At Morrison Design, it’s not just what we do that makes us special, it’s how we do it. And a huge part of that is because of our culture; we aim to have a positive impact on people and the planet. Our team are the foundation of our business and it’s never been more important to prioritise wellbeing.
Sustainability
Architects and the wider construction industry have a huge role to play in reducing our impact on the planet.
Construction contributes significantly to air pollution, climatic change, drinking water pollution and landfill waste. Whilst we can’t change the world overnight, we’re committed to reducing our impact on the environment, starting with getting our own house in order.
We‘ve taken action in our studio to reduce our impact. This includes:
- Sourcing our milk from Duffield Dairy – delivered in glass bottles from 5 miles up the road
- Buying paper made with 100% reclaimed material from Steinbeis, saving approximately 62 CO2 equ-Emission (kg) per year
- Levelling up our recycling facilities to include items such as stationery, soft plastics and lightbulbs
- Purchasing our fruit from Oddbox – a B Corp company who rescue ‘too odd’ and ‘too many’
- Switching our toilet roll to Naked Sprout bamboo which has 50% lower carbon emissions than other eco brands and has no bleach, no harsh chemicals and no plastic.
On top of this, we’ve excited to have begun our tree planting journey with Treeapp.
Mental Wellbeing
We know that people working in the construction industry are more likely to experience poor mental health*. So we do everything we can to support our team.
Photo: Two of our mental health first aiders, James Parratt (left) and Les Witten (right).
We have three Mental Health First Aiders and the rest of the team have received training in Mental Health Awareness and Stress Management.
Getting exercise, taking breaks and making connections all contribute to our wellbeing, so we do regular activities such as Wednesday Walks, regular socials and Cuppa and Chat every Monday.
And, of course, we have support in place should our team ever need it.
Learning & Development
It’s part of the Morrison Design ethos to nurture our team and provide opportunities for them to grow and develop. We love nothing more than seeing our team flourish.
Our three Directors all started in the business as juniors or apprentices, progressing through the practice until the management buyout in 2019.
We’ve improved our onboarding process, to better support new team members when they’re settling into the team. We provide regular training and education for our team (with a minimum of monthly CPDs) and support our students to complete their studies.
Although we’ve been in business a long time, we’re constantly looking for ways in which we can do better and understand that good ideas can come from any part of the business. So each team member is encouraged to share their thoughts and ideas from day one.
Diversity & Inclusion
We’re committed to creating a diverse and inclusive workplace and are proud signatories of the RIBA inclusion charter.
Some of our team celebrating Black History Month 2024
We’ve been rigorously reviewing our existing policies and practices to ensure we’re doing everything we can to promote diversity and inclusion in our workplace.
We asked our team what’s most important to them and now have a selection of events throughout the year which we take part in as a team. In 2023 we celebrated International Women’s Day, Pride and Black History Month. As part of these events not only do we celebrate but we also educate. For example, we created displays on inspirational female, black and LGBTQ+ architects and take part in educational team sessions.
We introduced more policies to encourage greater diversity and inclusion in our practice, for example, a menopause policy, menstruation policy, fertility journey policy and added flexibility when our team most need it.
Culture News
- Exclusive Derby Market Hall Preview
Nik Clarke (Director) and James Parratt (Project Manager) joined fellow Marketing Derby Bondholders for an exclusive preview event ahead of the grand reopening last week. Originally built in the 1860s, the Grade … Exclusive Derby Market Hall Preview - Morrison Design at UKREiiF
Morrison Design Directors Nik Clarke and David Gardner were delighted to attend UKREiiF – one of the largest property conferences in the UK – last week. Nik and Dave had a fantastic … Morrison Design at UKREiiF
“We’ve partnered with Morrison Design for many years and they continually demonstrate their deep understanding of our business and what our guests wish to experience when they visit us.”
Andrew Allsopp – Morley Hayes