This project is designed not just to minimise harm, but to actively give back — to the landscape, the ecosystem, and the community. Rooted in regenerative thinking, the architecture embraces York’s flood-prone environment and turns it into an opportunity to support biodiversity, restore habitat, and reconnect people with nature.

Materials were carefully chosen with sustainability in mind. Straw insulation and timber beams reduce embodied carbon, while the building’s bioreceptive concrete façade is designed to grow moss over time — creating a living, breathing skin that cleans the air, cools the structure, and brings green life back to a site often stripped of it by flooding.

The landscaping strategy works with the water, not against it. Floodwater is slowed and redirected into catchment pools and floating wetlands, helping to create new habitats and reduce runoff into the River Ouse. Public bathing pools use plant-based filtration systems instead of chemicals, lowering pollution and celebrating natural systems.

Inside, the building uses passive solar design, carefully placed skylights, and natural ventilation to reduce energy use and keep the atmosphere comfortable year-round. Nothing is over-engineered — the form works in sync with nature.

Perhaps most importantly, the building is designed with a lifespan in mind. It’s meant to decay slowly and naturally, using materials that are biodegradable or recyclable. As it ages, it leaves behind no waste — only new life. It’s an architecture that grows, adapts, and eventually returns to the earth.