REGENERATIVE DESIGN
In the constant quest for the sustainable and unique, regenerative design is a principle much of the industry still struggles to recognise as one of our most exciting creative and commercial opportunities.
Introduction
It is exceedingly unusual to encounter any client that does not share our individual ambition as architects, master planners or designers, to create something with at least some element of uniqueness or originality. I have worked in this industry for almost three decades, so I’m painfully aware that achieving that goal is easier said than done once the practical aspects of budget, regulation and location are factored in. Nevertheless, I am still disappointed that regenerative design has yet to become the standard design principle I had expected it to be, given the exceptional project opportunities it has created for both my studio and my industry peers.
The application of regenerative design principles to all of our projects has been a core foundation of Studio Wild 15’s success since we launched. It has, in many of our projects, been the inspiration for that much vaunted uniqueness we have delivered for our clients. The fact that it has simultaneously fulfilled obligations to demonstrate sustainability benefits has become an added value benefit, not the principal reason for its application.
As I will cover later, we see excellence in the use of regenerative design principles to be an attribute which will deliver sustained demand in our industry from a growing number of clients. The rapid growth in expectations of premium travellers for hotels with a unique identity, delivering experiences which feel both culturally and geographically connected to the place itself, is exactly where regenerative design comes to the fore as an outstanding response to that demand.
However it would be remiss not to start with a reality check on the current status of regenerative design in 2025, and how sustainability is still not the priority it should be. Multiple explanations exist for this scenario, but from my personal perspective, I believe the biggest challenge is how the general approach to sustainability is framed within the building industry.
Let's assume for example that you're building a hotel and seeking to achieve BREEAM “outstanding” accreditation (this is the highest tier in the UK voluntary environmental certification system that recognises sustainable building practices). Typically this provides developers with access to preferential lending rates. Whilst there is commercial logic to this ambition, the quantity surveyor or the construction manager often sees ‘green’ ambition as adding 10% to the total build costs. Positioned as such, it is unsurprising that it is frequently perceived as a bureaucracy-generating tax.
If the sole motive for achieving the highest BREEAM accreditation is driven by the need to comply with national regulatory obligations, or to source cheaper lending terms, what we see in reality is that sustainability accreditation is too often “fulfilled” through late project stage initiatives. I have seen these range from the addition of solar panels on the roof or, even more superficially, through the pledged use of paper straws!
Through this lens, sustainability is looked at as a test to be passed, and a financial loss to be borne - a limit to, rather than a spur to creativity and distinctive design.
Now let's apply a different perspective - one where it is believed that great work is built on sustainability. This is not merely viewing the project from an aesthetic perspective, but also a long-term economic lens, both in terms of both running costs and competitive advantage in attracting more customers willing to pay a higher premium.
In this scenario, one can expect it to actually cost clients less to be more sustainable, even if the complexities of who benefits (the project developer or the project’s occupier) must be acknowledged. This may seem a bit utopian, but in fact it is the standard outcome in the case of Studio Wild 15’s projects.
You may very reasonably ask, if this is so achievable, why is it not more prevalent?
To me, it boils down to a culture shift that has yet to take place across our industry at a sufficient scale - the shift to build regenerative design into the essence of the project from the start. It is, to my immense frustration, maddeningly simple.
Indeed one of the joys of having my own practice, Studio Wild 15 and making it truly multidisciplinary, is that I can create this required culture.
It means that we start off by talking with economists not just about the cost of things, such as “how big is the hotel?” or “where's the car park going to go?” but the broader challenges and opportunities that could come from bringing sustainability and adaptive reuse into the genesis of the design idea. We look to ask more profound questions such as “what is this project in its essence?” A discussion at this early point provides the opportunity to make the sustainability element of the work, dare I say it, the “sexy” part of the project.
“What about the mosquitoes?”
“What about the water quality?”
“Is there enough water?”
“Will there be too much water?"
New lagoon and flood solution
MON CHOISY, MAURITIUS
One of my favourite examples which demonstrates the huge benefit derived from having the right early conversations is a project I worked on whilst at my previous practice WATG, located in Mon Choisy, in the North West of Mauritius.
Our client had a major drainage issue on the land. The area was flooding annually, and it was a source of great anxiety and cost to the client in terms of land destruction and disruption to business. Our solution was to build the new development around a huge rainwater swimming lagoon, mitigating the flooding while creating a fantastic USP.
