“The first ever Liverpool Architecture Festival was an opportunity to bring our sector together and build on the collective expertise of our community. There was a whole series of lectures, workshops and tours that highlighted the work going on in the city and facilitated knowledge sharing and collaboration.
It also allowed people outside the sector to ‘look behind the curtain’ and see the creative process of architecture in action with its Open Studios events. Members of the public, students and industry peers had the chance to visit and see architects at work at ArchiPhonic, 10Architect, MGMA Architects and many others.
This was just a first step, an opportunity to open discourse and share information so that we can use collective experience to build better and work more collaboratively moving forward, which will be a huge benefit to the city.
Working towards net zero in our sector involves two different approaches, achieving net zero emissions in the process of building construction and then in the operation of the resulting building or scheme, as I discuss in the latest Well Connected magazine. As architects and designers, we can influence both of these areas, in our designs and in the materials that we recommend and how we manage our sites and projects. Net Zero has long been an aspiration for many in the sector, but we are at a point now, with both a climate and economic crisis to tackle, that it should be a key objective. The desire and intent is there, but there are barriers that need to be addressed urgently as an industry, around cost and availability of materials, as well as factors such as changes to Capital Gains Tax reducing the value of developers’ tax relief.
The Liverpool Architecture Festival is a jumping-off point addressing these issues, coming together as an industry to work together to find solutions that help us progress towards net zero. Achieving this will be a win-win in terms of not just sustainability, but also as a means to boost business and stimulate the economy, and support the creation of more green jobs in the sector.”
David Banister, Co-Director, ArchiPhonic
