Restoration design centre: A Complete Guide
# Finding the Right Restoration Design Centre: What I’ve Learned from Fixing Old Spaces You know what’s weird? I never thought I’d become the person my friends call when they…
Why We Shouldn’t Give Up on Old Buildings: What I’ve Learned About Restoration and Aging in Place
Last month, I read an article about a developer in Montreal who wanted to gut a beautiful Art Deco bank building rather than restore it. Got me thinking about how…
Why Some Spaces Make You Feel Human (And How to Create Them When You’re Broke and Live in a Box)
Okay, so there’s this thing that happens when you walk into certain spaces where your body just goes “oh, thank god” and relaxes in a way you didn’t even realize…
When Old Houses Meet Modern Know-How: My Experience with Restoration Experts
You know what I’ve learned after thirty-eight years in the same house? There’s a big difference between contractors who just fix things and craftsmen who understand what they’re working with.…
What I Learned About Restoration Design Centers (And Why They’re Not What You Think)
You know what I never expected to become an expert on? Restoration design centers. But when you’re a dad trying to fix up a 1960s split-level while learning about biophilic…
I Analyzed Urban Biophilic Design Data and Found Something Interesting About Productivity in Cities
Three months ago, I found myself standing in what used to be a concrete plaza in downtown Portland, watching city workers install this pop-up forest installation. I know this sounds…
How Bringing Nature Indoors Changed Everything for My Family (And Why Every Parent Should Know This)
I was scrolling through one of those parenting forums at 2am last week (don’t judge – my son had strep and wasn’t sleeping), when I came across this incredible story…
Regenerative design process: Steps for Designers
# What I Learned About the Regenerative Design Process After Accidentally Killing My Yard So this is going to sound ridiculous, but my obsession with regenerative design started because I…
Where to Actually Learn About Bringing Nature Into Buildings (Spoiler: There’s No Single “Plant School”)
Okay, so I get this question a lot on my blog – people want to know where they can get officially trained in biophilic design. Like, is there some fancy…
Why I Stopped Hunting for the Perfect Regenerative Design PDF (And What Actually Works Instead)
Okay, so I’ve been getting DMs asking about regenerative design PDFs pretty much daily lately, and I totally understand why. When you’re trying to figure out how to make your…
Why I’m Obsessed with Buildings That Actually Heal the Planet (And Why My Tiny Apartment is Becoming a Living System)
I was scrolling through urban planning Twitter last week when I saw a thread that made me stop mid-scroll: a landscape architect talking about a housing development in Portland where…
How I Learned That Buildings Can Actually Heal Land (And Why That Matters When You’re Stuck in Tiny Urban Spaces)
I fell down this rabbit hole about regenerative building design after seeing some absolutely mind-blowing Instagram posts from people living in homes that literally improved the land around them. I…
When I Helped Transform My Friend’s Kid’s Basement Classroom (And What Happened to Test Scores)
I was dropping my friend Sarah’s daughter off at school last month when I accidentally took a wrong turn and ended up in the basement hallway of Roosevelt Elementary. Honestly?…
What I’ve Learned About Hotels That Actually Help You Feel Restored
My wife and I don’t travel as much as we used to – the mobility issues and my own arthritis make it more complicated than it once was. But when…
Regenerative design in architecture: Buildings That Restore
# When Buildings Actually Give Back – My Journey Into Regenerative Design I stumbled across this concept totally by accident. Last summer, I was procrastinating on weekend data entry work…