From the relentless heat of cement kilns to the towering steel and concrete skeletons of our cities, Future Build reveals how our dependence on five key materials – concrete, steel, aluminium, glass, and bricks – has led to soaring carbon emissions, waste, and ecological destruction. But it's not just the materials we use, but how we design and use our buildings, that needs to fundamentally change. How can we build not just without killing the planet, but while actively helping to heal and enhance it? Is it possible to create buildings from waste, or even ones which sequester carbon? Can we change how structure our buildings to reduce our environmental footprint?

Through a global journey of pioneering projects sustainability leader and structural engineer Will Arnold showcases buildings that do more than just minimize harm, but that actively heal the planet; from schools in Indonesia built into the bamboo canopy, to offices in Norway made entirely from waste products. Looking to ground-breaking innovations, Arnold discovers concrete being made from carbon dioxide, bricks made from waste plastic, and insulation being grown from hemp, giving insight into current and future innovations which will allow us to build in a way which positively impacts the world and strengthens communities while remaining beautiful.