Beyond sustainability: what we need now is regeneration

By Philip Watson 2025-03-24T07:00:00

The industry’s focus has to move from just trying to conserve natural resources to building in a way that actually repairs the planet, Philip Watson at HLM Architects says

For 30 years – my entire career in the construction industry – like many others, I have promoted an environmentally sustainable approach to building. Educating myself, and sometimes influencing clients, to do what’s right for the planet.

While the environmental sustainability agenda has become mainstream in this period, we have also entered an era of climate emergency. So it is easy to feel as though the argument for an environmentally sustainable approach to construction has been lost.

Championing sustainability began with a focus on saving natural resources. This argument, while understood as well-meaning, was too abstract for the vast majority of clients making infrastructure investment decisions.

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