Transforming our cities into forests

A growing population puts increasing pressure on biodiversity. Intensive land use and urban development — driven by demand for high-density housing — continue to destroy habitat corridors, creating isolated habitat islands within our cities.  Urban footprints have significant implications for air and water quality and for the capacity of our cities to remain hospitable as healthy ecosystems.

The global effort to improve urban environments necessitates an eco-anthropocentric approach to architectural and urban planning.

To address this, Eco Shield Systems Pty Ltd has developed two integrated façade systems specifically designed for the urban landscape, which leverage biophilic design principles and emerging technologies to provide opportunities for shading, porosity and a thriving ecosystem.

The Eco Shield System (ESS) is an architectural system that acts as a multifunctional, shading façade that can retrofit commercial and residential dwellings. The ESS is the supportive infrastructure for its biological component, the Living Eco Shield System (L-ESS), which is specifically designed to create sophisticated habitat for fauna.

The multilayered façade system facilitates an integrated living ecosystem through the synthesis of built and natural (life) forms that perform specific functions. Its porous, vegetated screen allows for the movement of air, water, and fauna whilst supporting plant growth. Using smart irrigation systems that have integrated sensor and actuator technology it acts as a water management system, harvesting and redistributing rainwater. It reduces the heat load on buildings (mitigating energy consumption through decreased reliance on air-conditioning), reduces urban heat island effect, improves air quality and, through biosequestration, functions as a carbon capture and storage system. By design, the system mimics the complex and layered canopy structures of undergrowth and mid-level canopy systems to reconnect and extend bird corridors and support other wildlife, allowing for the reconnection of habitat corridors across a city.  If applied at scale, it has the potential to increase biodiversity and the rapid rewilding of urban environments.

The Eco Shield System and Living Eco Shield System are technologies for the rewilding of urban spaces. By synthesising architecture, ecology and habitat, and reimaging the relationships between dwelling and nature, they enable intimate engagement and a shared future for flora, fauna and human beings.

PATENT: WO 2021/237294 A1