Why Footprint® continues to shape the way we approach our projects

The challenges facing our towns and cities continue to change. Housing affordability, health, climate resilience, and shifting expectations around how people want to live are all influencing the decisions being made in development and regeneration today. As priorities change, the way we think about projects needs to change too.  

That’s why our Footprint® methodology remains an important part of our approach to creating new neighbourhoods across the UK.

Developed over 20 years ago, Footprint® helps us ask the right questions throughout the lifecycle of our projects. It encourages us to look beyond the buildings themselves and consider the lasting impact on the places and people connected to them.  

Over that time, it has also given us something equally important: experience. Applying the framework across projects for more than two decades has created a wealth of practical knowledge that continues to inform our thinking today. What works, what does not and what communities value most of all help shape the way we approach future developments.  

Every place is different

No two locations are the same. Each has its own character, history and opportunities. What works in one place may not be right somewhere else.  

Rather than applying a standard approach, Footprint® encourages us to understand the local context and respond accordingly. That means considering what already exists, what people value about an area and what could help strengthen it in the years ahead.  

The aim is not to impose a vision on to a place, but to build on what already makes it distinctive.

The bigger picture

New homes and workspace are important, but they are only one part of what shapes people’s experience of a place. Access to green space and local amenities, opportunities to meet neighbours, the quality of public spaces and how easy it is to move around all play a role in daily life.

These considerations have been part of Footprint® from the start. They encourage us to think about how projects can support wellbeing, strengthen local connections, build resilient communities and contribute positively to the wider area long after construction is complete.  

Taking this wider view helps us think about how places will function in the future, not just on the day they are completed.  

Looking ahead

What people want from homes, neighbourhoods and workplaces will continue to change.

Questions around health, climate resilience and community are becoming increasingly important and will continue to influence how projects are planned and delivered.  Footprint® helps keep those questions at the heart of decision-making, while drawing on over 20 years of practical experience.

It has shaped the way we work and continues to influence projects across our portfolio today. Good projects are not defined solely by what is built, but by the difference they make over time.

Watch our Footprint® video series to hear from members of the Footprint® Advisory Board and the wider igloo team, discussing the thinking behind the framework and how it continues to shape projects across our portfolio.

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