JTP, Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios, BDP, and Tonkin Liu are among the practices able to demonstrate projects which strive to match the performance of a mature ecosystem.

Buildings.

dRMM’s Maggie’s Oldham Cancer Care Centre is designed around and over a garden, placing patients in proximity to the tree canopies and the sunlight streaming through their leaves (photo: Alex de Rijke/dRMM).

Co-evolving with nature

Part 2 of the Regenerative Architecture Index focuses on ‘Co-evolving with nature’. This is about recognising that we are part of – as opposed to separate from – the natural world. It recognises the importance of actively regenerating ecosystems by learning from and working with natural systems. This requires designing for circularity and encouraging closed-loop energy, material and water cycles. Responses in this section were assessed by Architects Declare steering group members Anna Lisa McSweeney, Alasdair Ben Dixon and Craig Robertson, with expert input from RAI ambassador Phoebe Tickell – renegade scientist, systems thinker and social entrepreneur. Read more about Part 2 of the RAI here. 

Projects Question 1
Can the practice demonstrate projects which strive to match the performance of a mature ecosystem? As a minimum, this would mean achieving biodiversity net gain (BNG).

Answers breakdown

Front-runner

JTP
We have required all our projects to achieve BNG for many years (prior to it becoming legislation), and incorporating it into our business plan to ensure accountability. We have a working group dedicated to monitoring progress to understand the level achieved and determine principles to be implemented. We also have an in-house Building with Nature assessor.

We are collaborating with The Wildlife Trusts, bringing true biodiversity net gains to schemes and creating natural landscapes for both people and wildlife. Through our work, we have developed a series of designing for wildlife principles that we embed in the framework of our schemes.

One example is the Oxford to Cambridge ‘Growth’ Arc, the area between Oxford and Cambridge which has been identified as the location for one and a half million new homes. Our alternative vision – ‘100 Miles Wilder’ – we believe, will ultimately lead to more sustainable growth.

Buildings.

JTP hosts a collaborative charrette for the design team and wider stakeholders of its ‘100 Miles Wilder’ project – an alternative nature-led vision for the Oxford to Cambridge ‘Growth’ Arc developed in collaboration with the local Wildlife Trusts. The practice has developed a series of designing for wildlife principles which it embeds in all of its schemes (photo: JTP & Craig Auckland, Fotohaus).

Runner-up

Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios
Biodiversity and collaboration with landscape designers is an important part of our work. We strive to achieve 20 per cent BNG or more on all projects, above regulations. Researcher Jamie Anderson studied residents at Accordia, and found that living in a neighbourhood with a higher ratio of communal gardens is associated with higher levels of wellbeing and community. Our current work at Brabazon evolves some of these ideas at both masterplan and neighbourhood scale.

Currently we are working with the Eden Project on a regenerative scheme on a former gasworks site in Dundee, as a place to explore how we can learn from and reconnect with nature to achieve a regenerative future for people and planet.

We go out of our way on projects to retain mature trees on our sites, with the schemes adapting to the existing landscape and planting. Recent examples include Warwick Faculty of Arts building, and Rotherhithe Primary School.

Ones to watch

Studio Knight Stokoe
Certainly, the practice can demonstrate projects that strive to match and exceed the performance of mature ecosystems through biodiversity net gain initiatives. For instance, our project Plant in Basingstoke exceeds the minimum ten per cent BNG requirement, achieving an impressive 19 per cent gain. This substantial increase in biodiversity fosters a thriving ecosystem akin to well established natural habitats. Furthermore, our project Canons House in Bristol is targeting a minimum 35 per cent gain, reflecting our commitment to creating environments that complement and enhance the performance of mature ecosystems. We also monitor projects for their Urban Greening Factor.

Through meticulous planning and implementation of biodiversity enhancement measures, these projects exemplify our dedication to promoting ecological richness and cultivating sustainable, resilient landscapes that contribute to the overall wellbeing of the planet.

BDP
At the Severn Campus for the University of Worcester we have created a mosaic of biodiverse habitats which were identified as priority habitat types in the Worcestershire Biodiversity Action Plan. These include planting orchards, hedgerows, scrub and grassland, which not only score highly on the BNG metric, but also reflect the history of productive growing in the area, while also tying in nicely with its heritage.

