Establishing a Social Value Framework
As an organisation rooted in the built environment and sustainability space, Cundall understands that it has a role to play beyond its corporate responsibilities as a corporate citizen and to contribute towards society.
We at Cundall, deeply care about our communities – the places we live and work in, the people we work with, the users of our projects and their communities beyond the site boundaries and the broader society.
Cundall’s employees have always been very active doing outreach work such as volunteering, mentoring, pro-bono projects and other activities with our communities and we now set out to create a more structured way to focus our efforts on the things that really matter, track our activities and being able to share our stories and inspire each other.
We have recently launched our Volunteering and Social Responsibility Policy that encompasses the key guidelines and procedures for employees to engage in charitable activities. Our Outreach Framework complements the policy with guidance on our key impacts areas, objectives and which metrics we track. It is based on seven selected Sustainable Development Goals we align our activities with to make the biggest difference in our communities. These goals are reflected across five types of activities and their objectives: skills development, volunteering, pro-bono projects, charitable funding and industry engagement.
Both documents will form part of a broader Social Value Framework that is integrated into our new Sustainability Strategy.
Collaboration with Engineers without Borders, UK
According to a study from September 2025, the built environment sector in the UK alone employs a workforce of 3.8 million people, that’s 12% of the total workforce contributing to 24% of Great Britain’s GVA. At the same time, the built environment generates over 40% of all greenhouse gas emissions globally.
This means that the chance for change shifting to a net zero and more sustainable future lies within the skills and expertise of our employees and the people who we work with every day within our industry.
Engineers Without Borders UK has recognised this and have tailored their mission towards upskilling tertiary students of engineering and other disciplines on skills development and creating awareness around sustainability, climate change and the human impact of engineering designs.
In 2025, Cundall has partnered with Engineers Without Borders in the UK to support this mission by becoming involved into volunteering opportunities, collaborative projects and learning and development initiatives in partnership with Engineers Without Borders.
Case study: Fruit2Work, Australia
As part of our commitment to employee health and wellbeing, Cundall spent over AUD3,500 with Fruit2Go in FY2024-25.
Fruit2Work is a social enterprise in Australia’s Victoria region and registered charity dedicated to creating employment opportunities for people who have been impacted by the justice system.
Founded in 2016 and later becoming an independent enterprise in 2018, its core purpose is to help individuals rebuild their lives by offering meaningful work, primarily through delivering fresh fruit, milk and pantry essentials to businesses across Melbourne and other regions. Through this model, Fruit2Work tackles barriers faced by people leaving prison, reduces stigma, and enables employees to develop confidence, skills and stability as they reintegrate into the community.
Fruit2Work has employed well over 100 people who have been involved with the justice system, and it reports an impressive zero recidivism rate among participants — a stark contrast to the national average of around 50 percent within two years of release. This success is attributed to its supportive employment framework, strong workplace culture and commitment to removing bias. Its contribution extends beyond employment: employees gain life skills, purpose, and social connection, while businesses across Victoria benefit from a high quality service with a powerful social impact.
As part of our commitment to employee health and wellbeing, Cundall spent over AUD3,500 with Fruit2Go in FY2024-25.
Mentoring young minds of the future
Paul is a Chartered Building Services Engineer with over 30 years’ experience in Building services and has been with Cundall for more than a decade. He has been involved with providing mentoring support for over 10 years for young people to improve opportunities for social mobility.
In partnership with Career Ready in the UK, Paul acts as a mentor helping young people with career guidance and exposure to the professional world. With the help of Cundall, he inspires and motivates young interns from less privileged backgrounds to build confidence and gain the ability to pursue a professional career.
Paul Sperring, Associate Director, Building Services, London
Volunteering Worldwide
Over the past year, our teams around the world have been involved in a wide range of initiatives. These stories provide a snapshot of their work in action.
