HLM has always been – and will always be – a socially conscious practice. For us, social value is about changing lives for the better, empowering communities and creating ripple effects that endure far beyond the lifespan of a project.
Social value
What do we mean by social value?
Social value is a broader understanding of value. It goes beyond financial outcomes to focus on the wider impact our design and corporate decisions have on people’s lives. Social value demonstrates the lasting value of what we do through the projects we design and the way we work.
By understanding the context of each project and region, and engaging meaningfully with the people involved – both stakeholders and the wider community – we make informed decisions about what really matters to them. To address these local, project-specific needs, we define and deliver place-based sustainable, economic and community value.
Social value lead
Across industries and communities, there’s growing momentum around social value. Organisations of all structures and sizes are striving to make a positive impact. Every act, no matter how big or small, has the potential to contribute to meaningful change – it’s really encouraging to see this collective shift toward creating a better world. And we’re most excited to work with likeminded people who are ready to turn ambition into collective action.
Karen Mosley
Our social impact
Long before ‘social value’ became a box to tick, we’ve been embedding social impact into the DNA of everything we do.
Maximising social value is fundamental to our approach. It informs our choices, guides our projects, and challenges us to think bigger, act braver, and dig deeper into the needs of the communities that intersect with our work.
From designing inclusively for individual wellbeing to masterplanning healthy cities; as a multi-disciplinary, cross-sector practice we consider our impact from micro to macro, local to global. We don’t shy away from challenging sectors or projects. We see them as opportunities to co-create meaningful, lasting impact; responding to the challenges of today while anticipating the needs of tomorrow.
Our expertise
HLM’s thoughtful design toolkit is a suite of tools we developed to enable our designers and clients to advance their understanding of what people want and need from their built environment. By gathering and analysing qualitative and quantitative data from stakeholders and end users, we use the toolkit to define, test, develop and evaluate all our projects – from conception to post-occupancy.
Our toolkit highlights the long-term social value that can be generated through thoughtful, human-centred design to positively shape lives and communities well beyond the project completion.
Designing for inclusion is a collaborative process – between our design teams and our clients, their stakeholders, and the communities we all serve.
Throughout the design process, we use our thoughtful design toolkit to set evidence-based social value milestones and measurements. We start by exploring what problem or need we’re trying to resolve, and ultimately, we seek opportunities to create places and spaces that continue to generate social value long after we’ve left.
Our continuously evolving and curious approach helps us reach the unheard voices of those often excluded, and ensure we’re delivering designs that are truly inclusive and enable everyone to thrive.
We don’t limit our social value ambition to individual projects or regions. Through collaboration with local authorities, local VCSEs, national taskforces and central government, we bring people together to explore fresh ideas, share learning, and trial innovative approaches. We see it as our social responsibility to help shape a more progressive and inclusive future for everyone.
For example, we’re proud to be a founding member of the Social Value in Design Taskforce. Comprising organisations across the built environment, we created guides that support design teams around the UK to embed meaningful social value into their work.
Regenerative design goes beyond ‘sustainability’ as we know it, to protect and replenish the ecosystems we all rely on. We recognise that everything’s connected, so we don’t separate social value and sustainability. So to us regenerative design means designing for zero carbon, actively restoring and regenerating natural systems, enhancing biodiversity, and creating positive social impact.
We’ve moved beyond the idea of just ‘giving back’. Real impact doesn’t come from compensating for the harm we might cause, or the resources we take – it comes from ensuring that we take out as little as possible, and give far more back.
Our sustainability and social value specialists are collaborating with exemplary clients, our communities, and industry peers to make regenerative design our new normal.
HLM is one of very few UK architectural practices with studios in each region of the UK and Ireland; we’re rooted in – and rooting for – the communities we serve. Our local teams bring their own in-depth knowledge of their region’s unique social, cultural and environmental contexts, to co-create meaningful place-based solutions.
Our transition to an Employee Ownership Trust in 2020 puts our practice firmly in the hands of our employees and keeps the legacy of our business rooted in our local community. Our growth comes from breaking down barriers for local talent, by creating equity of opportunity and improving social mobility. We assist the growth of others by actively building a diverse supply chain and working closely with local businesses and social enterprises.
Thoughtful design toolkit
HLM’s thoughtful design toolkit is a suite of tools we developed to enable our designers and clients to advance their understanding of what people want and need from their built environment. By gathering and analysing qualitative and quantitative data from stakeholders and end users, we use the toolkit to define, test, develop and evaluate all our projects – from conception to post-occupancy.
Our toolkit highlights the long-term social value that can be generated through thoughtful, human-centred design to positively shape lives and communities well beyond the project completion.
Inclusion in practice
Designing for inclusion is a collaborative process – between our design teams and our clients, their stakeholders, and the communities we all serve.
Throughout the design process, we use our thoughtful design toolkit to set evidence-based social value milestones and measurements. We start by exploring what problem or need we’re trying to resolve, and ultimately, we seek opportunities to create places and spaces that continue to generate social value long after we’ve left.
Our continuously evolving and curious approach helps us reach the unheard voices of those often excluded, and ensure we’re delivering designs that are truly inclusive and enable everyone to thrive.
Beyond our boundaries
We don’t limit our social value ambition to individual projects or regions. Through collaboration with local authorities, local VCSEs, national taskforces and central government, we bring people together to explore fresh ideas, share learning, and trial innovative approaches. We see it as our social responsibility to help shape a more progressive and inclusive future for everyone.
For example, we’re proud to be a founding member of the Social Value in Design Taskforce. Comprising organisations across the built environment, we created guides that support design teams around the UK to embed meaningful social value into their work.
How we define regenerative design
Regenerative design goes beyond ‘sustainability’ as we know it, to protect and replenish the ecosystems we all rely on. We recognise that everything’s connected, so we don’t separate social value and sustainability. So to us regenerative design means designing for zero carbon, actively restoring and regenerating natural systems, enhancing biodiversity, and creating positive social impact.
We’ve moved beyond the idea of just ‘giving back’. Real impact doesn’t come from compensating for the harm we might cause, or the resources we take – it comes from ensuring that we take out as little as possible, and give far more back.
Our sustainability and social value specialists are collaborating with exemplary clients, our communities, and industry peers to make regenerative design our new normal.
Embedded in our local communities
HLM is one of very few UK architectural practices with studios in each region of the UK and Ireland; we’re rooted in – and rooting for – the communities we serve. Our local teams bring their own in-depth knowledge of their region’s unique social, cultural and environmental contexts, to co-create meaningful place-based solutions.
Our transition to an Employee Ownership Trust in 2020 puts our practice firmly in the hands of our employees and keeps the legacy of our business rooted in our local community. Our growth comes from breaking down barriers for local talent, by creating equity of opportunity and improving social mobility. We assist the growth of others by actively building a diverse supply chain and working closely with local businesses and social enterprises.
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SEN school Architects are changing what inclusive education looks like
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HLM Architects joins the New European Bauhaus Community
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Modern methods, real outcomes: re-thinking live hospital redevelopment at Prince Charles Hospital
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Reflecting on two decades of thoughtful design with Altnagelvin Hospital
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Joining the dots: unlocking Sheffield’s Public Sector potential through digital insight
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Designing Lasting Impact: HLM Architects Shortlisted for Social Value Architect of the Year
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HLM Architects Celebrates Five Nominations at the Building Design Architects of the Year Awards 2025
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Barnsley Civic Shortlisted for the AJ100 Community Impact Award!
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HLM Architects Celebrates Four Shortlistings at the 2025 South Yorkshire Property Dinner