At West Gorton Community Park, the combination of natural solutions and intelligent permeable materials provide an innovative function that supports the local community and solves many of the local council’s challenges. The result is a park that reduces flooding in and around central Manchester, creates a net gain in biodiversity, but most importantly provides a lasting community space where residents can interact, feel safe, and ultimately take pride in.

Haworth Tompkins
We are exploring how to maximise biodiversity to move beyond minimal net gain at different project scales. Our masterplan for the Centre for Alternative Technology in Wales included analysis of the existing mature landscape and strategies for how best to supplement and complement this biodiverse natural environment.

Biodiversity and future landscape resilience has underpinned our Colchester masterplan for 7,500 homes and three new neighbourhoods. By retaining and augmenting existing hedgerows and expanding existing watercourses, the design is on track to deliver an 11 per cent net gain. Protection of the existing mature landscape and listed gardens formed an integral part of our conservation management plan for the Harewood House estate and the proposals for the Grade I designated Stowe Gardens.

At an individual building scale, the design for the Regents Park Open Air Theatre included analysis of existing mature trees and added extensive vertical planting to increase biodiversity, shade public areas and mitigate noise.

AWW
We can demonstrate projects which strive to match the performance of a mature ecosystem through BNG. A recent example is the Brunswick Wharf regeneration project in Devon, which goes beyond legislation and achieves 110.33 per cent BNG.

We find we are limited in our capacity to create a substantially positive ecosystem impact on our projects as we don’t provide landscape or ecology services, and many of our projects are individual buildings in urban areas. We are aware of this limitation and are looking at how we can create more positive impact, through extending the services we offer and the types of projects that we do. One way we plug this gap is through volunteering and charity work where we can engage with local projects supporting biodiversity in the city. A recent example is our in-kind support of a venture to plant hedgerow to extend a wildlife corridor in Bristol.

Tonkin Liu
Working with an excellent, committed team of horticulturalist Nigel Dunnett, ecologist and hydrologist Gary Grant, and heritage expert Cordula Zeidler, Tonkin Liu designed and developed its competition- winning design for the Grade II Listed Grosvenor Square in Mayfair, receiving unanimous planning consent from Westminster Council in 2022. The design achieves a BNG of 15.5 per cent with a five-fold increase in the number of plant species, and 24 more trees to increase habitats for wildlife. The monocultural perimeter fence hedgerow is diversified with a variety of planting. Underneath the existing perimeter of mature plane trees, is a shaded garden containing biodiverse planting. The central open lawn is enriched with a biodiverse flowering lawn, integrated with waterfall canopies, wetlands and channels capturing, storing, and cleansing rainwater for reuse.

Grain Architecture
We’ve developed standard details which integrate wildlife habitats into our buildings. For example, on noticing swallows nesting behind soffit boards in one of our buildings, we decided to change our standard eaves detail to integrate a bird nesting shelf, and to move the insect mesh, offering all the eaves overhang space to nature. On researching breathable membranes, we discovered the danger they pose to bats, and so we changed our standard detail to avoid membranes entirely, opting for a rigid woodfibre board and roofs with a pitch greater than 16 degrees where possible.

However, we go one step further than this, helping clients to apply permaculture thinking and engage the building with its surrounding ecosystems, for example rainwater harvesting and ponds, food production and storage, designating zones of planting for wildlife habitat, soil enrichment, natural water treatment, planting trees for carbon capture and coppice/fruit produce, and composting.

dRMM
An interesting example is Maggie’s Oldham Cancer Care Centre. This project leverages proximity and integration with nature within an urban setting. It uses an innovative tulipwood CLT construction, raised over a garden from which trees grow and penetrate through the centre of the building. This places patients in proximity with the tree canopies and the sunlight streaming through their leaves. The view of the Pennines in the distance was a leading factor in the design strategy. The project carefully researched and deployed natural materials within the building and interior finishes, focusing on specific benefits to cancer patients.

We recognise, and are focussed on, our need to improve in this area. We typically achieve large gains on biodiversity and strive to include ecologically beneficical solutions. However, it remains a challenge to consistently match the performance of a mature ecosystem, given the type of projects we mostly do and their context.