of faith in the planning process, where regular errors in process often lead to frustration. Digital divide: Because the level of digital literacy required is increasing as teams embrace more virtual and web-based engagement.9 TRADITIonAL METHoDS oF PARTICIPATIon

Below is a summary of traditional methods of participation, courtesy of the New Model Design Code.

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Visual preference surveys: to understand buildings, places and streets that local people prefer, dislike or would like to improve. Place assessment tools: such as Placecheck and Spaceshaper. Structured workshops and charrettes: hands-on events to explore the challenges and opportunities of a site or area, analyse options or develop design proposals at various stages in the process. Community panels or forums: to ensure the voice of the community is considered through formal and informal structures. Drop-in events and exhibitions: to provide the opportunity to discuss the proposals with the consultation team and provide feedback in person or via a questionnaire. Design review panels: for peer group review at key stages to test the content and application of design codes. These could include community representation and professionals who are knowledgeable about the area in question.10 DIGITAL EnGAGEMEnT TooLS

Below is a summary of digital engagement tools, courtesy of the New Model Design Code. Social media platforms, apps, email campaigns and websites: can be used to promote in-person events but could also be used to share information, allow online participation in consultation processes and get feedback. Digital models of design codes and their context, area or sites: to help to visualise concepts and the wider efects of development. These might include the use of gaming platforms to engage younger audiences in exploring spatial design. other visualisation techniques for three-dimensional models: to provide the community with a visual appreciation of the proposals. Community-level data gathering: to gauge levels of support for particular ideas, along with accessible, transparent representation, so the community can see the views of the whole community refected statistically.11 ‘Public engagement is secured through a range of publicity and consultation requirements in the planning process, planning decisions must take account of equalities and human rights implications and local authorities are bound by the Nolan Principles and codes of conduct. Emerging technologies disrupt these considerations: while smart engagement has the ability to open up the planning process to new participants, it may exclude others unless adequate protections are put in place.’ SUE CHADWICK, CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY LAND SOCIETY MAGAZINE, 2021

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InnoVATIVE METHoDS

While a wide variety of existing methods have gained traction, there are recent innovative methods emerging which may help widen engagement or deepen participation. These include the following. Audio walks: Participants take part in a walk soundtracked by audio narratives available on a variety of channels. This helps participants tune into the identity of a neighbourhood and recognise the multiplicity of voices local to an area.12 Filmmaking: Giving local citizens the opportunity to share flms representing their area has been enabled by the proliferation of smartphones and can help present complex messages and narratives, as well as giving citizens time to refect on their own views of an issue.13 Theatre: Theatre can re-create the context of the planning committee to help people normalise and comprehend this relatively inaccessible process.14 It can also be used to develop understanding between groups and enable underrepresented or marginalised groups to better infuence decision-making.15 CHILDREn AnD YoUTH

As Shawn Adams, of Poor Collective, states, ‘Involving children in the design process will help create safer neighbourhoods to work, live and play in, generating a stronger sense of community.’16 The young are an important but vulnerable, and often overlooked, participant in the built environment. When designing public spaces, it can be easy to forget the broad spectrum of users these places will eventually host. Engagement strategies that involve children must necessarily be less structured and remain open to diverse levels and modes of contribution. There is also a danger that processes oversimplifed for children become patronising, so, where reasonable, explain to children the factors at play in the decision-making and allow them to reach their own conclusions without prejudging their level of understanding. Ensuring equality of access to participation in our built environment is as important as ever. Thankfully there is a rich history of innovation here and a passionate movement across universities, academia, practice and civil society which is establishing new modes and methods to make this happen. Wherever you practice, we encourage you to look carefully at how you engage the public in your work and ask who is given access to participate and on what terms.

