Regenerative interiors: the next step in sustainability

We need to recognise our interdependence with nature and work with its systems, not exploit them. This means considering the whole lifespan and impact of projects, materials and specifications. Beyond lessening the harm of our footprint, we need to achieve a net-positive ‘handprint’ by supporting, replenishing and enhancing the environment. Working sustainably is no longer enough – designers and architects need to start thinking regeneratively too.

Textiles can be particularly complex in terms of regeneration. They are often made with a combination of materials that include petrochemical synthetic fibres (plastics) that are then impossible to separate and biodegrade. They may also contain other petrochemicals – for example man-made artificial pesticides used to grow crops such as non certified, non-organic cotton – and have an accompanying high water footprint. Animal fibre textiles may require chemical-intense crops to supplement the animals’ feed and preservative chemicals may be added after manufacture to stop the living fibres from deteriorating, or to soften them and improve maintenance; they are then often blended with fossil fuel synthetic fibres anyway. In some parts of the world, flame retardant chemicals are also added to suit legal requirements for fire safety. These factors all prevent safe regeneration as the fibres reach the end of their life cycle.

Synthetic fibres can be made from recycled pre or post-consumer waste or retrieved from oceans, such as PET and abandoned fishing nets. Although the recycling of plastic is good while it is here and a problem, both compositions are impossible to regenerate safely: plastic lives forever and sometimes contains ‘forever’ chemicals that affect both human and wildlife. These non-regenerative synthetic fibre textiles available to our industry in the form of fabrics and floor coverings are now seen as the new single use plastics. In the UK the Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP) carried out its first consumer research into home textiles and found the most frequently used disposal route for synthetic fibre textiles is general rubbish at 22%.

Unable to source a fabric to reupholster a sofa that was free of plastic or chemicals, sisters Patty and Leigh Anne joined forces and formed Two Sisters Ecotextiles with a mission to ‘change the way textiles are being made’, by selling fabrics that are ethically produced, non-toxic, carbon neutral and otherwise sustainable. To be certain that their fabrics were truly holistically safe and healthy, the sisters took on the responsibility of the designing, sourcing and manufacturing their fabric, ensuring they had nature-positive compositions. Insisting on fully 100% organically farmed native crops meant a lessened yield, but that came with a wealth of important benefits that were boosting soil health and therefore biodiversity – reduced risk of drought, water footprint and greenhouse gas emissions. It even means the soil is a carbon sink for removing carbon from the atmosphere. It has been estimated that improved farming techniques that move away from man-made fertilisers to improve soil health would help to store more than enough carbon in soil to keep the world within 1.5°C of global boiling.

Regeneration is not only about biobased material choices. It is also about the built environment and making the impact of those spaces net-positive on the surrounding ecology and communities. How do we ensure our projects themselves flourish and revive while fulfilling the traditional brief for the spaces and buildings that interior designers work with?  Who writes the brief, and where is nature in the design process?

The solution demonstrated in Melbourne’s suburbs shows how regenerative design can even take the form of a shopping centre. For 20 years a 18ha former brickworks site sat derelict in the suburbs of Melbourne; now it has been replaced by a special project that not only revives and delights aesthetically but is an important LBC Petal certified regenerative scheme, forming a community of retail, leisure, parkland and 750 homes. The catalyst for Burwood Brickworks came from property development company Frasers Property Australia. Its project goal for the site was human delight and the celebration of culture, spirit, and place – and to be the world’s most sustainable shopping centre, something it achieved at the time of receipt of the certification.

By the time it was completed, the shopping centre housed all the shops and services you would expect, such as an off-licence, barbers, beauty and hair salons, supermarket, a yoga and pilates studio, chemist and medical centre, childcare centre and community space – plus a six-screen cinema. Many of the tenants are larger chains and going through the process of creating this development has sent ripples through their business models, supply chains and future projects following this learning experience. Contractors have learnt a great deal about alternative materials, supply chains and skills and have new relationships within the industry. Frasers Property Australia now includes biophilic design, healthier materials and solar farms in its retail projects as standard. From a marketing perspective, would the world know about this project if it hadn’t followed this regenerative course? 

Chloe Bullock is an interior designer and director of Materialise Interiors

Sustainable Interior Design by Chloe Bullock is published by RIBA Publishing, May 2024