Our commitment to responsible practice.
Sustainability at Animo is measured in decades, not seasons. The most responsible building is the one you do not have to rebuild.
Our Approach
Animo designs for a twenty-year lifespan as a minimum. Where a project is built to be admired in five years and replaced in ten, the carbon and material cost is doubled before the second tenant arrives. We argue, often, for spending more at specification and less at re-fit.
We hold our concept work, drawings and build programmes to a single question: will this still be the right decision in 2045?
Materials
We work, by default, with natural materials: stone, timber, lime, plaster, linen, wool, sourced from suppliers who can evidence their forestry, quarrying and labour practices. Where engineered materials are unavoidable we select for repairability and low embodied carbon.
A current, project-by-project register of our specified suppliers is available on request to clients and consultants.
Build Practices
Our build team operates a site-waste minimisation programme on every project, with off-cuts logged, reused or routed to verified recyclers. Single-use packaging on site is actively reduced through specification, not after the fact.
Where listed or historic fabric is involved, we default to repair before replacement and document every intervention.
Aftercare as Sustainability
The most sustainable decision in our industry is rarely a material decision. It is the decision to maintain rather than replace. Our aftercare programmes are designed to extend the working life of every project we deliver, preserving the embodied carbon already in the building.
A planned maintenance retainer typically defers a major refurbishment cycle by five to seven years. The environmental case for it is, in our view, as strong as the operational one.