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Social value ‘If we cannot defne what we mean by value, we cannot be sure to produce it, nor to share it fairly, nor to sustain economic growth.’ MARIAnA MAZZUCATo, THE VALUE OF EVERYTHING: MAKING AND TAKING IN THE GLOBAL ECONOMY, 2018

Addressing social inequality and the climate crisis will be impossible without a new understanding of the way value is measured within society. One way in which design teams are being encouraged to see the value generated by a project is social value, which is seeing increased recognition across the industry and beyond. The reasons for optimism around social value are twofold. On the one hand, it helps improve outcomes for communities impacted by development, and on the other, it helps built environment professionals better understand and explain some of the least tangible, but arguably most important, impacts of their work. The Social Value Act was introduced in England in 2012 has since gained ground as a requirement of procurement, contracts and planning in the public sector. While the original Act wasn’t intended to apply to the design of places and buildings, it was infuential in prescribing societal benefts arising through governmentbacked development.

FIGURE 2.2

High-density urban social housing at Goldsmith Street, Norwich, by Mikhail Riches and Cathy Hawley, 2019 RIBA Stirling Prize winner.

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Architects working on public sector projects will increasingly need to demonstrate the social value created by their projects, during development and through engagement and apprenticeships, for example, but also in the longer term through users’ wellbeing, connection to nature and choice of materials. As has been mentioned earlier, architects tend to do little to obtain feedback on the outcomes of their work and measuring social value is an important way to capture the positive societal impact which their contribution to buildings, homes and places can have. The ethical imperative to create social value is clear, with clear improvements in wellbeing and sustainability within reach. With government contracts worth a total of approximately £48 billion a year requiring a social value assessment, there’s clearly a commercial imperative. Lastly, as a discipline there are opportunities in investing time in developing our understanding around social value, as it will likely become an increasingly valuable skill as the pressure increases to defne good outcomes and better justify the often-destructive development process. DEFInITIon

Social value is a relatively new concept and so many defnitions exist. The one which we’ve found most useful comes from Social Value Hub17 and defnes it as ‘the beneft to the community from a commissioning/procurement process over and above the direct purchasing of goods, services and outcomes’. MAPPInG AnD MEASURInG

Flora Samuel and Eli Hatleskog believe strongly in the potential of social value for architects and outlined the following headings in a dedicated issue of Architectural Design in 2020. Jobs and apprenticeships: Teams should aim to provide jobs and training which deliver skills and investment in an area. Wellbeing generated by design: The design of a building or place will signifcantly afect the wellbeing of its inhabitants, and should promote connection, freedom, positive emotions and agency in the design process and completed buildings. Learning developed through construction: Involving communities in construction can help with acquiring new skills while ensuring that a building is environmentally sound, and encourages a connection to the natural environment. Designing with communities: Involving local communities in the design of a building through meaningful engagement creates confdence and agency, both for the design team, who will see improved outcomes, and the local community, who will have an increased sense of ownership and agency.

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Building with local materials: There are many social and environmental benefts of building with local materials and typologies. Although this may go against current procurement methods, it will often be worth the eforts.18 An alternative summation comes from the UK Green Building Council’s report ‘Social value in new development: An introductory guide for local authorities and development teams’, 2018, as summarised below. Social value – summary of outcomes

Jobs and economic growth: • decent jobs for local people, especially hard-to-reach groups • local people with the right skills for long-term employment • school leavers with career aspirations of the industry • the local supply chain is supported and grown • future residents have comfortable homes which are afordable to operate • thriving local businesses. Health, wellbeing and the environment: • good accessibility and sustainable transportation • resilient buildings and infrastructure • high-quality public and green spaces • good mental and physical health • healthy environments (local air quality, noise mitigation, etc.) • limiting resource use and waste. Strength of community • strong local ownership of the development • existing social fabric is protected from disruption • the new site is integrated into the surrounding area • thriving social networks • vibrant diversity of building uses and tenures • strong local identity and distinctive character.19 In addition, the frameworks listed below can help architects in their eforts to capture and articulate social value: • National Themes, Outcomes and Measures (TOMs) Framework • HACT’s Social Value Bank.

