Compass 2022 Video - Delivering Responsible Design

Compass 2022, presented by COLORBOND® steel, is designed to help you explore and navigate the latest trends and initiatives from across our vibrant building and construction industry. In this video, Tone Wheeler of environa studio discusses his interest in sustainability and the role of architects in delivering responsible design.

Wheeler explains how sustainability has evolved over time – in the early days it was called alternative technology, then passive design became popular, and then environmental design and more recently ESD or Ecological Sustainable Design. Sustainability and Responsible Design covers all these things and according to Wheeler, “it’s about taking responsibility for the things that we’re designing…and covers so much of what we need to do to save our planet.”

He reflected that initially when architects and designers started to take an interest in sustainability, they mostly focussed on energy and then later water, however, “as time has gone on, people have come to understand that it’s the actual building itself that is so important and what it’s made out of – and that’s why the actual energy that goes into and the environmental impact that the materials have are so important in the buildings that we build.”

“Over all the years that I was working on sustainability I’ve seen huge changes, but none more so than the shift away from the metrics, the technology, towards community and ultimately towards how we live. Almost everything surrounding us is now questioned in terms of its social, environmental and financial consequences," said Wheeler.

“So we as architects have a responsibility to choose wisely and in making those choices you’re actually looking to the best products that you can get. We’ve gone past the post-modernist idea of materials for show, now it's materials that work.” 

To find out more, please watch the Compass 2022 video featuring Tone Wheeler and presented by COLORBOND® steel.

Tone Wheeler is principal architect at environa studio, Adjunct Professor at UNSW and is President of the Australian Architecture Association. He’s been a pioneer of sustainability in Australian architecture for fifty years and was recently awarded a Lifetime Achievement Award at the Sustainability Awards for his commitment and contribution to the progression of the sustainable built environment in Australia.  

See more videos from Compass 2022

• Sustainability and Climate Action at BlueScope
• Bilya Koort Boodja Centre for Noongar Culture and Environmental Knowledge - Community Conscious Design
• Cradle Mountain Visitor Centre - Environmentally Conscious Design
• Penguin Parade Visitors  Centre
• Energy Efficiency and Roofing
• Social and Affordable Design - Melissa Bright (Studio Bright)