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Episodes
We bring the smartest minds in the property carbon-reduction world to FOOTPRINT, so we think it’s only right for us to disseminate all this experience and knowledge freely. Most of what you hear here won’t have been spoken about before; it’s all hot-off-the-press! If you were at FOOTPRINT+ 2025, you can hear all the talks you couldn’t get to while you were in another of our 6 theatres; and if you weren’t, now is your chance to learn why you need to be at FOOTPRINT+ 2026 (and it’s all CPD-approved).
Episodes
Thursday Jul 24, 2025
Thursday Jul 24, 2025
Learn how the team behind Britain’s first skyscraper lab is working towards achieving ambitious embodied carbon budgets. Currently under construction, One North Quay is 76,500m2 , >130m tower, which is set to become Europe’s largest commercial laboratory. Join the Client and the Design Team as they reflect on the project’s embodied carbon sustainability ambitions; how they have been realised to date; and the lessons learnt from this process that can be applied to future projects.
The Team will explore how they worked with the brief and the massing on site to embed sustainable principles from the early days of the project. They will deep dive into the systematic carbon reduction procedure used throughout the project's design stages, resulting in the structural upfront embodied carbon (A1-A5) being reduced by nearly 50%, achieving a SCORS rating of C, beating the project targets for a typical low-carbon lab and saving ~20,000 tCO2e. And they will share their innovative approach to the construction stages of the project, implementing technologies such as turning demolished concrete from site into recycled aggregate and bathing it in liquid CO2 to sequester carbon into the slabs.
Tuesday Jul 22, 2025
Tuesday Jul 22, 2025
Explore how the Building Safety Act offers an unparalleled opportunity to deliver value and enhance social housing, particularly across the country’s 12,500 higher-risk buildings. Our expert speakers will delve into leveraging the Act to ensure best-practice fire and structural, while in parallel retrofitting to enable sustainable living standards that meet modern housing needs. Attendees will gain insights into adapting existing buildings for housing while aligning with sustainability goals and long-term maintenance strategies.
Thursday Jul 17, 2025
Thursday Jul 17, 2025
For communities to embrace net zero, they need to feel the direct benefits, and trust that the transition will have a positive impact on the places they live, work and play. UKGBC’s new Regenerative Places programme takes a place-based approach that explores how local stakeholders can co-create their own retrofit strategies, delivering broad 'regenerative' benefits to communities, strengthening climate resilience and improving people's health & wellbeing.
The LARA initiative is a collaboration where 4 pilot local authorities are working towards Local Retrofit Action Plans setting a blueprint for bespoke retrofit strategies that address the unique challenges and opportunities of each region.
Hear from UKGBC, MCS Foundation and CIVIC SQUARE as they explore:
- What “regenerative places” are
- How these principles can be implemented within our communities to decarbonise homes, public spaces and lifestyles
- The important role that individual stakeholder groups play
- How local networks can develop their own capacity and local supply chains to respond to the challenges, building on existing strengths and knowledge
Tuesday Jul 15, 2025
Tuesday Jul 15, 2025
The new headquarter for Unusual Rigging achieves a remarkable fusion of deep sustainability and employee wellbeing. Built to rigorous Passivhaus energy standards, the design goes further by using timber and bio-based materials to drastically cut embodied carbon while reducing running costs. Expanded solar power generation on-site means the building has an exceptionally low whole-life carbon footprint.
This project embodies circular economy principles by being designed explicitly for durability, future disassembly, and material repurposing, departing from the linear 'take-make-dispose' model. Unlike schemes relying on existing structures, it rigorously addressed embodied carbon in a new build context, prioritising sustainable, biogenic (carbon-storing) materials throughout to ensure a low-impact building designed for a long life and eventual reuse.
Join the client and design team to hear firsthand how this healthy, adaptable workspace supports the business's growth, champions staff wellbeing, and provides a blueprint for truly sustainable development.
Thursday Jul 10, 2025
Thursday Jul 10, 2025
Brutalist buildings should be recognised for their potential. Aesthetically and structurally challenging to some, the key to unlocking this potential has common threads. Whitby Wood invite you to a breakfast briefing where we will explore the successful adaptation and revival of two distinct building typologies.
Plant — the ‘hanging gardens of Basingstoke’
Formerly Mountbatten House, the original 1970s vast-stepped modernist complex comprises six levels of commercial workspace with tiered roof gardens in Basingstoke, Hampshire. Fundamental to the revamped scheme are the celebrated cascading green garden terraces. The design team sought the sensitive restoration to improve biodiversity and urban greening and maximise the potential for adaptation within the existing structural fabric. Plant is an exemplar development for the evolution of a pioneering design intent to promote wellbeing and connection.
Zodiac — repurpose for social housing and community spaces
This ambitious re-use project transforms a neglected 1960s concrete complex in West Croydon into 73 thoughtfully designed, low-carbon homes for emergency housing. Rather than demolish, the developer sought to repurpose the abandoned buildings. The scheme integrates local amenity, courtyards, and social spaces and reimagines the derelict forecourt as a vibrant community garden. Zodiac’s revival sets a precedent for adaptation of underused assets — and for the provision of new housing from office space.
Come and hear from the teams at Zodiac and Plant, Basingstoke.
Tuesday Jul 08, 2025
Tuesday Jul 08, 2025
Balancing heritage conservation with carbon reduction is a challenge; one that was met with a pragmatic and intelligent response in the retrofit of The Waterman.
One of the largest heritage retrofits in Clerkenwell, The Waterman combines four industrial warehouses over 70,000 sqft into a single, modern-day workspace with distinct character. The buildings have been extensively retrofitted, resulting in an EPC A rated, market-ready space that aligns with modern occupier expectations.
In this panel the client, architect and contractor will explore the vision and execution of this complex project, and discuss the design and engineering strategies employed to create a high-quality, future-proofed workspace while enhancing the buildings' heritage identity. These include:
- Improving the thermal envelope
- Securing additional massing/floorspace within a sensitive conservation context
- Unlocking flexibility, efficiency and accessibility in a load-bearing masonry structure
- All-electric MEP installation
- Reusing existing materials
How can we upgrade valuable historic buildings to meet workspace tenant expectations while respecting the distinct characteristics of place?
Thursday Jul 03, 2025
Thursday Jul 03, 2025
The UK Net Zero Carbon Buildings Standard is seeking to define what "net zero" really means for buildings and portfolios in the UK. But what will this look like in practice for different stakeholders?
This panel will explore how responsibilities for achieving net zero are likely to be shared across owners, landlords, tenants, and investors. Panelists bring a range of perspectives—from legal and capital markets to technology integration —to unpack what implementation could mean across the property lifecycle. Topics include:
- How the Standard might apply across different building types and uses
- Navigating uncertainty in early project stages
- What legal, financial, and technical communities can do to align and support adoption
Tuesday Jul 01, 2025
Tuesday Jul 01, 2025
The widespread adoption of green technologies, including solar energy and other renewable solutions, raises important questions about labour rights and exploitation in global supply chains. This session will address the relation between net-zero technologies and ethical labour practices, revealing the hidden realities of labour exploitation in the renewable energy sector.
Adam Whitfield and Emma-Jane Allen will explore role of ESG in mitigating the risks of exploitation within supply chains, emphasising the importance of transparency, due diligence, and responsible sourcing.
How can net-zero technologies can be developed and deployed without compromising human rights, holding industry players accountable? By examining real-world examples and regulatory frameworks, the speakers aim to shed light on the complexities of ensuring ethical labour practices in the race to achieve net-zero targets, offering practical guidance to those responsible for implementing in the built environment.