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DEVELoPInG A SoCIAL VALUE SURVEY

The Social Value Toolkit for Architecture20 was developed to simplify the demonstration and evaluation of social value benefts in public policy and procurement. A number of practices took part in the trial, adapting the toolkit for use primarily within multi-unit housing projects but also in other sectors, including education. Ideally social value is measured before and after project completion to give a baseline of data from which improvements can be observed. Where data from the existing context is unavailable, questions can be phrased in a way that allows participants to refect on the extent to which an environment has been improved. It is important to gather qualitative and quantitative feedback in order to learn what metrics clients have seen improvement with, as well as the project’s broader impact and any unintended outcomes. As well as contributing to the development of social value, there’s a good chance this exercise will improve your relationship with the client and help you better refect on the real impact of the work. Ethics and consent

Before embarking on any consultation, it’s important to give consideration to the ethics of gathering data. Always ensure that the participants are able to give informed consent by furnishing them with adequate information about the research project, including how any data submitted will be processed, used and stored. This usually takes the form of an information sheet and consent form, an example of which can be found in the Social Value Toolkit for Architecture.21 Social Value Toolkit for Architecture questions

These questions were developed for housing projects and should be adapted for other settings. Participants should be asked to rate their level of agreement with each statement, but a sliding scale can also be used. OPENING QUESTION: DO YOU THINK YOUR NEIGHBOURHOOD IS A GOOD PLACE TO LIVE? 1 a. i) ii) b. i) ii) c. i) ii) d. i)

PoSITIVE EMoTIonS I feel a sense of pride about this neighbourhood/building. Please rate the same statement for before you moved here/the refurbishment/the changes to the building. I feel safe in my neighbourhood. Please rate the same statement for before you moved here/the refurbishment/the changes to the building. I feel that the design of my home (and/or its environment) lifts my spirits. Please rate the same statement for before you moved here/the refurbishment/the changes to the building. I feel I have a physically active lifestyle in this neighbourhood (this can include a light walk, gardening).

ii)

Please rate the same statement for before you moved here/the refurbishment/the changes to the building.

iii)

How much of this is due to the design or other factors, e.g. people?

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2 a. i) ii) b. i) ii) c. i) ii) d. i)

ConnEC TIn G (the questions need to be tailored to suit diferent sectors – fats, buildings, neighbourhoods, city or rural setting) My neighbourhood gives me opportunities to stop and communicate with people regularly. Please rate the same statement for before you moved here/the refurbishment/the changes to the building. I feel a sense of responsibility for where I live. Please rate the same statement for before you moved here/the refurbishment/the changes to the building. People look out for each other here. Please rate the same statement for before you moved here/the refurbishment/the changes to the building. My neighbourhood gives me opportunity to connect with nature.

ii)

Please rate the same statement for before you moved here/the refurbishment/the changes to the building.

iii)

How much of this is due to the design or other factors, e.g. people?

3

FREEDoM AnD FLEXIBILIT Y

a. i) ii) b. i) ii) c. i) ii) d. i)

I feel it is safe for children to play outside. Please rate the same statement for before you moved here/the refurbishment/the changes to the building. I feel my home gives me adequate privacy. Please rate the same statement for before you moved here/the refurbishment/the changes to the building. I am not disturbed by noise from neighbours and the outside. Please rate the same statement for before you moved here/the refurbishment/the changes to the building. I feel able to adapt my home to my needs.

ii)

Please rate the same statement for before you moved here/the refurbishment/the changes to the building.

iii)

How much of this is due to the design or other factors, e.g. people?

4 a. i)

PARTICIPATIon [to be used if the community has been involved in the development of the project] I feel I have a say in my neighbourhood.

ii)

Please rate the same statement for before you moved here/the refurbishment/the changes to the building.

b.

The design process gave me the opportunity to learn new things.

c.

The design process helped me to develop relationships with others in my neighbourhood.

d.

Being involved in the design process makes me care about my neighbourhood more.

e.

Any other comments?

