Biodiversity and ecosystems
Aligning with natural cycles
The conversion of natural lands into developed areas have created major environmental disturbances that threaten the stability of our interconnected planet. Forcefully separating human activity from the natural world, these processes have damaged ecosystems and driven us in to the biodiversity crisis we face today.
Responsive design today demands an approach that is truly life-centric, supporting ecosystems as much as people. Embracing a radically inclusive approach to designing with and for nature, we place nature within the very fabric of our societies to create lasting social and environmental impacts.
Loss of biodiversity, extreme weather, and material shortage are not challenges that we can solve overnight, but we cannot afford to not do anything about them.
Bestseller Logistics Center West
Enhancing the natural environment
Located on the Dutch island of Flevopolder, Bestseller’s 155,000 m²/1,668,400 ft² Logistics Center West (LCW) is a nod to the area’s unique topography. Embracing biogenic materials and boosting biodiversity, more than 40% of the site is dedicated to its landscape, inspired by the surrounding island habitat. With a meadow cultivated on the roof and the surrounding wetland and forest incorporated and enhanced, the project is designed to increase biodiversity by 10%.
To nurture the site’s biodiversity for nature’s gain, a constructed wetland habitat will envelop a significant portion of the site, fostering microhabitats through diverse native species and varied landscaping. The wetlands feature a boardwalk that serves both as a scenic and educational route with seating areas amidst nature. Other areas are off limits to people; nature-only areas designed to limit human impact. The wetland design blends with the surrounding environment, making space for nature and its habitats.
Projects
1970
Bishan Ang Mo Kio Park and Kallang River
A naturalized river and 33% increase in biodiversity
Located in the heartlands of Singapore, Bishan Park is today one of the country’s most popular parks. Anchoring a much-needed upgrade to the park was the transformation of the Kallang channel, a 2.7 km straight concrete drainage which ran along its edge, into a 3.2 km-long naturalized river that meanders through the park. Rather than approaching the park and the channel as two separate entities, the team considered the space as a holistic whole.
In addition to the natural landscapes created by the river, the park has attracted crowds of visitors, human and animal alike: fauna and flora have naturally flocked to the ecologically restored river. Based on a 2017-2019 study from the National University of Singapore on two mature plots in the park, the introduction of the naturalized river has seen the park’s biodiversity increase by a striking 33%. The park now welcomes 66 species of wildflower, 59 different bird species, 22 species of dragonfly, and even hosted the first return sighting of the infamous Bishan otters in 2014 - a species that was once thought to be extinct in Singapore!
We humans tend to think of nature as being here to provide for us, but its time we flip the perspective and recognize that we rely on it to survive. We need to be asking what we can do for nature.
Biotope
Recreating the office typology through biophilic value
Biotope offers a range of outdoor experiences at every level of the building while reinforcing the green infrastructure surrounding Lille’s city center. The building creates visual and physical continuity to support nature in the urban environment.
Transforming the typical office program into a unique and circular environment, the building supports people, animals, and local nature alike. A prominent addition to the bustling corridor between the Grand Palais Convention Center and the Regional Council for the Hauts-de-France Region, Biotope actively connects the large green areas around the city into one network through which flora and fauna can flow.
Vegetation travels up and around the building, providing a biodiverse ecosystem amid the city. With an expansive network of terraced gardens, balconies, and bridges, Biotope provides a breeding ground for over 65 species of plants. Physical connections invite birds, insects, and lizards in and around the Biotope’s habitat for local plants and wildlife complete with nesting boxes, collected rainwater, and fertile substrates.
Geoplant
An open-source plant database
Designing spaces that protect and restore indigenous flora is critical to combat the biodiversity crisis. GeoPlant, developed with a team of design experts, biologists, and ecologists, streamlines the design process by digitalizing typically fragmented knowledge.
Until recently, digital tools have been absent in landscape design, where books have traditionally dominated the input stream. GeoPlant bridges this gap by converting extensive flora data and knowledge into a digital format, transforming plant selection into a shared, performance-based choice. The tool uses smart technology to understand ecological conditions, enabling users to work more efficiently across different geographies and climate zones.
Green facade
Evergreen innovation
Northern European climates pose a big challenge to integrating green facades in architecture. Life leaves ‘living’ walls as temperatures drop in winter; changing from green to brown and losing the aesthetic qualities of a ‘green wall’ as well as its effect on local flora and fauna.
As a striking contrast to many such facade solutions, that are add-on components installed onto existing structures, we have designed a new type of biophilic facade element that is integrated within the building design.
“We wanted to design a self-sustaining facade which provides a connection to nature and increases local biodiversity, while also ensuring that the structure behind is protected,” says Jakob Strømann-Andersen, Director of Sustainability and Innovation. “This facade element is inherently green. It’s not something we add once the building is complete.”
With both its aesthetic and structural features, this new facade element opens the door to new ways of designing with vertical nature in architecture.
Resilient societies and livability
Thriving communities today and tomorrow
Designing in response to environmental and social challenges, we look broadly at our built environments as significant sites of potential and change.
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