Episode #75: From Net Zero Carbon to Regenerative Design at SOM - Kent Jackson and James Woodall
Podcast episode and companion blog post
Kent Jackson is Design Partner at Skidmore Owings and Merrill (SOM) and leads the designs of a wide range of scales and typologies across the globe. Passionate about improving the future of planetary health, Kent is also a leader of SOM’s Climate Action Group, advancing the firm’s commitment for all active work to be net zero whole-life carbon by 2040.
James Woodall is Sustainability Lead at SOM and was a co-editor of the LETI Climate Emergency Design Guide – a groundbreaking publication shaped by over 100 leading design professionals. The guide continues to be referred to as best practice in delivering net zero carbon buildings.
Skidmore Owings and Merrill (SOM) is a global architecture, engineering and urban design practice, responsible for some of the world's most famous landmark buildings.
In this episode we discuss SOM's target for all their projects to be Whole Life Net Zero Carbon by 2040 and their ambitions to promote regenerative design.
Learn more about SOM here: https://www.som.com/
Listen to this episode and check out the whole back catalogue of episodes on Spotify, Apple Podcasts and my website.
Broadgate Tower, London
We didn’t discuss this project in the interview, but this is where SOM’s office is and where the interview was held. The public space under the tower felt like it was 10 degrees Celsius cooler than the surrounding street - a welcome microclimate on the warm summer day we recorded. More about the building here.
As I entered the office, I was greeted by an impressive collection of models, showing the breadth of SOM’s work, from contextual urban office buildings to mind-boggling skyscrapers.
Urban Sequoia
Urban Sequoia is a research project by SOM to explore a ‘regenerative’ skyscraper that would capture carbon. More info here.
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Ross