Social Value Toolkit for Architecture survey questions.22

MonETISInG oUTCoMES

Small practices will fnd it benefcial to measure social value through simple surveys outlined above. Larger practices, aiming for detailed understanding of impacts, including a fnancial metric, are encouraged to choose between cost-beneft analysis (CBA) and social return on investment (SROI).23

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Cost-beneft analysis (CBA)

CBA is the most established method of calculating social impact, having been endorsed by the OECD, European Union and World Health Organisation. After selecting indicators for measurement, the team involved should consult the government’s Green Book24 for approved measurement methods. With those understood, the net beneft can be assessed by subtracting the value of total assets from the value of total benefts. A beneft-cost ratio can also be calculated by dividing the two totals. Social return on investment (SRoI)

Social Value UK introduced the SROI framework, which emphasises people’s experiences as the primary data source. Guidance from Social Value UK provides a series of principles to follow.25 While similar to CBA, SROI relies on input from stakeholders in the development process and gives broader scope for the methods used to monetise nonfnancial outcomes. With these publicly accessible tools, valuers and designers have a stronger basis to protect generous project features from inevitable value engineering and prevent socially benefcial features being lost. Despite the tendency of architects to imagine themselves as masters of an intangible art form, there are clearly benefts to conforming to frameworks such as social value and demystifying our beneft to society. This audit and classifcation of value sits within a neoliberal context, however, and comes with some risk that these measures are misused to justify an ultimately harmful development.26 Architects who fnd themselves in that position will be best of with at least partial knowledge of the methods and terminology inherent in understanding social vale.

Regeneration ‘Architects engaged in it [estate regeneration] have recently found themselves accused by activists and the media of being complicit in social cleansing, heritage heresy, crimes against sustainability and profteering. Residents’ ongoing negative experiences of estates resulting from poor construction, maintenance failures or perceived systematic underinvestment may provide a dismal basis for forecasting the new project team’s intent or ability to create socially equitable, liveable neighbourhoods.’ DHRUV SooKHoo, ETHICS oF ESTATE REGEnERATIon, RIBA JOURNAL, JUnE 2016

Regeneration projects represent one of the most ethically charged contexts for architects due to their inherent complexity. The need to respond sensitively to an existing community while following the brief of a developer and meeting the needs of local councils often leads to unwelcome trade-ofs. These challenges come amid a backdrop of increasing inequality in the UK and a net loss of socially rented homes,

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which have, according to David Roberts of The Bartlett, historically ‘built stability and equality into Britain’s urban fabric’.27 The challenges faced in such situations are justifed as there is much at stake for residents keen to preserve or enhance their community, developers hoping to provide for future residents as well as shareholders, design teams trying to avoid contentious projects and keep all parties satisfed and councils meeting housing targets while still respecting constituents’ wishes. There are also reputational risks and opportunity costs as unpopular or extensively delayed projects will refect badly on those involved. That said, successful regeneration can, as the name suggests, regenerate, renew or revive an area by improving conditions for local residents, sensitively introducing appropriate new housing as well as providing additional local benefts via Section 106 contributions or generous service provision. ‘When it is done well, estate regeneration can ofer existing tenants and leaseholders better homes, more new and afordable housing, and improvements to the local environment. But when done badly, we know estate regeneration can result in disagreement, which can leave residents feeling they have not been properly consulted, social housing being lost, and displaced tenants and leaseholders getting a bad deal.’ LonDon MAYoR SADIQ KHAn, ARCHITECTS’ JOURNAL, 21 FEB 2018

FIGURE 2.3

A Henley Halebrown architects mixed tenure housing scheme for Hackney Council, on an infll site at Frampton Park Estate.

