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Creating Eden

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Creating Eden

The UK is one of the most nature-depleted countries and this fact is yet another reason we need more Biophilic Design included into urban planning, architecture, design, and every environmental facet of city and town life.

Robert Delius, Associate Director, Architect and Head of Sustainability at Stride Treglown is doing just that. Aiming to maximise biodiversity through design, Robert has a passion to create an Eden, where buildings and landscapes come together and there's a feeling of abundance, where there's nature and birdsong and insect life and a powerful sense of well-being.

 

Robert’s background in housing design and master planning has set him up in good stead to create good design and great places.  Distinctiveness and place making are a thread through his career.  He also has a particular interest in regenerative design and how great design can have a measurably positive impact on climate, ecology and people.  In short, he is a brilliantly creative proactive advocate for Biophilic Design.

 

He believes that forging a closer connection to the natural world, is extremely good for our well-being as well as being good for the planet and good for nature, and his passion for Biophilic Design is life-long. One of the projects he discusses is his Great Bow Yard project in Somerset from 2008. This had gained media attention because it had been flagged as the most energy efficient scheme in the UK.  Having recently revisited the project, Robert notes that residents, are not only pleased with the low energy costs, but were actually most enthused by the shared garden and the feelings of well-being that stem from it being a beautiful spot.

 

In this podcast, Robert talks of his background and upbringing and how that has led him to his passion for living in harmony with nature.  He discusses how on his projects, and those of his colleagues, he always looks to introduce as many opportunities as possible for planting in designs, both internally and externally to reduce hard space and introduce a softer more natural element…. READ ON and LISTEN to the PODCAST

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Pioneer Nature Method in Architecture

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Pioneer Nature Method in Architecture

How can we work with the landscape more as architects and designers to not only create beautiful spaces but ones that also have a positive impact on our and nature’s wellbeing? We speak with Stephen Melvin, of Atelier Architects who desribes himself as a “landscape facilitator”. How he looks at how the landscape itself is structured and presents itself and then see how to weave the design into the natural space. He has developed the “Pioneer Nature Method” which he tells us about in this podcast.

Steve highlights the need to respect that underlying process of nature that will outlive us, how we need to build in and with the landscape and really consider how our buildings can live with nature. By talking through images shown in the video accompanying this podcast (viewable on YouTube and also on the Journal of Biophilic Design website here), he shows us a project as a case study, so we can follow his thought processes from concept through to render, looking at different aspects from materials, light, air to how people will use the space and also how it represents the client’s aims too.

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Rooted in Nature - how Biophilic Design helps us flourish

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Rooted in Nature - how Biophilic Design helps us flourish

Can we make the world a better place by design? Nicole Craanen definitely thinks so (and so do we). Nicole is founder of Rooted in Nature and believes that connection to nature, especially through Biophilic Design supports human wellbeing. Quoting E.O.Wilson “the crucial first step to survival in all our organisms is habitat selection. If you get the right place, everything else is likely to be easier”, she explores in this podcast, just how we are rediscovering how we can design close to nature to help create better spaces for us to live and work in, and this is especially true in healthcare.

We have many studies proving just how beneficial Biophilic Design is, which underlines that deep innate connection that we have to the space around us. All this research is helping us determine habitats that support us in the built environment. It is also helping advocate the environmental stewardship aspect of Biophilic Design as a sustainable design practice.

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Architecture as a Catalyst for Life

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Architecture as a Catalyst for Life

David Kirkland is an architect, designer and co-founder of Kirkland Fraser Moor. He is also a photographer and co-founder of d-lab, a creative design lab which pushes boundaries and is inspiring a new generation of architects and designers. We discuss biomimicry, primitive design, architectural education, the Eden Project, Para Homes and much more. This is also a call for a “flourishing”, over and above just “sustainability”.

Our built environment creates about 40% of our carbon emissions, and architects are at the forefront of helping solve this. His belief is that architects have a huge opportunity here, with head in the clouds but feet firmly on the ground, to think laterally to minimise this. For him, it is all about Life, with a capital L.

This is also a call for more beauty, and awe in our world. A respect for our planet.

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