HOK, Biomimicry Guild expand use of architectural design based on nature worldwide
A year into the alliance, leaders find greatest interest overseas Wednesday January 6, 2010 -- Michelle Strutzenberger
Through the alliance between HOK, one of the world’s largest architectural firms, and the Montana-based Biomimicry Guild, the use of architectural design based on nature is expanding to nearly every continent.

Just this week HOK is looking into solidifying a project which will make use of the biomimicry approach with a client in Brazil. Other biomimetic-based projects are already underway in India, Saudi Arabia, China and the U.S.

HOK and the Biomimicry Guild have been working together for more than a year, and according to HOK director of sustainable design Mary Ann Lazarus, this global expansion is one of the most exciting aspects of the alliance to date.

“I’m always looking for how can we strategically position biomimcry across HOK at different places . . . so I like that we’re starting to see this relationship in every continent,” she says.

“We’re actually going global with bringing biomimicry to our clients.”

A pioneer in the green building movement since the early 1990s, HOK has joined with the Biomimicry Guild with the vision of moving to the “next level” in building lightly on Earth.

“We see biomimicry at this point as a way for us to take this (baseline commitment to sustainability) way to the next level,” says Lazarus, qualifying that the goal is to take a strategic approach to implementing biomimicry in HOK’s design work.

“Not every project is going to be biomimetic at this point, nor are we ready for it. But we want to find those exemplar projects with the right client and the right team that can really demonstrate what it means.”

HOK and the Biomimicry Guild are discovering that clients interested in exploring new and innovative approaches to design, those that already have an affinity with nature and those that are genuinely interested in reducing their environmental impact are the most open to introducing biomimicry into their projects.

To date, the bulk of interest has come from overseas clients, says Lazarus.

One project that has had significant success and garnered interest world-wide is the creation of series of villages, known as the Lavasa project, near Mumbai, India, which will house tens of thousands of people to accommodate the country’s expanding population in a way that is both sustainable for the people and environmentally sound.

HOK and the biologists have worked with the community’s planning team in designing various aspects of the villages.

Taryn Mead, a biologist with the guild who has worked on the project, says it has been exciting to observe the depth of the impact of the biomimetic approach on the work being done there.

“(The project) has created a regional buzz,” says Mead, noting discussions have taken place about Lavasa becoming a regional hub for biomimicry and potentially attracting various academic institutions to the area to conduct research on the use of biomimicry in city planning.

Check back for an upcoming story on how the Biomimicry Guild influences HOK’s design approach.

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