— COMING OCTOBER —

Future Build

How Construction Can Heal Our Planet

We can build without destroying the planet. This book shows how.

Construction is one of the most environmentally damaging activities on Earth. The materials we make almost all our buildings from today – concrete, steel, glass, aluminium, brick – are responsible for vast emissions, resource depletion, and ecological harm.

Yet we need buildings – they shelter us, bring us joy, and are a part of who we are as humans. Without buildings, we have no civilisation.

As such, buildings are humanity’s greatest opportunity to change course, bringing benefit to people and nature all at once. We already know how to design and build in ways that use less, reuse more, work with nature, and bring positive impacts to all.

The challenge is no longer technical. It is cultural, commercial, and collective.

Advanced praise for Future Build

A wonderfully positive book that shows how we must transform the way we construct buildings to work in harmony with the natural environment.
— George Clarke, architect and television presenter
Will Arnold puts the whole construction story in perspective, in his user-friendly, jargon-free, solutions-rich Future Build.
— Jonathon Porritt, environmentalist and author
Brilliantly shows how radical innovations in materials and engineering are creating a bighter and more sustainable future for human civilisation. Superb.
— Mark Miodownik, materials scientist, broadcaster and author
Entertaining, authoritative and thoroughly readable: essential reading for practitioners and policymakers alike.
— Tim Jackson, economist and author of The Care Economy
Filled with so many fascinating ‘Oh, I hadn’t thought of it like that’ moments. Will Arnold is a masterful storyteller and expert guide
— Tim Minshall, author of Your Life is Manufactured
A revelatory guide to building with a conscience.
— Priya Khanchandani, author and former Head of Curatorial at the Design Museum
Thoughtful, hopeful and deeply informed, this is vital reading for anyone committed to a regenerative future.
— Duncan Baker-Brown, architect, academic and climate activist
Compelling, global and profoundly hopeful. We all inhabit buildings, and we should all care how they are made.
— Roma Agrawal MBE, engineer and author
Explores materials at their grandest scale and reveals the impacts of the world we’ve built.
— Dr Anna Ploszajski, materials scientist and author
A great read for anyone interested in the future of buildings and cities
— Michael Pawlyn, regenerative architect, TED speaker and author
Fun and accessible, this is essential reading on why and how the way we design buildings needs to change.
— Prof James Norman, professor of sustainable design
Reframes sustainable construction from ‘less bad’ to regenerative, providing clarity on the steps need to transform buildings.
— Dame Jo da Silva, Global Sustainable Development Director, Arup
I started the prologue and before I knew it I’d finished the book.
— Prof Michael Ramage, professor of architecture and engineering