To honour Earth Day, we've rounded up 10 ways architects are reshaping the built environment to benefit both people and the planet.
Architecture has a large environmental impact, with the built environment accounting for 40 per cent of the UK's carbon emissions in 2019, according to the UK Green Building Council.
With a 2018 United Nations report warning that humanity now has less than 10 years to slow down global warming, the architecture industry is one of many to have been forced to reassess the ways in which it works.
From reducing waste and maximising urban greenery to collaboration and lobbying for change, solutions to reduce pressure on the planet are now taking centre stage.
Read on for 10 ways in which architects can contribute to a healthier planet:
Building with timber
Wood has been used to build structures throughout history. However, there has been a recent resurgence in its popularity as a construction material, due to its sustainability credentials and improvements in engineered timbers such as cross-laminated timber (CLT).
One of the biggest benefits of building with timber is that it can sequester large amounts of carbon from the atmosphere and store it within a building for as long as it stands. This can help achieve carbon-negative buildings by offsetting the carbon emissions generated through construction and operation.
It is for this reason that 3XN will use wood as the primary material in its extension for Hotel GSH in Bornholm (above) while Feilde...