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For architects engaging is such work, it’s important to ensure they are experienced in the process and provision of such schemes, sensitive to the needs of the local community and acquainted with the mechanisms and internal pressures on their client. Advocating for a fair and balanced distribution of resources in such schemes is vital – whether or not signifcant resistance occurs, it’s important to remember your duty to society and have due consideration for the social impact of your work.28 In addition, being familiar with the council’s housing targets will help you understand decisions and advice coming from local councillors and planning ofcers, who may favour more transformative schemes where the potential for meeting housing targets is best met. Being able to transparently provide evidence behind design decisions taken throughout the development cycle is a challenging yet critical aspect of this process. As Assael Architecture director Félicie Krikler states, ‘People are averse to change when there is a lack of transparency and honesty and things don’t seem quite right. But if there was more transparency from the beginning, then I think people would be happy to approve. So, it’s going in the right direction. I think it should only make [regeneration] easier.’29 The climate emergency has added a layer of complexity to regeneration as any proposals involving demolition and wishing to receive local support must be justifed in whole-life carbon terms. The UK’s ageing and often poorly insulated housing stock makes this particularly challenging, as demolition may well prove to be the most carbon-efcient yet disruptive option available. Since July 2018, an estate regeneration scheme seeking Greater London Authority funding which involves the demolition of social homes has had to carry out a ballot to ensure residents have had a clear say and support the scheme proceeding.30 On this, Mæ Architects principal Alex Ely states, ‘I’m in favour. We’ve had a lot of resident support for all the projects that we’ve been involved in. You’ll never please everyone, but if you really engage in a transparent way and demonstrate how you can accommodate residents’ needs, there is no reason why it shouldn’t work.’31 Lastly, it is important to remember here that recognised practices experienced in this sector should be careful not to minimise their agency. By lending their name to the design team, they will have brought prestige to a development and with that comes power to infuence decisions and a responsibility to speak up and even to walk away when necessary.

Equity, diversity and inclusion As the provisions of the RIBA Code of Practice for Chartered Practices (below) make clear, architects should prioritise EDI in their project work, as well as their practice. We

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also cover EDI in practice in the duty to those in the workplace and the duty to the profession, so below we focus on how to embed EDI in projects.

RIBA CoDE oF PRAC TICE FoR CHARTERED PRAC TICES Principle 2, para 14.2: In performing professional services Chartered Practices should promote stronger communities and improve equality, diversity and inclusion in the built environment. Principle 3, para 4.2: Chartered Practices shall not discriminate unlawfully on the grounds of age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage or civil partnership, pregnancy or maternity, race, religion or belief, sex, sexual orientation, nationality, culture or socio-economic background.32

InCLUSIVE DESIGn

Our built environment caters to all, but our profession does not represent the diversity of society. Historically we’ve relied on regulations and guidance based on a narrow set of typical users, often characterised as unproblematic, while those who difer are framed simplistically and rarely consulted. Designing inclusively means understanding the diversity that exists in society, embracing the spectrum of experience present and designing universally to avoid exclusion. Inclusive design is a process and not something which can be achieved through static guidance or unchecked assumptions. Building understanding through consultation, engagement and co-design will help practices better recognise inherent bias, or positions of privilege which they may be entrenching. Solidarity with those excluded by our built environment remains a work in progress, with many now working to tackle exclusion. ‘It’s like Black Lives Matter, in that there won’t be proper change until the people with the privilege recognise that they are part of the problem, and start to take a position of solidarity. They need to not leave it up to the people who’ve been “othered”. And this has still hardly happened in mainstream architecture.’ JoS BoYS, RIBA JOURNAL, 8 MARCH 2021

GLoSSARY

The language we use here is important, and also not static. We present a glossary here to help practitioners better understand and discuss diversity but recognise that these defnitions will always have limitations. The glossary is not exhaustive and defnitions can change over time.