The client was very skeptical about our proposed solution for a long time. They had all sorts of concerns: "What about the mosquitoes?” “What about the water quality?” “Is there enough water?” “Will there be too much water?"
We conducted an exhaustive amount of engineering and scientific investigation to reassure the client about the expected flow and volume of water that would result, and also to prove that natural stasis would mitigate the flooding issue without becoming a haven for mosquitos.
That was the practical side of the solution.
The creative side of the solution was the aesthetic and sensorial impact of the lagoon itself. Today, it has become their centerpiece for selling real estate in the area, an utterly unique feature for the clients to market their property around.
It was all made possible because we were there right at the beginning with the land owner, talking about the strategy rather than just answering an architectural brief. We worked out together — "this is how we can make this project sustainable."
New waterway &
seasonal flooding solution
NAFSIKA, CORFU
A second example of regenerative design that I am very proud to share, is how we applied natural systems principles to another project with flooding issues, this time in Corfu.
Nafsika sits in the Ropa Valley and seasonal floods made the site unusable in the Autumn impacting the drainage in the whole area of the valley. We came up with the idea of creating a set of beautiful waterways for this project that could simultaneously solve the flooding problem and provide beautiful new visual features.
Now, as water flows through the site, we capture it as part of the ecosystem. We then are able to create natural swimming pools, beautiful little canals and navigable waterways for small boats as well as ensuring irrigation for the golf course.
I’m obsessed with using native species in projects as they are ‘at home’ and therefore thrive without the need for pesticides or irrigation.
Indigenous forest regeneration
FERNEY, MAURITIUS
Another area where regenerative design principles have so much unrealised potential is through regeneration of native ecosystems and even the soil itself, which takes us to another project that we were commissioned to fulfil in Mauritius.
A common problem on the island are Traveller’s Palm trees, originally from Madagascar, which have found their way to Mauritius and completely invaded the native hillsides. They are quite beautiful, but they're vigorously invasive.The indigenous forest of Mauritius was made up of ebony trees, but many of these were stripped out by early settlers in the 16th and 17th century.
The problem with many invasive species is how they strip the nutrients from the soil. Plants (such as eucalyptus) can be so invasive that they prevent anything else from growing and while they're extremely successful, they typically impoverish the soil and you eventually end up with dust bowls.
On the other hand, putting native trees back into the ecosystem is extremely good for the soil. One of the first things that we did on the nature reserve we were working on in Ferney, Mauritius, was to rip out the Traveller's Palms, replacing them with an ebony forest that would be the backdrop to a series of stunning trails, a mixed use development, hospitality and glamping areas. At its roots, so to speak, that work was a huge regeneration of indigenous forest. The result is a return to the uniqueness of Mauritius’s original ebony forest — a world away from the increasingly common travellers palm tree backdrop which can be found as far afield as Hawaii and Cambodia. And, as a tree which is famed for its attractiveness to wildlife, it offers Mauritius a chance to showcase its inland delights as well as its tropical beaches. And staying true to our culture, we have devised a plan for the Traveller’s Palms that were removed — converting them to lumber as part of an initiative to construct eco-cabins.
Adaptive reuse of materials
PRIVATE GARDEN, GULF REGION
A less overt, but just as impactful application of regenerative design can be found in the adaptive reuse of materials themselves. One of my favourite examples from our recent portfolio is a garden design project for a private client in the Gulf. We managed to find a means to use a large quantity of Galician stone that was surplus to a separate project in the area, and made it central to our design idea.
Indeed, it was the only stone used on the project. While it is one of the most sustainable materials to use, transportation is highly carbon-intensive, so being able to make use of this material already in the region was a huge carbon saving. What is so pleasing about this adaptive reuse solution is that it was not even a requirement of the client’s brief. We now have a brilliant showcase of positive sustainability, where we were able to create a stunning design concept that delighted an extremely demanding client, inspired by the potential to construct a space using only Galician stone as the core aesthetic feature.
The key to substantially reverse climate change is through soil
The future is brown
(and black)
So how can we become better at taking advantage of the huge opportunity that regenerative design gives us?
In order to change the culture of our industry such that regenerative design is more intuitive rather than afterthought, we need to start with what we are teaching the next generation of our profession. Understanding how nature works — how soil, rain, drainage and wind and cooling works is, I believe, as crucial as understanding how structures remain standing. These are the less glamorous aspects of our knowledge base, but if you put them together they are not only relevant but hugely important for each and every project. You then begin to realise what the critical factors are. How the forces of nature impact the land. All that is at the very heart of what we do with our work.
