Chester architects Base sign up to net zero pledge

Base Architecture, which works on schemes across both the North West and North Wales from its office in Christleton Road, is one of only a handful of organisations in Cheshire to have joined the Government’s SME Business Climate Hub.

The SME Climate Hub is a new ground breaking one-stop-shop climate action platform for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to curb carbon emissions, build business resilience and take the lead on climate change issues.

Base has pledged to halve its carbon emissions by 2030 and achieve net-zero emissions by 2050.

This aligns with its Base Cares policy – an overarching company-wide strategy to reduce its impact on the planet.

Managing director Harry Reece said: "We had already recognised our responsibilities as architects and employers to ensure that the way we design projects and how we do business puts the environment at the forefront of our thinking.

"Signing up to the SME Business Climate Hub and publicly declaring our intentions to reach net carbon status was extremely important to us as an innovative design practice that wants to use its passion and belief in architecture to make lives better."

He added: "As well as guiding the sustainable projects and design we already produce we hope it will encourage other businesses in Cheshire to follow our lead.

"We have a strategic plan in place and have already started to implement simple changes such as the 'bike2work scheme', careful consideration towards travel, a reduction in paper consumption and our plant a tree scheme to reduce and offset our carbon use.

"This strategy will evolve and adapt and we look forward to seeing what a positive impact we can make in the coming years.”

Base, which also has offices in Shrewsbury and Conwy, opened its Chester base in 2017 and has seen its workload increase by 35 per cent in that time, with an equal divide between residential and commercial projects.