What can a soap film teach us about concrete construction? Ian Poole of Elliott Wood discusses biomimicry, material reuse in a push to make structural engineering less extractive and more regenerative.
Ian Poole at The Building Society in London’s Fitzrovia. As well as basing its offices there, Elliott Wood hasdeveloped a collaborative co-working space as a networking hub for the built environment sector.
In 2025 we published our first material impact report, which calculates – and measures the ecological and social impacts of – the total material use across our design work. The report shares what we know already and commits to ongoing research to improve our understanding and transitionfrom negative to positive impacts.
On 33 Cavendish Square, we are utilising a vaulted form in the floorslabs to reduce concrete by more than 50%, and almost entirely remove the need for steel reinforcement. This biomimicry comes from the efficient shapes found in nature, such as soap films. Its complexity means it has never been implemented at scale in the UK.
Earlier this year we launched our Regenerative Design Handbook. Produced and designed by our staff, it explores systems thinking,imagination, land and ocean use, being a good ancestor, co-design withnature, and provocations on measuring success in complex systems. Justgetting the book published relied on the principles of self-organisation,emergence, inter-connectedness and complexity seen in mature ecosystems.
On every project, we run an innovation session to explore opportunitiesfor regenerative approaches. 30 Duke Street, due to complete this year, is the largest steel reuse project in London, using 78 per cent of reclaimed steel in the structural frame. On Giltspur Street, we utilised a jacking systemto move floors within the original building, avoiding the demolition of existing floor plates while adding a new floor.
Ian Poole
Elliott Wood
London W1
All photographs in the Reinventing Practice series will be on show at Regenerative Design 2026, a month-long programme of exhibitions and events that takes place at the Building Centre throughout October 2026.
