What is regenerative design?

why is regenerative design important?

In the last 50 years we have seen a scary decline in the biodiversity of our country. According to the government's state of nature report back in September of last year: 1 in 6 English species are at threat of extinction and we’ve lost half of our flowering plants, mosses and ‘their relatives’ since 1970.

As the Government website put it so well “This is a timely reminder, if we needed it, that the nature crisis isn’t restricted to far-off places like the Amazon or Great Barrier Reef. It is right here, on our doorstep.”

Currently the sustainable approach is to do less bad and mitigate against the impact of a project to have an end neutral environmental impact. Regenerative is a different mindset and approach for the offset of a project:

Unsustainable design = Environmentally negative

Sustainable design = Environmentally neutral

Regenerative design = Environmentally positive

We are no longer just looking to protect a site in its current condition, but to ensure we are enhancing the site and surroundings over time, aiming to be ‘regenerative’.

Our aim is to design your project with you to act as a catalyst for positive change and growth in the immediate surroundings. To finish with a biodiversity net gain on the site at the end of the project and to springboard this growth to continue into the future. We work to create projects that from their design are able to environmentally improve an area, such that by the very fact your project has happened, the soil of the site is healthier, the air is cleaner, the water is better and nature can be more abundant. This requires a carefully considered, joined up approach working with other consultants including ecologists, landscape architects, and arboriculturists amongst others.

‘Sustainable’ design has been the trend for over 20 years, and Regenerative design was seen as a thing of the future - however the future is now! With new legislation coming into effect on the 2nd of April 2024 every developer, including householders in Bristol, will have to commit to and prove a Biodiversity net gain(BNG) on the site of the project. This means replacing biodiversity removed through the construction and then adding 10% more.

Your home isn't in isolation, it's on a site in a wider area, and carrying out your project can actively and intentionally improve the site and surroundings. This is a relatively a new approach in the wider building industry but has been the need for paragraph 84 (formally 80, 55 etc) houses for a while now, and is something we have enjoyed looking to achieve for our Terracette house project which is set within in densely wooded site.

And this isn't just about nature thriving but you! By taking the approach of regenerative design you will create a home that will allow you and your family to thrive there as well. Although often in the west we like to see ourselves as separate from the natural world, we are very much a part of nature, and where nature thrives we thrive! The aim of regenerative design is that project by project we will build back up the biodiversity, water and soil health, habitats, flora, fauna, and communities of our country.