Real-time real-size live footage of two bears rescued from captivity and re-housed at the Wildheart Animal Sanctuary will be on display at the Regenerative Design 2026 throughout October, celebrating an on-going collaboration between Wildheart and the RAI.

Rescued bears Benji and Balu relax in their new home.

Wildheart Animal Sanctuary in Sandown on the Isle of Wight has worked closely with the Regenerative Architecture Index since the RAI’s launch in 2023.

Arguably the UK’s purest expression of regenerative design principles, the Sanctuary is committed to the core principles of Being a good ancestor, Co-evolving with nature and Creating a just space for people, and has a track record of experimenting with natural materials, participatory methods of design and construction, and regenerative design. It is home to a constantly evolving collection of structures including the lemur domes, the first bamboo structures to achieve building regulations approval in the UK.

In 2024 Wildheart and the RAI collaborated on a competition – won by Marks Barfield Architects – to select an architect for the design of the world’s first International School of Rewilding and Regenerative Agriculture, now renamed the International Biosphere School.

This year it worked with Atelier One – one of the first engineering practices to join the RAI – design and build a shelter for two bears, brothers Benji and Balu. The bears were rescued from captivity in Azerbaijan where they had been kept in a small cage and forced to entertain customers at a restaurant. They are now thiving in a new enclosure that embodies the principles of both Wildheart and the RAI and, crucially, allows the bears to act as bears again.

Immersive screens showing real-size, real-time live webcam footage of the bears in their new home will be on show throughout October 2026 at the Building Centre on Store Street in central London as part of Regenerative Design 2026.

Launched by Architecture Today, Regenerative Design 2026 is a month-long programme of exhibitions and events that takes place at the Building Centre throughout October 2026.