We believe it's important to make a positive contribution to the welfare and development of the communities local to all our offices.
In London, for example, we participate in numerous educational initiatives. We invite pupils and students of all ages and backgrounds to tour our building and gain an insight into our industry.
We provide help with design workshops, tutoring and course management; many of our staff serve as external examiners at further education institutions.
Each year, we sponsor a student at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art; we also work with the Media Trust and Design Council on their school based programmes.
In New York we are members of the TriBeCa Organization, dedicated to restoring the economic and cultural vitality of the area after the traumatic events of September 11, 2001. Our aim is to help sustain our neighbourhood as a viable residential community, a stimulating cultural centre and a thriving commercial district.
At the same time, we subscribe to the principle of sustainability in general. Our commitment to minimising environmental impact is expressed in our ISO 14001 certification, secured in 2004.
Our London office illustrates how, day to day we work to make a difference in different ways. All waste paper is re-cycled, as are old CDs and spent batteries; empty aerosol cans are consigned to dedicated bins for disposal.
Cooking oils in the Imagination restaurant kitchen are returned to the original supplier for re-cycling; empty water and wine bottles are collected by the local authority.
All the paper we use is sourced from a sustainable paper manufacturer. Our mobile phones are delivered to a specialist company for re-furbishing before re-use.
In one instance, upgrades to computer hardware allowed us to donate around 80 Macs and PCs (each with mouse and keyboard) to local schools and nursery groups.
After an event involving construction, such as an autoshow, the materials used are handled by a licensed operator in a state of the art facility. This sorts waste into its constituent elements and then extracts them for on-use.
So, glass is re-constituted into an aggregate for paving stones; timber is chipped and
re-formed into sheets for future use; metals are extracted; anything that remains is pulped into fuel pellets for power station furnaces.
