- Above and beyond
- The call of the wild
- The future is bright but not the same
- A “Plan in Impossible Perspective”
- Mary, queen of hotels
- The Hollow Man: poetry of drawing
- Trecento re-enactment
- Make models: LSQ London
- Reporting from Berlin
- Advocating sustainable facade design
- Hand-drawing, the digital (and the archive)
- Drawing as an architect’s tool
- Don’t take a pop at POPS
- Stefan Davidovici – green Mars architect
- Lessons on future office design from Asia Pacific
- The role of the concept sketch
- Make models: an urban rail station
- How drawing made architecture
- Full court press
- Ken Shuttleworth on drawing
- Make models: FC Barcelona
- Hotels by Make
- Make calls for a cultural shift in industry’s approach to fire safety
- When drawing becomes architecture
- The Architecture Drawing Prize
- Make models: Swindon Museum and Art Gallery
- City-making and Sadiq
- Digital Danube
- 2036: A floor space odyssey
- The green tiger
- The human office
- London refocused
- Designing in Sydney
- Cycle design for the workplace
- Harold on tour
- Are you VReady?
- Property’s rising stars on the future of the industry
- UK Employee Ownership Day 2016
- Letter from Hong Kong
- Long life, loose fit
- Unique cities – questions of identity
- Relevant cities
- Greener cities
- Completing the architecture
- BIM
- The future of architecture – Gavin Mullan
- The future of architecture – Andrew Taylor
- The future of architecture – Alejandro Nieto
- Put a lid on it
- The future of architecture – Jet Chu
- The importance of post-occupancy evaluation for our future built environment
- Bricks – not just for house builders
- The future of architecture – Bill Webb
- Designing for a liveable city
- The future of architecture – Rebecca Woffenden
- The future of architecture – Matthew Bugg
- The future of architecture – Robert Lunn
- The future of architecture – David Patterson
- The future of architecture – Katy Ghahremani
- Safer streets for all
- Responsible resourcing should be an integral part of every project
- Developing a design for the facade of 7-10 Hanover Square
- Curious Sir Christopher Wren
- The socio-economic value of people-focused cities
- Responsible sourcing starts with design
- Designing in the City of Westminster
- Is off-site manufacture the answer?
- Rolled gold
- How to make a fine suit
- Just a game?
- Judo’s big fight
- Hand-to-hand combat
- Make models: electricity pylon competition
Earlier this year one of our architects, James Goodfellow, took part in a panel seminar at EcoBuild to discuss responsible sourcing, a topic which is quite rightly creeping up the agenda of many architects and is something we at Make are very focused on, especially for our 5 Broadgate project on behalf of British Land. (see James’ earlier blog post)
It requires the holistic examination of the product and the supply chain so that one is fully conscious of whether they meet environmental, social and economic requirements; from extraction, through processing and supply, right to the specification and ultimate re-use or disposal of the product.
There is no doubt that truly responsible sourcing can be a minefield. Essentially it requires the entire procurement process to be verifiable through independent sources, much like you find with FSC timber or fairtrade. The publication of the BES-6001 standard promotes responsible sourcing and provides clear guidance on the framework and governance that is required to ensure that the environmental and social aspects are addressed.
Likewise in the manufacturing process, the wellbeing of employees and the release of pollutants has to be considered. These issues are further compounded by long supply chains; the complexities for smaller enterprises in trying to meet assessment criteria and perhaps most importantly of all, creating standards that are internationally acknowledged.
A number of architects, suppliers and contractors are already leading the march on responsible sourcing, and there is increasing pressure from clients, the government and indeed the consumer public, for all of us to demand traceability and be more accountable for the products we supply, specify and use.
Responsible sourcing is something that should be embedded into the design process from the offset and the fact that BRE and British Standards have developed their own frameworks for governance can only be applauded. But we should continue to demand that more products, and their associated supply chains are evaluated to meet these standards, for as Sarah Cary, sustainable development executive at British Land, said at the EcoBuild responsible sourcing seminar: “There’s nothing like a horsemeat scandal to get us all interested in where things come from.” We all have a duty to be accountable for the product and its procurement to determine whether it is acceptable. Frankly it is time responsible sourcing became an integral part of every construction project and procurement process.
Originally posted on Ken Shuttleworth’s Building magazine column.
