Erika Yarrow talks to the renowned eco-architect.

On reading Schumacher's Small Is Beautiful as a student Rab Bennetts, a Founding Partner of Bennetts Associates, realised that he wanted to create spaces that were in sympathy with the environment, using technologies to reduce environmental impact. With these ideals secured, he then joined Arup where he worked alongside colleagues from various disciplines.  Here his interest in 'what makes buildings tick' grew.  'I realised that if buildings were simple, thermally engineered and well-ventilated, they would work well.  I also knew that I didn't like American-style offices, made of steel and requiring air-conditioning,' he explains.

After a decade working for Arup, Bennetts Associates was formed and the firm has created a working environment that incorporates sustainable design and technologies with superb restoration.  Taking on an eighteenth century barn that had been disused for over 100 years and an old print building, Bennetts has added new construction to create an office environment with 'a fragmented style' that provides multiple work spaces, along with comfortable places to meet and communicate with colleagues and showcase practical sustainability to prospective clients.  Despite the complications of such a project Bennetts stuck to its principles of sustainability, including salvaging timber and slate and installing a green roof. 

Bennetts' environmental principles may now be in vogue, but this was not always the case.  Rab explains: 'There has been a dramatic change in the last year or two.  Before we were pioneering practical sustainability.  Now it depends on whether the client can afford the sustainable alternatives and whether they are practical.'

Planners can be a conservative bunch and Rab admits that there were jostles with the planners in Bath over the Wessex Water Operations Centre. 'This was overcome by extensive public consultation,' Rab explains. 'It was exemplary. And we now ensure that we engage in lots of consultation.'  If planners find innovation difficult to get their heads around, Rab assures me that the last bastion of conservatism is the City office.  So the Land Securities' building in the City is something of a coup for Bennetts and a landmark in sustainable architecture. 'If big companies with clout like Land Securities start saying it wants sustainability it makes a difference,' says Rab.  'If we can set the way for other people then all the better.  If every building had a good façade, sun-shading, thermal mass, and a simple and flexible servicing system, emissions would be reduced greatly.'

For Bennetts carbon dioxide emissions and biodiversity are the key factors when building sustainably. 'Carbon emissions are the consideration that impacts our decision-making most,' says Rab. 'That has to start right from day one of the planning process. Lots of architects are very image driven and want to construct shining, mirrored buildings.  These kinds of buildings are difficult to construct and maintain sustainably.  For us carbon emissions come first.'

Even with carbon emissions at the forefront of decision-making, choices - particularly in terms of materials - can be complex and there is still very little in the way of documented research.  Such was the problem that Bennetts itself undertook the job of measuring and comparing uniquely the carbon emissions of certain materials.  'The sourcing of the cladding for the Land Securities building was difficult.  We needed to factor in the management of the forest, transportation and maintenance and treatment of the wood,' explains Rab.

Building maintenance is a key factor in carbon emissions that is often overlooked. Rab explains: 'We went into the Wessex Water building when it was finished and found that we could improve the building's efficiency by 30 percent, just with a little fine-tuning.  Hardly anyone does that.'
 

While such savings can be achieved by simple, unobtrusive measures, it seems to be the badges of eco-building that have captured the interest of many.  'Politicians want the symbols and the gestures,' says Rab.  'The GLA wants solar panels and wind turbines.  You might be able to save ten percent of emissions by using renewables, but I would rather save 50 percent first by good design.  There are lots of passive measures such as ground source heat pumps and common-sense ventilation that work extremely well.'
 What is most important to Bennetts is good architecture. As Rab concludes: 'The environmental agenda has always gone hand-in-hand with good buildings.'  So there you have it. What is good for the environment is good for people. We just need to be brave enough to make the right choices.