Healing Kharkiv (Sept 2024)
From Rubble to Renewal - A global Cundall team developed solutions for rebuilding the housing and public spaces in Ukraine’s second-largest city, Kharkiv, which has been severely damaged by the ongoing conflict. A central theme that emerged early on is the evolving needs of the community—beginning with the urgent requirement for safety and protection, moving through healing and recovery, and ultimately progressing toward a future where residents can truly thrive. The proposal envisions Kharkiv’s rebuilding as a process rooted in healing, resilience, and community empowerment. It aims to foster social cohesion, support emotional recovery, and strengthen a shared sense of identity.
3D printed home in Sydney
Our Sydney team developed a lighting strategy for Australia's first 3d printed duplex home that could be help to solve Australia's housing crisis.
Cundall’s lighting designers partnered with supplier Co-Lab to enhance these architectural features, using light to emphasise the curves and contours createdby the innovative printing technique. Sustainable choices were prioritised throughout to support the 7.9 Star BASIX energy rating target.
STEM Day at NHSFG, Newcastle (March 2025)
The initiative involved Cundall employees from our Newcastle office attending Newcastle High School for Girls, to take part in their STEM Day. This allowed numerous exhibitors to showcase different types of Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths careers. We had set-up a stand which we had at the exhibition where we had numerous school girls between ages 10-16 asking us about our career and the different aspects of our jobs.
HR Beach Clean-up, Newcastle (June 2025)
In June 2025, The HR team from the Newcastle office gathered for a Beach Clean, Cleaned the surrounding areas of Whitley Bay Beach and St. Mary's Lighthouse. This aligns with Cundall’s sustainability commitments and supports the UN Sustainable Development Goal 14: Life Below Water, by helping protect marine ecosystems from pollution.
Books and Fruits Donation for Children’s Day, Bengaluru (November 2024)
On account of Children’s Day which is celebrated on 14th November every year, the Bengaluru office collected around 80 pounds and purchased basic groceries such as milk, pulses, snacks and medicines and visited an NGO called Vara Foundation. This foundation provides educational support to blind children, our team made a donation and spent time with these underprivileged kids.
Hinckley Fixers, Birmingham (October 2025)
One of our employees, from our Birmingham office, is a volunteer with a local not-for-profit network of volunteers consisting of people skilled in engineering, leatherworking, sewing and general maintenance. They help their local community to save money and reduce waste by repairing items that would otherwise enter the waste stream. This initiative helps to reduce electrical waste, as well as equipping people with new skills and enabling them to make friends within their local community.
IFTAR donations, Dubai (March 2025)
During Ramadan 2025, our Dubai team collected donations around the office in support of providing meals to those less fortunate. The money raised was taken by a few of our volunteers in the office to one of the local stations where the volunteers helped set up the area and hand out food. It was a lovely experience, and the team is looking forward to doing it again next year!
Canongate Youth, Business Fives Bake Sale, Edinburgh (February 2025)
Employees from Edinburgh Office did a Bake sale to raise money for Business Five Bake Sale, a total of 232 pounds was raised from this bake sale.
SocialXchange Christmas Donation, Bucharest (December 2024)
A few of our employees from our Bucharest office donated money to an NGO known as Concordia organisation. Thisindependent, non-governmental and non-profit humanitarian organisation supports children, young people and families in need in Romania, helping them towards independent and responsible lives. Along with the money, they also donated boxes containing clothes, school equipment, books and personal hygiene items.
Reconciliation Action Plan
As engineers and sustainability consultants, we realise our work affects Country, the land we live and work on that at the centre of Aboriginal culture and identity.
Understanding the history of the landscape and respecting the culture of Traditional Owners who stewarded its resources for thousands of years is essential.
We also have to face some of the difficult truths about Australia’s history since 1788. That will help us see what we can do as individuals and as a company to help to redress the legacy of dispossession, racism and disadvantage that still affects Australia’s First Nations peoples.
To translate these good intentions into tangible outcomes, we have published our first Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP) in 2023.
This Reflect RAP is the first stage in a multi-stage journey and is a document that is formally reviewed and endorsed by Reconciliation Australia. It commits us to actions including embedding respect, acknowledgement and cultural awareness into both our professional and personal lives.
