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Built by Nature Built by Nature is a network and grant-making fund dedicated to accelerating timber building.

🌿 This is what progress looks like!Here’s an update on some exciting projects Built by Nature’s Frontrunners are working...
20/04/2026

🌿 This is what progress looks like!

Here’s an update on some exciting projects Built by Nature’s Frontrunners are working on right now 👇

🇪🇸 In Spain: Madrid’s city centre has its first timber residential building with nearly zero CO₂ emissions. Several organisations connected to network, such as Woodea and , developed the Tomás Bretón Building. Its CLT timber structure, with CLT provided by , stores 902 tons of CO₂ and was efficiently assembled in just 8 weeks. This project, promoted by , involved multiple sustainability, architecture, circular economy, and certification partners, all aligned around a common climate-positive goal. Additional contributors include .arquitectura and .

🇪🇸 In Spain: 011h, in collaboration with Neobricks, started the construction of 159 homes with a hybrid structure, concrete base with a CLT frame, in Valencia. The project is expected to be finalised in 18 months and will have a total of 14,139 m² in built area.

🇳🇱 In The Netherlands: Revisit the story behind SAWA, a pioneering 50-meter-high, 17-story wooden residential building in Rotterdam, through this new video series by NICE Developers. The series explores the process behind the construction project, featuring .contour and , and shows how all involved felt their work clearly contributed to a healthier planet, in contrast to traditional high-impact concrete construction.

🌿 These are just some examples of organisations that are driving change in the built environment.

➡️ Explore our Network of Frontrunners across the value chain on our website.

📸 1st image: Woodea; 2nd image: 011h; 3rd image: © Ossip van Duivenbode, mei architechts and planners

20/03/2026

Last November, the Our Future: Built by Nature film premiered at in São Paulo. The event gathered experts from across the sustainable design and development value chain sectors and sparked insightful discussions about mass timber construction in Brazil.

Since then, the film was screened at COP30 in Belém, following the launch of the Principles for Responsible Timber Construction. It has now crossed the Atlantic to be screened at events in the Netherlands and in Austria at the COLI Global Summit.

What’s next for the film 🇸🇮 🇩🇪 🇨🇿
New showings are planned for the next few weeks in Slovenia, Germany and Czech Republic, by courtesy of our frontrunners and other BbN partners.

🎬 Bring Our Future: Built by Nature to your organisation or network
Whether you’d like to host an internal screening, co-host an event for a built environment network, or run a session with partners, we’ll help to make it happen. Get in touch!

✨ Watch highlights of the night at MASP below. This is what your screening could look like!

📹 Video courtesy of

🌿 This is what progress looks like!Here’s an update on some exciting initiatives our Frontrunners are working on right n...
12/03/2026

🌿 This is what progress looks like!

Here’s an update on some exciting initiatives our Frontrunners are working on right now 👇

🇬🇧 In the UK: ‘s work in using innovation to transform the built environment and address the global housing crisis has been featured this week in CNN. AUAR is using portable, AI‑driven robotic micro‑factories to rapidly produce timber home components, aiming to tackle labour shortages, reduce costs, and speed up construction.

🇳🇱 In The Netherlands: A new 76-metre government office building (ministry of education, culture and science) in The Hague will be constructed largely in timber by with delivering the prefabricated mass-timber structure. The design integrates natural ventilation, biophilic elements and a full digital twin for long-term maintenance. A powerful symbolic signal to policymakers, showing that biobased construction is now being adopted at the heart of government itself.

🇩🇪 In Germany: shares an update on the St. Mauritius Secondary School building in Halle, where the team was responsible for the structural engineering, sound insulation and fire safety. This school has a modular, timber frame construction and relies on renewable and fully recyclable materials, such as clay. The project combines low‑carbon design, natural materials, and innovative reinterpretations of traditional building methods while abiding to regulatory frameworks.

🇳🇱 In the Netherlands: .v.architecture has kickstarted the Amstelwood project, which will give the city of Amstelveen its first timber-structured residential tower, with 131 new sustainable homes. The project marks a major step in the municipality’s efforts to deliver sustainable, mid-segment housing while combining urban densification with environmental goals.

🌿 These are just some examples of organisations that are driving change in the built environment.

➡️ Explore our Network of Frontrunners across the value chain on our website.

📸 1st image: ; 2nd image: ; 3rd image: ; 4th image: Parallel

This is what progress led by our Network of frontrunners looks like 👇 🇪🇸 In Spain: Wood Group, a frontrunner, led the ...
20/02/2026

This is what progress led by our Network of frontrunners looks like 👇

🇪🇸 In Spain: Wood Group, a frontrunner, led the engineering, assembly and wood manufacturing of the biggest hotel built in wood in Southern Europe: Kategora Oceanika. Its structure is made out of PEFC-certified CLT incorporates 3,500 m³ of pine and larch wood, which is equivalent to 3,500 tonnes of CO₂ stored in the structure itself. Kategora Oceanika, which opens doors next month, was developed by .homes , and designed by , .architects and HMY Consulting & Design.

🇩🇪 In Germany: partners with to build TULIUM, a pavilion which will harbour TU Berlin’s mineralogical collections and current research projects. TULIUM is being constructed only from renewable and recycled building materials, including timber, and incorporates testing processes related to reusable building materials led by the B(e)Ware project group.

🌿 Just some examples of organisations that are driving change in the built environment. Stay tuned for more stories of progress across our Network!

