Terrapin had a whirlwind 2025 and we are looking at building upon those experiences in 2026. Some highlights for Terrapin from 2025 included speaking events like Designing Wellbeing in High Point NC, Living Future in Portland, Greenbuild LA, and the Furniture Today Leadership Conference. At Greenbuild LA, the Occupant Experience session tapped into new perspectives on how the experiences of biophilia, sound, thermal comfort, light, and adaptability are folded into one mega-credit in the new LEED v5 rating system.

We taught as part of the University of Navara/Singapore National University International Week in Madrid, the IIDA Converge with Interface, the Future of Libraries Executive Education Class for Harvard GSD (details here for 2025 and 2026 events), and the Mind Body Space Global Symposium in Barcelona (details here for 2025 and 2026 events).

From left: Site tour at IIDA Interface Converge; speakers Catie Ryan of Terrapin, Marilyn Specht of Smith Group, Gail Brager of UC Berkeley and Larkin Johnson of USGBC after their Occupant Experience session at Greenbuild Los Angeles; Bill Browning and Nirmal Kishnani at International Week in Madrid with students from the National University of Singapore; and Bill Browning being interviewed at High Point.

The Biophilic Leadership Summit 2025 was perhaps the best that the Biophilic Institute has hosted to date. The event featured thought leaders like Global Wellness Summit CEO Susie Ellis, Green Heart Louisville Project lead Dr. Aruni Bhatnagar, neuroarchitecture master Tye Farrow, SHoP Architects founding principal Chris Sharples, Yale University’s Anna Dyson, UC Berkeley’s Gail Brager of the Center for the Built Environment, and many others.

In 2025, Terrapin also wrapped up our work on some long-haul projects like achieving LEED Platinum certification for supertall Merdeka 118 tower in Malaysia (2010–2025), opening the Solar 1 Environmental Education Center in New York City (2008–2025), and the Portland International Airport (PDX) Terminal Redevelopment (2016–2026).

Solar 1 Environmental Education Center by Bjarke Ingels Group, opened in 2025 on NYC’s East River in Harlem.

Our projects have continued to move the needle on sustainability and biophilic design. We coordinated a biophilic design integration strategy for the new JPMorganChase Global Headquarters in New York City and the initial planning charrette for a proposed new community at Mill Ridge Farm in Lexington. We developed biophilic design strategies with OPN Architects for the Iowa Memorial Union in Iowa City and with Texas Trees Foundation on the Harry Hines Boulevard Redevelopment in Dallas’ Southwest Medical District. We closed out 2025 with the kickoff the Aspen/Pitkin County Airport (ASE) Modernization Project with ZGF Architects.

Terrapin’s big projects wrapping up in 2025. Merdeka 118 Tower (left, courtesy Turner Construction), PDX International Airport Terminal (center left, © Ema Peter), JPMorganChase Global Headquarters (center right, courtesy JPMC), and CoStar Group Headquarters (right, courtesy Pickard Chilton).

One of our most satisfying accomplishments of 2025 was completing the manuscript for the 2^nd edition of Nature Inside, a Biophilic Design Guide. The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) is planning its release for the fall of 2026. This new edition includes new science and insights as well as some extraordinary new examples of biophilic design from around the world, including an academic study hall in a bomb shelter in Sweden, an outdoor restaurant in the undercroft of skyscraper in Australia, and a fractal chapel showered with dappled light at a hospital in Austria. We anticipate pre-ordering of the book to be available this summer.

Second edition cover to Nature Inside and new case studies for a school in South Carolina (courtesy CGD Architects), an asylum center in Cyprus (courtesy Office for the New Earth), and the Passive House Factory in British Columbia (courtesy Ema Peter).

We have learned much this past year and have had some fantastic experiences and made meaningful relationships along the way. We see 2026 as a time for advancing bioinspired design innovation to achieve biophilic and regenerative spaces and communities that are inspiring and authentic. We expect to see greater transdisciplinary design thinking and more public sector interdepartmental collaboration for creative solutions that benefit all.

Now we are on the search for new opportunities for positive impact. We love the big and small, the unique and complex, and are looking for a good challenge. Let us know if you have a project and want to collaborate!