Sustainability

We are committed to driving forward a more sustainable present for a better tomorrow.  We believe sustainability goes beyond bolt on energy saving devices to embrace and support healthy, diverse and connected communities.  Our work on Adaptive Communities summarises the key principles we apply to realise architectural and urban design solutions that enhance biodiversity, support communities, use resources effectively and minimise pollution.

We also promote sustainable behaviours in-house.  In London we offer the cycle to work scheme, a large bicycle storage area and showers for staff-use.  Office-wide recycling is in place.

Local Communities

We support community endeavours such as the Church Street Neighbourhood Forum, including their efforts to host an Urban Room, as recommended by the Farrell Review.  In partnership with local charities, we have run programmes working with students drawn from local schools to introduce them to the importance of sustainable design in the built environment.  These workshops also aim to inspire young people from some of London’s poorest neighbourhoods to consider careers in architecture, design and other professions related to London’s dynamic construction industry.

Since 2017, Farrells has sponsored the office space for the administrative staff of the Hong Kong Institute of Urban Design (HKIUD), a professional institute that seeks to advance the urban design profession in Hong Kong. We also provide a venue for their monthly council meetings.

Research & Advocacy

Building on our team’s expertise, Farrells regularly invests in research and advocacy efforts to drive better quality of life in the communities where we work and to join up the efforts the wider built environment industry.

Working on large-scale visions to topical research concerns, our work covers a wide variety of issues that affect architecture and urban design in London, Hong Kong and beyond.  From the Thames Gateway Parklands Vision to the impact of Autonomous Vehicles on our villages, towns and cities, we have published numerous essays, articles and books. You can explore these here, including The Farrell Review of Architecture and the Built Environment, a national government commissioned review that brought together a panel of eleven industry leaders with a breadth of experience that covers education, outreach, urbanism, architecture, property and philosophy.

In Hong Kong, we have held urban design workshops, and recently put forward a proposal called Nam Tong, intended as a sustainable way for this land-scarce city to grow.

Education

We are committed to helping foster the next generation of architects and urban designers and improving the accessibility of architecture as a profession. We regularly open our office to visiting school groups, running workshops and provide internships to secondary school and year-out architecture students.

We support junior staff in their efforts to achieve professional certification and provide ongoing learning and career development options.

Equality

We strive to promote equality in the workplace and welcome applications from all suitably qualified persons regardless of their race, sex, disability, religion/belief, sexual orientation or age.  We are passionate about the promotion of women in the built environment.  Our senior team in London is a fifty-fifty split and we are very proud to have an industry leading balance of male and female staff as well as over 30 nationalities represented within our total staff of 200.

Our Design

At Farrells we believe architecture and building design should always be informed by the context and ‘place’. We work collaboratively and our designers engage with the evolution, layering and everyday use of a place. The architecture grows organically, delivered through carefully considered processes starting with the big picture into the detail design and through construction, always responding to the needs of existing and new communities as well as our clients.