Sector: Professional Services

Number of employees: 40-50 

Region of UK: East of England and London  

Summary

Pro-activity in the marketplace, staff development and community responsibility are factors through which LSI staff contribute towards the future prosperity of the area, help raise environmental aspirations and build LSI’s reputation as being a responsible business.LSI Architects LLP has achieved the following Awards:

• The Community Mark standard.The BITC % Standard 2004The BITC Award for Impact on Society for a Small Company 2004The CPRE Norfolk Society Award 2000/2002/2004/2007LSI was a Big Tick winner in the Awards for Excellence 2004/2005/2006.The EDP Community Impact Award 2005LSI Architects achieved the Percent standard in it’s last two years. The Best East of England Business in the Community – Small Company 2007
• LSI Architects was named amongst the top 50 Best Employers in the UK construction industry 2007 in the Building Magazine’s Good Employers Guide. 

Background

The practice is Norwich’s oldest architectural practice.  LSI can trace its history in the locality for well over a century, most recently in the form of Lambert, Scott and Innes.  The practice changed its name to LSI Architects in 2002 and during the same year became a Limited Liability Partnership (LLP)Now based in Norwich and London, LSI operates throughout the Eastern Region and elsewhere, providing architectural, masterplanning and interior design services to public, corporate, private and voluntary organisations. We are aware of the impact our business can have both on society and the environment and that to be sustainable and thrive, we must develop our staff, support the community and contribute to the well-being of the city. Through advocacy and design, we seek to reduce the environmental impacts of our proposals and buildings.

Responsible Business Objectives

We pursue excellence in both our design and business methods, and have a demonstrable track record in delivering positive impacts in society and the workplace through the activities of our ‘Open Environment’ programme. ‘Open Environment’ is a means of achieving the practice aims to:

• create an office culture to attract and retain skilled staff and raise our design quality,

1. position ourselves in the market place to secure more commissions in education and sustainable design, anddemonstrate environmental awareness  and thus ‘qualify’ to advise prospective clients.
2. The society benefits we set out to achieve are to:

• offer pro-bono professional time, expertise, mentoring, and advocacy in collaboration with external partners, develop the pool of skills locally, and
• interpret sustainable design in the mainstream development industry.

How They Do It

Within the organisation, the many strands of our Corporate Responsibility can make the programme complicated to grasp. This is why we have now given it a new and single name ‘Open Environment’.‘Open Environment’ impacts on all four areas of workplace, marketplace, community and environment. Below we have highlighted our activity with  external partners, forming the core of our programme.

ProHelp (Community and workplace)

Currently active on our 10th building project, inputs of about £7500 per project have provided enhanced premises for thousands of users and often leveraged grants. The workplace benefit is that we have given each project to different, junior architects, to gain experience in working directly with a client. 

EU Leonardo programme (Workplace)

We recently placed our 12th student from Germany, bringing diversity and difference of training into the practice, whilst contributing to employee mobility in the EU.  

UEA (CRed) & BA Festival of Science 2006 (Environment and Marketplace)

Reduced carbon emissions and encouraging others to reduce theirs, are the key benefits. Our actions have so far reduced by 19% the carbon impact of our premises. A 20% staff uptake of the Government-sponsored <cycle to work> scheme, together with our car-use policies have resulted in a15% reduction in car-commuting. Our seminar attracted 150 representatives, many with authority to change the carbon footprint of their own organisations. Over 300 copies of the Sustainability Guide have been distributed, and the RTPI Award drew attention to the Guide. Our primary impact, however, is through design. Our Cley Visitor Centre for NWT, for example, is estimated to perform 73% better than the best practice figure of 115 kWh/m2 for Community Centres on the DCLG website.   

RIBA (workplace, marketplace, community and environment) 

(a)bringing best practice into projects and into practice management, with benefits for the environment and for the personnel (b) promoting the role of socially-responsible business in the ‘quango’ of Inspire East, and similar forums(c) committing £35K in 2008 to staff development and training(d)

assisting pupils through work placements, careers conventions, and the Architects in Schools programme on a regular basis (e) as Chair of Norwich Design Quality Panel–by setting up its Terms of Engagement and standing within the City (f) hosting CPD events for the local professional community. 

Easton College (marketplace, community, workplace)         

Providing the 3D Design Course with an active ‘industry-link’ to fulfil the Institution’s obligations to achieve course validation, enabling the College to diversify and address the skills shortage in built environment/design disciplines locally, and to satisfy personal aims for LSI staff.  

General (community and workplace) 

Volunteering, sponsorships and donations have benefited:

• Students at Norwich School of Art and Design through our annual £500 Art PrizeNorwich Open Christmas – Christmas CharitySelected organisations through LSI Christmas Charity Card donations Architects Benevolent SocietyStaff-promoted charity bike-rides eg. for British Heart Foundation.
• The Norwich School of Art and Design, the biennial Bergh Apton sculpture Trail, the RIBA, and various schools through governorships, and committee-participation.

Norfolk Connexions (community, workplace)         

In 3 years, 15 work experience students have each spent one closely-monitored week at LSI. This has also provided mentoring opportunities for staff, particularly the most junior, with benefits to morale.

Scouts (community, environment)       

We recycle over 80% of our waste paper, through Security Shredders, and through the Scouts in our locality. The latter receive our general waste which accounts for about 15% of the ca. £1500 they raise annually. They can now apply the Waste Transfer Certification we helped them introduce to other firms. Less than 20% of our waste now reaches landfill. 

Raising the capacity of others 

• The ‘Open Doors’ event, organised by Business in the Community (BITC) and sponsored by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (ODPM), resulted in positive press for the role of business in areas of deprivation, led to one new business contact joining Norfolk ProHelp, and information about the EU Leonardo programme being provided to anotherPractical demonstration through the Sustainability Guide to developers about how to reduce their impactsThrough chairing and participation at Inspire East events, enabling and promoting the Sustainable Communities agenda.
• Communicating best practice through being the object of third party Case Studies (ProHelp; EEDA; Smallbusinessjourney; BRASS Centre research etc.)

What Impact It Has