DESIGN PROCESS
Our team brings together backgrounds in biology, engineering, landscape, and building design. We combine scientific insight with creative thinking to shape places that support your well-being and that of the planet. With the help of AI, we’re able to analyze complex systems more deeply, visualize outcomes faster, and make better-informed decisions — enhancing both the creativity and precision of our work. And because we design for long-term performance, resilience, and low operating costs, our work is not only thoughtful and practical — it’s a sound investment.
Understanding Living Systems
Designing in partnership with nature, not in isolation from it.
At the core of regenerative design is the recognition that every site is part of a living system — a dynamic web of relationships among soil, water, climate, vegetation, wildlife, and human communities. “Understanding Living Systems” means stepping back from the impulse to control or dominate a site and instead learning from it, working with it, and designing interventions that enhance rather than degrade the flows of life it supports.
Most conventional development treats land as a blank slate, reshaping it through grading, paving, and building in ways that erase the natural rhythms and relationships that make a place ecologically functional. The result is often degraded soil, reduced biodiversity, increased flooding, and buildings that feel disconnected from their environment — physically and psychologically.
By contrast, designing in harmony with living systems begins with deep observation. We study a site’s geology, hydrology, plant communities, and historical land use. We map seasonal water flows, sun exposure, and wind patterns — not just to assess what’s there, but to understand what’s possible.
This approach prioritizes working with natural flows: preserving and regenerating soils, capturing and infiltrating water on site, and using native or climate-adapted species that support biodiversity and require minimal intervention. It also means designing for all life — integrating habitat for pollinators, birds, and beneficial insects, while connecting occupants to nature through thresholds, textures, and seasonal change. The use of non-toxic materials reinforces this continuity between human and ecological health.
When buildings are treated not as isolated objects but as participants in a living system, they begin to give back — offering shade, shelter, moisture retention, and beauty. They contribute to soil health, help recharge aquifers, and support the wider web of life.
This mindset offers tangible benefits to clients:
Greater resilience to drought, flooding, and climate extremes
Reduced maintenance through healthy soils and self-sustaining plantings
Increased property value through ecological richness and beauty
Healthier indoor and outdoor environments
Stronger market credibility in a climate-conscious world
Ultimately, designing with living systems isn’t a style — it’s a way of thinking. It asks us to see each project as part of something larger. When we do, we create places that endure, adapt, and come alive.
Add Value to Place
Leave it better than you found it.
Conventional construction often extracts value: removing topsoil, displacing ecosystems, and introducing materials or systems that undermine long-term health. Regenerative design inverts that logic — it invests in the land and the community. When buildings and landscapes are designed to contribute, not just consume, they become assets to both people and the planet.
What This Looks Like in Practice
Ecological Uplift
Replanting native vegetation and pollinator habitats.
Daylighting buried streams or restoring wetland hydrology.
Rebuilding soil health through compost, biochar, and no-compaction practices.
Cultural Responsiveness
Respect and reflect local traditions, materials, and building forms.
Engage local communities in design and stewardship.
Incorporate stories of place through art, signage, or land-based practices.
Stacked Benefits
Design multifunctional landscapes: a stormwater swale that’s also a pollinator corridor and a gathering space.
Ensure every system contributes to more than one function.
Benefits to the Client
Higher long-term value: Sites that improve over time are more desirable, resilient, and marketable.
Public goodwill: Projects that restore and contribute earn stronger support from regulators and communities.
Legacy and stewardship: Clients leave behind more than a building — they improve the landscape itself.
Build For Resilience
Expect the Unexpected
Overview
Resilience is about preparing for the unexpected — not just bouncing back, but bouncing forward. In regenerative design, resilience means creating places that can adapt to stressors: climate shifts, resource fluctuations, changing needs, or ecological disturbances. It’s about designing systems that endure and evolve.
Why It Matters
Our climate is changing. Resources are less predictable. Social and ecological systems are under pressure. Buildings that aren't designed with resilience in mind will face higher maintenance costs, greater failure risks, and shorter lifespans. Regenerative buildings anticipate these realities — and thrive in them.
What This Looks Like in Practice
Material Durability
Use materials that weather well and age beautifully, reducing need for replacement.
Favor assemblies that are repairable, not disposable.
Passive Performance
Design buildings that stay comfortable with minimal energy input.
Use thermal mass, shading, natural ventilation, and daylighting.
Ecological Infrastructure
Integrate living systems, water catchment, on-site energy production, and smart engineering to manage water and support biodiversity.
Design for fire-adapted, drought-tolerant, or flood-resistant conditions, depending on context.
Flexibility and Adaptation
Allow buildings to shift over time: modular layouts, adaptable interiors, incremental phasing.
Benefits to the Client
Lower lifetime costs: Less maintenance, fewer repairs, greater comfort.
Risk reduction: Fewer climate-related disruptions or liability.
Future-proof assets: Properties that remain relevant and perform over time.
Optimize Health
Design spaces that support physical, mental, and ecological well-being
Overview
We optimize for health by eliminating harmful materials, improving air and water quality, designing with daylight and acoustics in mind, and connecting people to nature. Health is addressed not just at the scale of the body, but at the scale of ecosystems — because the two are inseparable.
Why It Matters
Most people spend 90% of their lives indoors. Yet many conventional buildings expose occupants to toxins, poor air quality, and stressful environments. Our building and site design reverses that — creating places that heal, uplift, and support life at every level.
What This Looks Like in Practice
Material Health
Use Red List–free, low-VOC, and non-toxic materials.
Avoid off-gassing products and synthetic compounds.
Indoor Environmental Quality
Ensure fresh air exchange, high filtration, and moisture control.
Maximize daylight and views. Minimize noise pollution.
Biophilic Design
Integrate natural materials, forms, and patterns.
Offer access to plants, gardens, and outdoor space.
Ecological Connection
Connect building occupants to the cycles of day, season, and weather.
Design spaces that invite movement, presence, and calm.
Benefits to the Client
Occupant satisfaction: Healthier spaces lead to happier tenants, employees, or residents.
Productivity and retention: In commercial or institutional settings, health-driven design improves performance.
Market differentiation: Health is increasingly a top priority for buyers and renters.