The latest Constructing Excellence Climate Action Group session brought together members from across the sector to hear directly from two outstanding winners of the Constructing Excellence National Awards 2025. This session shone a light on organisations not only excelling in climate action, but embedding sustainability into the very core of their business models and long-term strategies.
We were delighted to welcome:
- Rob Charlton, Chief Executive of Space Group, winners of the ESG Category
- Fiona Edwards, Head of Sustainability at JPA Workspaces, winners of the Climate Action Category
Both speakers demonstrated how purposeful leadership, consistent innovation, and a readiness to challenge legacy thinking can accelerate the industry’s transition to a more sustainable future.
Space Architects: Embedding ESG into the DNA of a Business
Rob Charlton unpacked how Space Architects has built a rigorous, measurable approach to ESG—Environment, Social & Governance—as the framework for evaluating sustainability and ethical impact across the business, not just in building design.
While ESG expectations are increasingly visible in construction (for example, through pre‑qualification platforms such as Constructionline, and especially within larger companies), Rob challenged the audience to go further: do our day‑to‑day activities truly align with ESG, and how do we compare with peers?
He also set out an “uncomfortable truth”: construction must invest in ESG to address systemic issues—from carbon and quality to trust and culture—and to halt the industry’s “race to the bottom.”
Tools, Transparency, and Accountability
Space Architects uses a suite of tools to measure performance across ESG pillars, enabling the team to evidence claims and back up outcomes with data. This measurement mindset ensures accountability and continuous improvement rather than box‑ticking.
A Call to Self‑Reflection
Rob closed with a challenge to the industry: ask yourself hard questions about your own ESG practices—are they embedded, evidenced, and improving outcomes for people, planet, and governance? That honest audit is where true change begins.
JPA Workspaces: Half a Century of Circular, Low‑Carbon Practice in Action
Following Rob’s deep dive into ESG in architecture, Fiona Edwards, Head of Sustainability at JPA Workspaces, shared the organisation’s remarkable journey as winners of the Climate Action Category. While many companies are only now beginning to integrate sustainability, JPA Workspaces has been building its expertise for over 50 years, with climate action embedded in its culture since 1974.
Fiona outlined how JPA’s sustainability model centres on the circular economy, long before the term was widely adopted in the sector. Their business evolved from furniture supply into a complete “furniture lifecycle” service—prioritising reuse, repair, remanufacture, and responsible redistribution to dramatically cut carbon and waste. This whole‑system approach means their climate impact is addressed upstream and downstream, across procurement, operations, logistics, and end‑of‑life treatment.
A Practical, Measurable Approach to Climate Action
Unlike organisations that rely on high-level sustainability statements, JPA takes a tangible, data-driven approach. Fiona described how climate action at JPA is:
- Operational — embedded into warehouse processes, vehicle fleets, and delivery strategies to minimise emissions.
- Customer-focused — supporting clients to reduce embodied and operational carbon through furniture reuse, refurbishment, and responsible clearance.
- Evidence-led — tracking environmental outcomes with clear metrics to demonstrate genuine carbon savings.
- Human-centred — ensuring that social value, wellbeing, and community benefits are part of every project.
What sets JPA apart is their ability to turn sustainability into service innovation. They help clients avoid unnecessary procurement, extend product life, and adopt circular models that significantly reduce waste. As Fiona explained, this approach doesn’t just cut carbon — it saves organisations money, reduces disruption, and supports ESG compliance.
Climate Action as a Cultural Foundation
Fiona also emphasised JPA’s strong organisational culture, where sustainability isn’t driven solely by a specialist team but is a shared responsibility across all roles. This cultural alignment means every employee—regardless of function—understands their part in reducing impact, supporting clients, and improving environmental performance.
This deep-rooted ethos has been critical in enabling JPA Workspaces to stay ahead of regulatory changes, client expectations, and societal demands long before these pressures became mainstream.
Get Involved
This session was held as part of the Constructing Excellence Climate Action group. To find out more about this group and their activities, visit the Climate Action page, or join us for the next session on 25th March. Alternatively, find out about our other groups here or explore our upcoming events on the events page.