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It is worth noting the change in language that we have seen in relation to EDI, which is refected in this text and some of the sources referred to. Until around 2019, at least at the RIBA, EDI referred to equality, diversity and inclusion, whereas it now refers to equity, diversity and inclusion. This refects the understanding that ‘equality’ is to give everyone the same resources and opportunities, whereas ‘equity’ is concerned with providing the resources and opportunities necessary to reach an equal or fair outcome. Ableism: Discrimination in favour of able-bodied people. In England and Wales, nearly 1 in 5 people (17.9%33) report a disability that limits their daily activities. BAME/BME: Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic/Black and Minority Ethnic. These terms are widely used but are problematic as they lump individuals into a homogenous group. Wherever possible, be specifc and if you are unsure, it’s often best to ask.34 Bias: The inclination or prejudice for or against one person or group, especially in a way considered to be unfair. Disability: Under the Equality Act 2010, if you have a physical or mental impairment that has a ‘substantial’ and ‘long-term’ negative efect on your ability to do normal daily activities then you’re disabled. Diversity: Encompasses the spectrum of people in society who will vary by identity, background, experience or ability. Equality: Fairness achieved by treating everyone in the same manner, despite their identity, background, experience or ability. Equity: Fairness achieved by treating everyone in a manner which recognises and removes barriers caused by their identity, background, experience or ability. Global majority: ‘A collective term that frst and foremost speaks to and encourages those so-called to think of themselves as belonging to the global majority. It refers to people who are Black, Asian, Brown, dual-heritage, indigenous to the global South, and or have been racialised as “ethnic minorities”. Globally these groups currently represent approximately eighty per cent (80%) of the world’s population.’35 Inclusion: ‘Inclusion is not about bringing people into what already exists; it is about creating a new space, a better space for everyone.’36 Justice: Removing barriers and addressing historic injustices such that everyone can lead full and dignifed lives. LGBTQ+: The acronym for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and others. Minority ethnic: A term preferred by some (over ethnic minority) to describe minority groups in the UK.

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neurodiversity: Neurodiversity describes the idea that people experience and interact with the world around them in many diferent ways; there is no one ‘right’ way of thinking, learning and behaving, and diferences are not viewed as defcits.37 Protected characteristic: As defned by the Equality Act 2010, it is against the law to discriminate against someone because of: age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion, belief, sex or sexual orientation. Social mobility: Social mobility is the movement of people between social strata in society. There is growing evidence that access to the architectural profession is being hampered by increasing university fees.38 Universal design: Design which ensures buildings and places are accessible to everyone regardless of identity, background, experience or ability. EMBEDDInG EDI WITHIn PRoJECTS

The following suggestions, courtesy of the American Institute of Architects (AIA),39 will help embed EDI within projects. Consider existing inequalities and project impact

When assessing which projects to take on, consider whether a project will improve conditions for the local community or exacerbate existing inequality. Consider declining projects

If you fnd that a project is likely to have signifcant negative impacts on a marginalised community, advocate for a more considerate solution and be prepared to walk away if there is no change. While this may be contentious for a business, especially during a depressed economy, focusing your staf’s time on productive value-aligned projects should be better for the company’s long-term health and reputation, as well as the overall reputation of the profession. Recognise power relationships

Realise that your position will come with a level of agency and be mindful about using this responsibly. Where multiple stakeholders may come into confict, consider confict mapping. This involves analysing and representing the power relationships between parties. While primarily practised within the development sector, these exercises can be benefcial when assessing one’s position and power within a complex project environment. By nature, these are simplifed and will only represent a particular moment in time but nonetheless may prove useful in unpicking a particular stakeholder’s sense of slight, whether perceived or actual.40

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Question assumptions

It is important to be aware of unconscious bias and any preconceived ideas you may hold when approaching a particular dilemma or confict. When such a confict occurs, it is useful to step back for a short period to appraise what assumptions we have already made and how they maybe infuencing our response. Call out a lack of diversity

If you experience prejudice personally or recognise a lack of diversity around you, fnd an appropriate occasion to call it out. When pitching for work, be mindful of the make-up of the assessment panel, teams and others that you are introduced to. Beware of tokenism, and if you suspect you are being approached to improve diversity, take time to consider the invitation and whether this appointment will lead to a meaningful engagement on the project or initiative. Create a diverse internal team

Understand the diversity within your practice and be mindful to resource projects appropriately. Where community engagement, consultation and public presentations are required, consider how well your team can relate to the needs and lived experience of those present.