The Built by Nature Network consists of frontrunners from across the value chain, bringing together developers, investors, policymakers, cities, insurers, and the forestry community in Europe.

📸 First image: ; Second image:

29/01/2026

🏡 ’s Circular and Biobased Two-Bedroom Home in Uganda, envisioned by founder , won the Built by Nature Prize in 2025.

This 76 m² prefabricated timber residence in Kampala serves as a real life example of how it is possible to address housing shortages in emerging economies by building affordable, modular, climate-resilient and self-sufficient homes.

The house is constructed from FSC-certified pine sourced from Ugandan plantations and uses modular timber frames, plywood walls and screw-based assembly for future disassembly and reuse.

Easy Housing’s circular building system is deeply aligned with the Principles for Responsible Timber Construction. The bio-based construction company works continuously to build with timber and bio-based materials while fostering a domestic timber supply chain which benefits the local economy.

🎥 Watch below a short film about this project and how its design and ex*****on embody the Principles.

In the next few weeks, we will be sharing 4 more short films about each of the 2025 winning projects as examples of how buildings can help restore ecosystems rather than depleting them.

This series follows up on Our Future: Built by Nature documentary, produced by Open Planet Studios and Built by Nature. Stay tuned for more!

26/01/2026

🎬 Last week ended with the very first European screening of Our Future: Built by Nature at De Balie, in Amsterdam.

🌿 This was an opportunity for Frontrunners from our Dutch Network, including experts from the built environment sector, policymakers and funders to meet and watch the Our Future film.

Our Future features the six winning projects of last year’s Built by Nature Prize and how they exemplify the principles for responsible timber construction, linking design, forestry and climate accountability across the value chain.

The screening was followed by a lively discussion on what is now being done in the Netherlands to transform the built environment sector in harmony with nature.

📽️ Stay tuned to hear about the next screenings across the world!

In his latest blog, Built by Nature CEO reflectS on why being here matters, what we’ve achieved so far, and what comes n...
14/11/2025

In his latest blog, Built by Nature CEO reflectS on why being here matters, what we’ve achieved so far, and what comes next as we move from ambition to action.

A turning point for forests and the built environment at COP30

From Rio to São Paulo and now Belém, this first week in Brazil has been intense, humid, and full of energy; and a stark reminder of what’s at stake when you’re standing on the edge of the Amazon. COP30 is messy and imperfect, but absolutely essential. And this week, we’ve seen what’s possible when industry and governments align.
 
At the Buildings and Cooling Pavilion, we launched the Principles for Responsible Timber Construction, with a dozen national governments (with more expected!) joining over 320 businesses and organisations in endorsing a shared framework and common language for scaling timber in construction responsibly. This wasn’t just a statement of intent, it was a coordinated signal that policy and practice are moving much closer together.
 
Our 2025 Built by Nature Prize winners stood shoulder to shoulder with UNEP, WWF, and government ministers and officials to show what’s already achievable, on the ground around the world. The conversations were consistently sweaty, optimistic, and focused on one thing: accelerating the global biobased transformation of the built environment. Responsibly.

On the day prior to the Built by Nature Annual Summit, dozens of intrepid “timber tourists” were shown exemplary project...
05/11/2025

On the day prior to the Built by Nature Annual Summit, dozens of intrepid “timber tourists” were shown exemplary projects in London’s east, west and south to demonstrate the range and potential of future forward biobased construction.

Among our destinations: Elephant Park. This pioneering inner-city regeneration project in Elephant and Castle is designed to be climate positive through low-carbon construction, biobased landscaping, and a net-zero energy system.

Here’s to all expert guides and tour participants who put in the time (and steps) to experience the many benefits of sustainable timber construction … Thank you for being part of our biobased movement!


Part three of the Built by Nature Biobased City Tour of London takes us South London to discover its timber construction...
03/11/2025

Part three of the Built by Nature Biobased City Tour of London takes us South London to discover its timber construction.

📍Walworth Town Hall

Joe Peake from guided the group through this beautifully restored 19th-century landmark, now showcasing sensitive timber renovation.

📍WorkStack
Presented by Alex de Rijke of WorkStack is a bold CLT workspace redefining light industrial architecture and meeting real socioeconomic needs.

📍Timber Square
Peter Fisher from guided the visit to Timber Square, which brings 365,000 sq ft of workspace + a green urban square to central London.

📸 Swipe to see Walworth Town Hall & WorkStack in action.
Next and final stop: Elephant & Castle – stay tuned!

We’re continuing with part two of Built by Nature’s Biobased City Tour, showcasing London’s most innovative timber proje...
30/10/2025

We’re continuing with part two of Built by Nature’s Biobased City Tour, showcasing London’s most innovative timber projects. Today, we highlight some of the projects in the Eastern part of city.

📍The Black & White Building

David Lomax guided the group through Central London’s tallest engineered timber office, designed by . A hybrid beech-LVL and CLT structure, built for disassembly and one of six Built by Nature Prize 2025 winners.

📍AUAR Microfactory
Presented by Gilles Retsin and Kevin Saey of , this innovative startup delivers scalable timber housing through robotic production and modular micro-factories.

📍Spruce House
An award-winning CLT newbuild home and studio in Walthamstow Village Conservation Area. Hosted by Zachary Fluker of , the project demonstrates sensitive infill development with biobased materials.

Thank you to our expert guides and the East London participants who joined us to explore the future of timber construction. Two more tours to come — stay tuned!

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