Apt Studios recognises that safeguarding the environment is essential for building a better future for our planet. The current climate emergency is the biggest challenge facing our planet and improving this situation will demand a huge shift in how we approach our society’s needs without breaching the earth’s ecological boundaries.
We believe landscapes, gardens, and buildings should be planned as indivisible components of a larger, constantly regenerating, and self-sustaining system in balance with the natural world. In essence, we must give back more than we take.
Apt Studios is a landscape design and build company operating throughout the UK from offices in the midlands and London. We acknowledge that our business operations impact the natural environment, both directly through our day-to-day operations and indirectly through our projects. We aim to reduce the environmental impacts of our business and become an environmental leader in the landscape industry, supporting our clients to restore and create environments that do more with less.
Our commitment aims to continually improve our environmental and sustainability performance. Apt Studios is committed to low carbon landscape design for protecting the environment and we embrace the challenges of climate change and biodiversity loss. We are committed to achieving net-zero in the landscape projects we control and aim to ultimately become net positive for nature and for people.
As designers and builders of urban and rural gardens, we are in an important position of influence to promote sustainability in our projects. We believe that creating spaces which are beautiful, appropriate, inclusive, adaptable and long-lasting is fundamental to achieving our sustainability goals.
As part of our ongoing commitment to sustainable design, we have incorporated a carbon tracking toolkit into our design process. Elemental, sponsored by the RHS, Society of Garden & Landscape Designers and the Landscape Institute, encourages us to have a more systematic approach to sustainability when we design gardens and landscapes.
Elemental have identified ‘Six Pillars’ of sustainability to reflect the complexity of the landscape we are working in. These pillars are often interconnected and enable us to justify decisions made in one pillar which may affect the outcomes of another.
Responsible materials management is fundamental to successful landscape construction, influencing environmental impact, long-term performance and whole-life value. Thoughtful selection, specification, and handling of materials can significantly reduce waste and future maintenance burdens, while improving durability, safety, as well as aesthetic appeal.
Soils are a fundamental but often overlooked component of landscape construction, underpinning plant health, drainage, carbon storage and long-term landscape performance. Careful consideration of existing soil health and structure, management and movement, can help protect this finite resource and ensure landscapes can establish successfully and function as intended.
Water flow and air movement are essential considerations for any landscape, regardless of scale. Thoughtful design can conserve water, improve drainage, enhance air qualityand create healthier environments for both people and wildlife.
Landscape design plays a crucial role in shaping ecological outcomes, where well-considered design and management can help protect existing habitats, support living ecosystems and create opportunities for long-term biodiversity enhancement. Even modest interventions, when carefully planned, can deliver meaningful ecological benefits across sites of any size or context.
Well designed landscapes do more than shape places – they can support healthier bodies, calmer minds and stronger communities. Thoughtful green spaces have been proven to reduce stress, encourage movement and even reduce the impact of illnesses by creating connections with nature and enhancing overall quality of life.
The construction sector, within which the landscape industry sits, is one of the highest emitters of carbon. But we also have one of the greatest opportunities to sequester carbon through effective planning, resilient planting and careful material selection.