It may not be in our glossy practice brochure, but our soil expertise is something I’m particularly proud of. It really is at the unglamorous end of our profession, but it is also the key to substantially reverse climate change or degradation through soil. It has a significant impact on carbon capture, and if used for regenerative farming and food production, I believe soil will ultimately be at the core of the survival of our species. Even beyond the long term reasons to dedicate more teaching time to soil expertise, there is also an increasingly compelling reason to focus your practice’s mind towards the brown and black organic materials under your feet.
Having dedicated our practice to soil expertise, you would be unsurprised to know that many of our projects have edible gardens, both small and large, as a key design element in luxury hotel experiences.
In Southern Spain for instance, we’ve created orange groves that enable hotels to use their own fruit for juices and surround residents with beautiful fragrant edible gardens. In Catalonia, we’ve designed edible gardens that enable the hotel to make its own botanical cocktails and provide ingredients for its 3 starred Michelin restaurant. You can take a handful of rosemary for your Gin Marie or add sage and preserved lemon, and all these things are grown on site.
We've been creating these edible gardens around the world for many years and in every instance, they have proved an absolute delight for both clients and for guests and visitors at the hotels.
To me this is no surprise. Food and plants have an innate ability to culturally place you. Groves of bitter orange in Sevilla; dates in the Gulf; olive trees in Greece. We are able to give guests a true zero food miles, farm-to-table experience, even through reusing their compost to regenerate the soil. Hotel guests love these features precisely because they all bring them closer to the location, to the community, its culture and its history of where they are.
The best example of this trend is the work we’ve done with Six Senses, one of the most luxurious hotel operators in the world, who really understand the sense and the appeal of sustainability. If you’ve ever stayed at a Six Senses hotel, you’ll be aware of their Earth Labs, which is where guests learn about how their tourism is impacting the area. Their hotels have incredible vegetable gardens and beautiful seasonal produce in their restaurants. There is huge appeal to their guests for this aspect and it makes Six Senses truly stand out from their competitors.
It is tempting to dismiss this trend as being purely in the upper strata of the high-net-worth world of premium five-star luxury. However, the travel industry is fully aware that the moment of peak demand has passed for Wild West themed hotels in Las Vegas, or 600 room hotels in Turkey offering all day breakfasts, where you could be in any one of multiple countries with a similar climate and hotel experience. The huge new generation of tourists from the Far East and Asia has become increasingly discerning, just like tourists from countries with a longer history of overseas travel.
Rather than designing around imported and templated stories and themes, we should build experiences about engaging with local communities. This respect for provenance, and for local identity will be more than just a super luxury needstate, it will also drive appeal at three and four star hotel level.
My confidence comes from the simple reason that our concern with provenance is exponentially increasing, across every element of the consumer ecosystem. We care more now about where our food comes from. We’re holding the supply chains of our supermarkets and food manufacturers more accountable. Just as our food choices are being influenced by provenance, so will they increasingly influence people's choices of destination, hotel and dining.
The regenerative concept also extends beyond our sector and is rapidly growing within farming itself. Regenerative farmers and wilders are actively seeking volunteers, paid workers to grow and manage the land, very much driven by a recognition of the need to re-connect people to the land. There are now multiple NGOs working together to ‘land match’ farmers with potential tenants across the UK.
Conclusion
A certain idealism may be at the heart of my own ambitions around regenerative design, adaptive re-use and their contribution to sustainability, but idealism need not necessarily be a component of its application. It is actually more a question of management practices, in particular the timing of when the conversations begin, and it is less complex than many would imagine to integrate these ideals.
I believe that we are pushing at an open door in terms of consumer trends and expectations. Farm to table may represent a novel, differentiating proposition to hotel guests in search of a more unique, contextual gastronomic and sensory experience, but the bigger sustainability impact story around soil regeneration and food miles does not even need to feature in the brochure.
As an industry, once we can sincerely embrace these practices as a source of design and experiential inspiration rather than seeing them as limitation and taxation, we can seize the wonderful opportunity to be more closely associated with the solution rather than the cause of our sustainability challenges. Natural features are by nature unique. What greater canvas could we enjoy for creating the truly original and utterly memorable?
