Lake|Flato Architects is the latest firm to achieve B Corp status - Archinect

The Knox College Whitcomb Art Center by Lake|Flato Architects. Photo: Andrew Pogue.

Texas-based Lake|Flato has announced its recent attainment of B Corp certification in a move they say is geared at enhancing the firm’s already-strong social and environmental credentials.

As the first entity in the state to achieve the certification, Lake|Flato joins a vanguard of some 30 others nationwide that have obtained B Corp status following the addition this spring of New York mainstay SO – IL. The 39-year-old firm had already been operating under the International Living Future Institute’s “The Just Label” standards and recently began the important task of self-reporting benchmark data to the organization B Lab, resulting in a positive B Impact Assessment score of 104.9.

Heather Holdridge, the firm’s Director of Design Performance, said: “As the saying goes, ‘if you can measure it, you can improve it.’ B Corp certification requires rigorous documentation and validation of our firm’s environmental performance and equity, diversity, and inclusion practices. Lake|Flato now has a thorough compilation of calculations, policies, and other evidence of our commitment to environmental and social performance. This allows us to more easily and scientifically communicate our commitment and performance both internally and externally. We now also have an objective baseline to measure our progress, so we can continue to improve our operations and practices.”

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The firm, which has been named top three out of the past four consecutive COTE Top Ten Awards by the AIA, was assessed by B Lab across five separate social responsibility categories: workers, community, environment, customers, and governance.

The organization shares: “For-profit businesses play a critical role in shaping our future. B Corps are for-profit companies that meet the highest standards of social and environmental performance, transparency, and accountability. B Corps use the power of business to do more than seek profit. They use their profits and growth to positively impact their stakeholders – and the planet.”

A copy of the firm's recent monograph Lake Flato Houses: Respecting the Land can be found here via Rizolli. Read more about the firm's B Corp status on bcorporation.net.