t: 01225 723 199 / e: info@biodiversitybydesign.co.uk / contact us
We specialise in adding value to new development through assisting in the design of landscape - both around and on/over buildings/built form - as multifunctional green infrastructure (GI) and blue infrastructure (BI: referring to wetland landscapes). In other words, we approach the design of landscape in terms of optimising the ecosystem services it provides. Our portfolio of projects for the design and delivery of GI and BI includes nationally prestigious schemes such as Stratford Athletes' Village for the London 2012 Olympic Games and Centenary Quay Regeneration in Southampton (Crest Nicholson's largest UK residential project). We are specialists in tidal riverside regeneration projects and have led the ecological design of the Greenwich Peninsula Regeneration in London and of the Wandsworth Riverside Quarter - both receiving plaudits from the Environment Agency. We have particular expertise in the design and delivery of living roofs and façades and strategies for vegetated architecture for whole urban areas. We disseminate our approach widely not only through our own projects but also through assisting with scheme reviews on the Design Council/CABE and the Bristol Urban Design Forum.
Before progressing with the design of new habitats, we firstly investigate opportunities for restoring degraded and remnant habitats of ecological and cultural interest. Adopting a ‘restoration first’ policy tends to be the best way of maximising the ecological importance of degraded sites and features. Moreover, it recognises the importance of ‘the spirit of place’, the distinctive ecological and cultural character of particular landscapes that provides people and wider communities with identity.
We are, however, also leading proponents of habitat creation in urban and rural sites recognising that many landscapes (nearly all UK landscapes) are essentially the product of man's interventions. We have enjoyed considerable success in creation of working analogues of valued semi-natural habitats 'from man-made soils upwards'. These include many highly successful and multi-functional biodiverse urban landscapes around the world.
The ecological benefits of habitat creation and associated ecosystem services can only be realised over the long term if habitats are effectively managed. We have prepared comprehensive land management plans for residential/mixed-use developments at various scales from newly created nature reserves, to entire school grounds (e.g. St Pauls School, London), to the Athletes’ Village at Stratford for the London 2012 Olympic Games. We write plans that are goal and target-driven rather than being based on listings of management prescriptions and generic schedules of implementation.
We can lead the production of clearly-organised, comprehensive and user-friendly Construction Environmental Management Plans (CEMPs) to limit environmental harm and start to secure net environmental gain through the construction process of schemes. We have done this in a variety of industry sectors including mixed use development and infrastructure projects, coordinating the inputs of the project engineers and other disciplines as required. Our CEMPs sometimes incorporate Bird Hazard Management Plans that assess and address the risk of bird collision with aircraft in the vicinity of aerodromes in keeping with CAA/BAA requirements.
