<p>Phenomena such as industrialisation and urbanisation
</p><p>are associated with the built environment. Both contribute to
</p><p>pollution of urban soil, water and air in various ways. This in turn
</p><p>contributes in part to climate change and biodiversity loss. It
</p><p>is therefore the responsibility of the built environment, and the
</p><p>professionals associated with its design and functioning, to
</p><p>remediate the aforementioned effects.
</p><p>This research investigates the spatial arrangement of
</p><p>bioremediation techniques (the process of using fungus,
</p><p>bacteria, and plants to break down and purify environmental
</p><p>pollutants) within architecture in order to remediate brownfield
</p><p>sites to a state where they contribute to a regenerative built
</p><p>environment.
</p><p>This investigation utilises a design-led research approach
</p><p>of examining the spatial arrangement of bioremediation
</p><p>techniques within architecture and proposes a series of design
</p><p>interventions at one of New Zealand’s most contaminated
</p><p>sites. This research proposes practical methods of applying
</p><p>restoration design to remediate brownfield sites to move
</p><p>towards a regenerative development model. The land and
</p><p>waterways that make up brownfield sites should be celebrated
</p><p>for their ecological significance, and remediated, rather than
</p><p>ignored so as to build positive human-nature relationships.
</p><p>Research findings include that bioremediation and
</p><p>architecture cannot exist separately if brownfield site
</p><p>remediation and development is to contribute to a regenerative
</p><p>built environment. It is critical to use architecture itself as one
</p><p>means of educating users about the ecological processes
</p><p>of brownfield site bioremediation. This is important in order
</p><p>to establish a stewardship role within individuals and local
</p><p>communities as a way to work towards the protection and
</p><p>successful restoration of these degraded sites. This research
</p><p>also found that the restoration of brownfield sites towards
</p><p>regenerative development requires architecture and built
</p><p>environment infrastructure to be adaptive to future climate
</p><p>change conditions. The bioremediation techniques examined
</p><p>in this research could be used to retrofit existing buildings and
</p><p>designed into new additions and/or retrofits so that architecture
</p><p>can adapt to climate change impacts, particularly sea-level rise
</p><p>and increased storm surge.</p>
Synchrotron micro-scale measurement of metal distributions in Phragmites australis and Typha latifolia root tissue from an urban brownfield site