Reconciliation Australia’s RAP Framework provides organisations with a structured approach to advance reconciliation with the help of 4 types of RAPs.
There are four types of RAPs
- Reflect - A Reflect RAP helps prepare an organisation to engage in reconciliation meaningfully.
- Innovate - An Innovate RAP outlines actions for achieving your organisation’s vision for reconciliation.
- Stretch - A Stretch RAP is best suited to organisations that demonstrate strong meaningful engagement with internal and external Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander stakeholders.
- Elevate - Elevate RAP organisations have a strong strategic relationship with Reconciliation Australia and actively champion initiatives to uphold the self-determination of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and drive systemic and transformational change.
Our Acknowledgement
Cundall acknowledges the Cammeraygal, Whadjuk Noongar, Kaurna, Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung and Turrbal Peoples, the Traditional Owners of the lands where Cundall’s offices are located. We also acknowledge the Traditional Owners and Custodians of the land of all locations where we live and work.
We recognise First Nations cultures and their valuable knowledge and appreciation of Country over thousands of years. We recognise their deep understanding of the complex interconnections between human, spiritual and natural systems, their care and custodianship of land, and their management of resources to meet the needs of current and future generations. We respect the engineering and ecological knowledge held by First Nations Peoples, which is the world’s oldest, continuous human scientific tradition.
We recognise that we have so much more to learn to integrate authentic, inclusive, resilient and healing solutions in our projects for both people and nature. We enthusiastically embrace the opportunity to work closely with First Nations Peoples to learn, share and collaborate to deliver this. We commit ourselves to this journey of reconciliation and express our gratitude that we can all share this land today.
We recognise and support the ‘Uluru Statement from the Heart’ to achieve justice, recognition and respect for First Nations Peoples and accept the invitation to walk together with First Nations Peoples.
We pay our respect to the Elders past, present and future, and recognise their unique connection to lands, waters, sky and winds.
We would also like to extend that respect to all First Nations Peoples.
Our journey towards Reconciliation began in 2017, and since then, we have taken meaningful actions across our business. To maintain momentum, we have continued to increase our efforts year on year through a number of initiatives:
Training and events
Our RAP Committee members have attended several events throughout the year, gaining insights into subjects such as Indigenous intellectual property and how to make our RAP more impactful. Our Managing Director and Head of Marketing participated in a session Mastering the Art of Delivering a Meaningful Acknowledgment of Country. During NAIDOC Week, our Sydney, Melbourne and Perth teams attended events celebrating Indigenous cultures and traditions.
Supporting Charities
During our Sydney office relocation, staff took home surplus items and made donations to Deadly Science, raising $644 to support their mission of providing STEM resources to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students. Deadly Science is an Indigenous-led not-for-profit that empowers First Nations learners by delivering culturally relevant science, technology, engineering and maths education to schools and communities across Australia.
For NAIDOC Week in July 2025, each of our Australian offices collected toiletries for the Happy Boxes Project. This grassroots charity delivers self-care packages to women in remote communities. The boxes include essential items such as soap, shampoo and sanitary products, helping to restore dignity and promote wellbeing. Happy Boxes supports over 70 communities and aims to empower women through kindness and access to basic necessities.
Increased First Nations procurement
Procurement can be a meaningful tool to increase our positive impact on the communities we operate in. Purchasing goods and services from not for profits, charities, small and local businesses will therefore be one of the cornerstones of our revised Procurement Plan. In Australia, a key focus is on sourcing goods or services from Indigenous-owned businesses in tune with our Reconciliation Action Plan. Recent examples include:
- Gather Foods provided catering for our Perth Winter Warmer client event, celebrating native ingredients and culinary traditions
- Exbo supplied high-quality banner stands and printing services
- Adina Solutions delivered vibrant signage and wall decals for our Sydney office
- Winya Furniture provided new meeting room desk for Melbourne Office
Creating Library resources for all
We have launched a dedicated Reconciliation page on our intranet. This includes:
- A directory of Indigenous-owned businesses
- Resources for staff on cultural protocols and designing for Country
- Links to further learning and reference materials
During awareness days such as Indigenous Business Month and NAIDOC Week, we have used our Viva Engage forum to encourage discussion and share our knowledge with others.
