Living Architecture: Bioreceptive Design for People and Planet

What if the buildings that help us tackle climate change were also the buildings that lift our spirits?

We talk a great deal about the performance of buildings: how to reduce carbon, manage heat, conserve energy, deal with water and increase biodiversity. But perhaps we need to ask another question. What should these buildings look and feel like?

For architect and Alive Labs founder Nicky Naidu, the answer is not to choose between performance and beauty. We should expect both.

Nicky has spent 20 years working in architecture, including with Foster + Partners, Arup and Wilkinson Eyre, before stepping away from conventional practice to explore different ways of living and building. His journey ultimately led to Alive Labs, where he is developing bioreceptive materials designed to allow nature to become part of architecture itself.

His starting point is philosophical.

“We build what we are.”

For Nicky, buildings are a reflection of the societies that create them. If we want a society that values nature, connection and care, perhaps our architecture should express those values too.

That thinking has led Alive Labs to develop Terranite, a bioreceptive, carbon-negative construction material designed to support biological colonisation. Rather than simply attaching vegetation to a building, the material creates a substrate in which nature can participate.

Moss is central to the approach. An ancient and remarkably resilient organism, it can absorb atmospheric pollutants, retain water, contribute to water filtration and provide thermal benefits. Alive Labs' system is designed to help reduce surface temperatures, while moss can contribute to cooling through evaporative processes and insulation in colder conditions.

The implications for cities are considerable. Our buildings could become part of the infrastructure that helps address urban heat, stormwater and biodiversity loss rather than simply contributing to those pressures.

But there is another opportunity here – and it is one we don't discuss enough.

Beauty.