With a B Corp certification becoming increasingly recognised as a global benchmark for a business’s ESG performance, more real estate players have embarked on the lengthy qualification process involved. For ADP Architecture, it took around two years to win B Corp status, with operations in different countries also under the magnifying glass for assessment. But it is worth the long wait and the hard work, according to ADP’s chair Craig Cullimore and executive director and education lead Claire Mantle.
“Having got through all that, we have achieved what we want to do and looked at how we can improve things within the practice,” Cullimore tells delegates in the EG Pavilion at the MIPIM conference in Cannes. “We have EDI groups within the practice, and some of the B Corp stuff gives us policies and documents on how we can help improve the practice, and we can benchmark it against criteria that others are doing.”
However, Cullimore describes the B Corp process as quite “inward-facing”, whereas ADP is striving to make its projects more impactful. The challenge, he says, is ensuring that the values advocated by the B Corp movement are not just influencing internal operations, but also applied externally in ADP’s projects and their wider environments.
“A lot of the B Corp criteria you measure against are internal issues, such as the governance of a company, but that can easily be applied in the world you are working in,” says Cullimore. “The main thing we are doing this year is making sure that we have an impact in the things we do and influence the projects we are doing.”
Applying learnings to the UK
Given the B Corp movement’s US roots, some of its criteria and measurements were found to be less applicable to UK real estate, such as being “too car-orientated”. Cullimore says ADP is setting up a number of roundtables over the coming months with other B Corps in the industry to work out how to apply learnings that are more specific to the UK market.
“We live in a world with issues like wars and homelessness and climate change,” says Cullimore. “As architects, developers and investors, we have a real opportunity in our projects to try and make a difference.
“There are simple things we can do right at the outset of our projects and all the way through, making sure we create real communities for real people. We can address real-world issues through our projects and make sure that we listen to our clients and customers, so that we can really improve places for people and the planet.”
Louder than words
So far, ADP is the highest-scoring architectural practice in the world among the B Corp ranks. In 2020, the firm created a toolkit for sustainability, belonging and engagement, which assesses projects against criteria ranging from water use to social value. It is also employee-owned.
Cullimore says one of the reasons ADP applied for B Corp status is so it can hold itself to account on putting both people and the planet first. As a B Corp business, the firm will be reassessed every three years.
“Every architectural practice has the same opening slides on their websites – that they are putting people first and the planet first,” he says. “We all say that, but it’s really hard to evidence that. So that is why we went down the B Corp route, to say that we have actually been independently assessed and… are doing what we are claiming to do.”
Cullimore says one of ADP’s priorities is to listen to all project stakeholders “at the outset”, from clients and funders to the building’s end-users. Of the group, the community is the biggest priority.
“There is no point developing or designing something that people just won’t naturally feel connected with,” says Cullimore. “It’s about looking at those connections and making sure that you build upon what the users and customers actually want. Obviously, we make sure we are delivering for our clients, but clients disappear after a few years.
“It’s making sure that we have developed something that will actually be loved and used, and adding more joy in the way people use our buildings.”
Mantle adds: “If you don’t get the buy-in with the end-user, the client is going to disappear.”
The importance of re-evaluation
ADP has appointed an impact lead, who is starting to carry out assessments of projects “10 years on”. Mantle says it is a role that is dedicated to leading those reviews, rather than assessing on an ad hoc basis.
“The biggest bit for us is the post-occupancy evaluation, going back and looking at whether we actually delivered what we said we were going to deliver,” says Mantle. The firm is starting to hold more of those discussions, to gather evidence it is making a tangible social impact.
For ADP, one of the main learnings from becoming a B Corp is that collaboration in the industry is crucial. “We all think we are doing the best we can, but actually we need to re-evaluate ourselves as well,” says Mantle.
“If we try and do it on our own, we are not going to have the impact we need to have,” adds Cullimore.
“Investors, developers, funders – we all need to make sure that we are all trying to develop the best we can in terms of our projects and for the people and look at that impact, because if we don’t, the projects won’t stand the test of time.”
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