Committed to social value
At BPTW, we are committed to making a positive contribution to society by supporting our clients, colleagues, and the communities we work with through meaningful social value initiatives that bring tangible benefits. Social value is an important part of every architecture and masterplanning project. Our design process expands the societal benefits of development beyond the site boundary to promote socio-economic resilience, health and well-being and sustainability.
Creating opportunities
Supporting young people to follow their ambitions is vital to our approach; at BPTW we form partnerships with schools, colleges and other education providers to deliver our Careers in the Built Environment Programme. We focus on providing students from diverse backgrounds with an insight and relevant experience of architecture, design and BIM as well as other areas of our work. We achieve this through career talks, curriculum-matched workshops, work experience and industry placements.
// I have thoroughly enjoyed my time with BPTW and felt warmly welcomed and supported by everyone. It was refreshing to enter the office and see so many employees’ part of the global majority, something which I had not expected//
Sofia Whilby, Placement Student
Giving something back
Through our Giving Something Back initiative, we donate a percentage of our profits to support charities and community organisations local to us and have done so for many years through financial support, donations and pro-bono work. Currently, we are assisting homelessness charities the Greenwich Winter Night Shelter and the 999 Club along with The AHOY Centre, a charity for at-risk young people in the continuation of their valuable work.
// We are tremendously grateful for your continued support, which will help us in our fight to end homelessness in Lewisham // The 999 Club
Strengthening communities
We believe architecture has the power to transform people’s lives and should bring lasting positive impacts. Through our well-considered community engagement, we talk with local people to understand what matters to them most and build this into our design solutions and social value programmes. From establishing community design hubs to cleaning local parks, we strive to expand the benefits of our work to build stronger, more resilient communities.
Equality, diversity and inclusion
We recognise the important work needed to strengthen equality, diversity and inclusion in architecture. We have a dedicated EDI Group that work to evolve our business practices for the better. Our partnerships with organisations including WISH (Women in Social Housing) and the London School of Architecture are helping to facilitate positive change to increase diversity in our industry.
Economic resilience
We set high standards in our employment practices to improve local economic resilience. BPTW was one of the first London Living Wage employers in RB Greenwich and require all our suppliers to also pay the LLW. In addition, we collaborate with local organisations such as Greenwich Local Labour and Business to increase the reach of our employment opportunities.
Supporting our clients
We are committed to supporting our clients in their social value aspirations. We collaborate with our clients’ social value representatives and employment teams to create tailored social value programmes that deliver initiatives that matter to communities. We are experienced in many social value methodologies, including TOMS, HACT and the Social Value Portal, and have established processes for measuring and tracking our social value work and outcomes.
// BPTW has been a great partner who clearly understands the priorities of the (Teviot Estate) project and the socio-economic context of the locality, and they have been able to build a strong rapport with our community partners. //
Kelly Player, Social Value Manager, The Hill Group
Image credits: Teviot Festival and consultation: ©Mediorite , Teviot walkaround: ©Rehan Jamil