Structured Site Visits
Our RAP Committee has planned annual site visits as team-building and cultural awareness activities. Upcoming visits include Barangaroo in Sydney, Yura Tours Stradbroke in Queensland and Elisabeth Quay in Perth.
We continue to deliver an Acknowledgement of Country for every larger meeting or gathering to pay our respects to the Traditional Owners of the lands we live and work on. In addition, all our Australian business bids, project documents, employees' email footers and office physical address details continue to include the Traditional Owner name for the location.
Our offices on Country:
Kaurna Country (Adelaide)
Turrbal Country (Brisbane)
Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung Country ( Melbourne)
Whadjuk Noongar Country (Perth)
Cammeraygal Country (Sydney)
What is Country?
Aboriginal people have a distinctive and respectful connection to their lands waterways and seas, including all living beings on Country. They are the Traditional Owners and custodians with obligations and responsibilities to Country. When an Aboriginal person talks of ‘Country’; this encompasses the land, waterways and sea but also cultural practices, knowledges, and the cultural environment.
What is an Acknowledgement of Country?
An Acknowledgement of Country is an opportunity for anyone to show respect for Traditional Owners and the continuing connection of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples to Country. An Acknowledgement of Country can be offered by any person is given at the beginning of a meeting, speech or event.
Perth Office Building’s new name: Kuraree Kaatdijin Mia
The area our Perth office is located on, known as Kuraree was a meeting place (Mia) for Whadjuk Noongar Families where song and dance would welcome them together. It was a place to share knowledge (Kaatdijin) while celebrating the land.
Renaming the building Kuaree Kaatdijin Mia is part of an ongoing commitment of our co- and key building tenant, the Western Australian Department of Justice, to acknowledge traditional meeting places using Aboriginal language. The Renaming Project is being undertaken with the Elders in line with the principles of the National Australian Agreement on Closing the Gap.
At a special Smoking Ceremony to commemorate the new name, Elders told a story about the significance of the land at 585 Hay Street, Perth, on which the ‘Annexe’ was built. As one of two tenants in the building, the Cundall team was delighted to attend the ceremony and celebrate the office’s new name: Kuraree Kaatdijin Mia.
Projects on Indigenous Land
Burra burawa birrung gili (Eel above countless generations of starlight)
Cundall partnered with Darug Elder and Knowledge Holder Uncle James Carrol to design a dynamic lighting and sculptural installation for a City of Parramatta competition. The project revitalised a tired utility laneway, transforming it into a distinctive attraction through deep listening to the First Nations narrative of place.
First Building, Bradfield City Centre
A state-of-the-art innovation hub with sustainability and First Nations culture embedded in its design. Located on Dharug Country in Western Sydney, the project involved comprehensive consultation with local custodians to ensure Designing with Country principles were honoured. The site, Wianamatta (“Mother Place”), holds significant importance for First Nations women, reflected in the building’s open and inviting architecture.
Upper House by Aria
Situated in Brisbane’s Southbank cultural precinct, this 30-storey residential tower features architectural flourishes inspired by natural forms. A five-storey Indigenous artwork by Judy Watson at the podium contributes a valuable narrative to the urban landscape, creating dialogue around Australia’s First Nations people.
OurPlace@RMIT QV
This workspace respects Indigenous culture while demonstrating exemplary environmental stewardship. The 10,600m² office fit-out achieved a 5 Star Green Star Interiors rating and incorporated Indigenous recognition throughout its design. Materiality and colours reference the six Boonwurrung seasons, and bespoke elements—such as wallpaper by local Indigenous designers and upholstery dyed with ash from a Yorta Yorta smoking ceremony—celebrate cultural diversity and connection to Country.