FIGURE 2.4

‘The Six Sisters’, Bedminster, Bristol, a celebration of the female urban art scene.

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Partner with diverse frms

Be mindful of diversity when recommending and putting forward consultants. Keep a list of consultants with whom you’ve built up good working relationships and regularly review that list to ensure it includes minority-owned businesses. Involve community

Engage and consult with the local community early on in the project. Follow the processes explained earlier in the chapter on engaging stakeholders (see page 45). Ensure accessibility to the consultations and make sure visuals are realistic and representative. Consider Sherry Arnstein’s Ladder of Citizen Participation, an infuential model from 1969, which clearly explains what genuine participation looks like. Embed social value

Refer to the processes detailed earlier in the chapter on social value (see page 50). Universal design

‘When we design for everyone, it excludes no one.’41 It’s important to interrogate our methods of designing for varying levels of ability and disability. Beyond meeting the regulations, there should be some thought into how to challenge the normative modes of design. This could start with getting involved with disability-led campaigns and developing a better understanding of how lived experiences can vary. Evaluate project outcomes

Follow guidance on post-occupancy evaluation, and check that data gathered is representative. While we have seen progress in identifying issues of representation and diversity in the built environment, there’s still a long way to go to increase resilience, health and opportunity aforded to marginalised communities. According to the AIA, ‘Equitable development seeks to address systemic disparities in the built environment. Learning more about existing inequities and their impacts on people increases an architect’s ability to consider and mitigate these factors through design.’42

Wellbeing Ensuring that the end users of our buildings and society at large can enjoy healthy environments which support wellbeing is a key part of an architect’s ethical responsibility. Given that we spend around 90% of our time indoors,43 it’s imperative that we take this responsibility seriously and work towards improving health outcomes for our clients through one of the many frameworks which exist.

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FIGURE 2.5

Indoor air-quality monitor.

There are many aspects to consider when assessing indoor health, ranging from visual, aural and thermal comfort through to air quality and occupant density. Measuring achievement here therefore requires metrics as well as qualitative analysis. Our increased understanding of and attention towards healthy environments can, however, come into confict with the drive to achieve more highly insulated, low-carbon buildings. Designers should consider sustainability holistically and ensure that achieving environmental sustainability doesn’t come at the expense of occupant health. Related to the topic of wellbeing, the RIBA ‘Sustainable outcomes guide’44 sets out the following principles to be achieved through all stages of the Plan of Work.

RIBA ‘SUSTAINABLE OUTCOMES GUIDE’, KEY DESIGN PRINCIPLES 1. Provide spaces with strong visual connection to outside. 2. Provide responsive local controls, e.g. opening windows, or local control of HVAC systems. 3. Design spaces with appropriate occupant density for activity. 4. Design spaces with good indoor air quality. 5. Design spaces with good indoor daylighting, lighting and glare control. 6. Design spaces to adaptive thermal comfort standards. 7. Design spaces with good acoustic comfort. 8. Design spaces that are inclusive and universally accessible. 9. Prioritise active circulation routes, e.g. stairs, cycling provision and walking routes. 10. Provide indoor and outdoor planted spaces.

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RIBA 2030 CLIMATE CHALLEnGE

The importance of health and wellbeing has been underlined by its inclusion in the RIBA 2030 Climate Challenge.45 While the challenge primarily focuses on three environmental metrics, each set with increasingly stringent targets, the fourth target of best practice health metrics remains static, with an expectation that these are already ambitious enough and here to stay. While these targets are both ambitious and measurable, architects shouldn’t lose sight of the qualitative aspects outlined earlier. RIBA 2030 CLIMATE CHALLEnGE BEST PRACTICE HEALTH METRICS

REFEREnCES

Overheating

CIBSE TM52, CIBSE TM59

25–28ºC maximum for 1% of occupied hours

Daylighting

>2% av. daylight factor, 0.4 uniformity

CIBSE LG10

CO2 levels