Regenesis Group [ case studies ]

LORETO BAY VILLAGES
Baja California Sur, MX
Loreto Bay Company; Trust for Sustainable Development

A 6,000 unit eco-resort and mixed-use community development on the estuary in the Sea of Cortez, south of Loreto. The project is a multiparty project involving private developers, the Mexican Government, and the aquatic park declared along the coast. Regenesis’ work has focused on working with the design, construction and marketing teams to insure that the development is done in a way that supports the health of both the human community (through economic and agricultural development) and the natural systems that attract people here. An Integrative Assessment and story of place has been the basis of developing design, strategy, and practice approaches that will address the multiple needs and parties in holistic ways.

The original FONATUR master plan sited several of the development phases on an eroding and degraded estuary. The estuary lay between the mountains and the sea, and in the past had been a pivotal factor in maintaining the health and abundance of both the marine and terrestrial systems. As it degraded, it became instead a source of deteriorating health.

Regenesis’ Integral Assessment® and Story of Place helped the design team understand the critical importance of regenerating the estuary. We helped the team redesign the affected phases so that they served to both restore and enhance the critical functions of the estuary, while creating a human environment so appealing that sales in these phases soared. When completed, this regenerated estuary is projected to produce 500 metric tons of fish per hectare in an area where marine life had almost disappeared.

Services:

Integral Assessment® and Story of Place
Agricultural and Watershed Restoration Consultation
Regenerative Planning and Design Consultation to revitalize the water and healthy diversity of the ecosystem that had devolved into a drylands over the last 300 years
Community engagement strategies
Integrative Design Consultation

CENTRAL PARK
McAllen, Texas
Henry Miller Sustainable Partners/Trust for Sustainable Development
Preliminary Integral Assessment®, Story of Place, Design Principles and Planning Consultation

The City of McAllen is a thriving, business-oriented city in the “Rio-plex”—the delta area that extends north and south of the Rio Grande. The City wanted to revitalize its urban core to better reflect its current status and future direction as a leader in the area, but without losing connection to its heritage. To that end, they wanted to create a mixed-use project (on a 67+ acre downtown site of an old reservoir) that would be an attractor point and an authentic reflection of its unique character. To provide a foundation for that work, Regenesis developed a “Story of Place” for McAllen and the Lower Rio Grande Valley, which was presented at the beginning of a five-day master planning charrette. The story enabled the design team, which had flown in at the beginning of the charrette, to connect to and understand the distinctive character and dynamics of McAllen and the region—the people and the land. And it served as a unifying and inspiring context, as well as an organizing core for the creative work of the charrette.

In its field research and community interviews, Regenesis looked for where ecological and human patterns mirrored each other as a way to begin to understand the core or essence that distinguishes McAllen and the larger region, and that needed to be reflected in the planning and design of Central Park.

While stories are thought of as narratives, every story has a core framework behind the narrative that organizes the unfolding of the relationships within it. Regenesis developed a story framework as a means of depicting the interrelated core elements at the heart of the story of this place. This became the basis for the critical design guidelines and planning concepts that shaped the project masterplan.

As noted in the presentation to the community and design team, “A shared story framework—one developed out of a deepening understanding of place, enables us to create our own stories within it. It is a means for keeping the storying process alive in how we shape our community, define our identity and determine what we are uniquely able to contribute. It emerged out of understanding the patterns of relationship that have shaped and are shaping this place.”

Willow School
Bedminster, NJ

Integral Assessment® and Story of Place
Green consulting for treatment wetlands, soil regeneration, green building techniques
Integration of environmental thinking within the school’s curriculum
Advanced regenerative design and curriculum development consulting to integrate the activities of the school with the watershed, community, and parents

The Willow School is a K-8 private school. Its development was initially met with horror in the semi-rural upscale community where it was proposed. Neighbors soon saw, however how the process included them and would further their goals of restoring the ecological health of their area. Through engagement in the “Story of Place” development as well as the design process they saw that both the physical development and on-going place based educational processes would develop a community with the knowledge and caring to live in that place in a restorative way.

VIEW ADDITIONAL CASE STUDIES » [ 2MB PDF ]





Regenesis partnering people and their place to regenerate ecosystems and the human spirit "By seeing the ultimate aim of all our work as the regeneration and evolution of increasingly vital, viable and inspiriting places, we not only create extraordinary designs, we become more fully human.” Design Intelligence article, 2001	LORETO BAY VILLAGES Baja California Sur, MX Loreto Bay Company; Trust for Sustainable Development A 6,000 unit eco-resort and mixed-use community development on the estuary in the Sea of Cortez, south of Loreto. The project is a multiparty project involving private developers, the Mexican Government, and the aquatic park declared along the coast. Regenesis’ work has focused on working with the design, construction and marketing teams to insure that the development is done in a way that supports the health of both the human community (through economic and agricultural development) and the natural systems that attract people here. An Integrative Assessment and story of place has been the basis of developing design, strategy, and practice approaches that will address the multiple needs and parties in holistic ways. The original FONATUR master plan sited several of the development phases on an eroding and degraded estuary. The estuary lay between the mountains and the sea, and in the past had been a pivotal factor in maintaining the health and abundance of both the marine and terrestrial systems. As it degraded, it became instead a source of deteriorating health. Regenesis’ Integral Assessment® and Story of Place helped the design team understand the critical importance of regenerating the estuary. We helped the team redesign the affected phases so that they served to both restore and enhance the critical functions of the estuary, while creating a human environment so appealing that sales in these phases soared. When completed, this regenerated estuary is projected to produce 500 metric tons of fish per hectare in an area where marine life had almost disappeared. Services: Integral Assessment® and Story of Place Agricultural and Watershed Restoration Consultation Regenerative Planning and Design Consultation to revitalize the water and healthy diversity of the ecosystem that had devolved into a drylands over the last 300 years Community engagement strategies Integrative Design Consultation CENTRAL PARK McAllen, Texas Henry Miller Sustainable Partners/Trust for Sustainable Development Preliminary Integral Assessment®, Story of Place, Design Principles and Planning Consultation The City of McAllen is a thriving, business-oriented city in the “Rio-plex”—the delta area that extends north and south of the Rio Grande. The City wanted to revitalize its urban core to better reflect its current status and future direction as a leader in the area, but without losing connection to its heritage. To that end, they wanted to create a mixed-use project (on a 67+ acre downtown site of an old reservoir) that would be an attractor point and an authentic reflection of its unique character. To provide a foundation for that work, Regenesis developed a “Story of Place” for McAllen and the Lower Rio Grande Valley, which was presented at the beginning of a five-day master planning charrette. The story enabled the design team, which had flown in at the beginning of the charrette, to connect to and understand the distinctive character and dynamics of McAllen and the region—the people and the land. And it served as a unifying and inspiring context, as well as an organizing core for the creative work of the charrette. In its field research and community interviews, Regenesis looked for where ecological and human patterns mirrored each other as a way to begin to understand the core or essence that distinguishes McAllen and the larger region, and that needed to be reflected in the planning and design of Central Park. While stories are thought of as narratives, every story has a core framework behind the narrative that organizes the unfolding of the relationships within it. Regenesis developed a story framework as a means of depicting the interrelated core elements at the heart of the story of this place. This became the basis for the critical design guidelines and planning concepts that shaped the project masterplan. As noted in the presentation to the community and design team, “A shared story framework—one developed out of a deepening understanding of place, enables us to create our own stories within it. It is a means for keeping the storying process alive in how we shape our community, define our identity and determine what we are uniquely able to contribute. It emerged out of understanding the patterns of relationship that have shaped and are shaping this place.” Willow School Bedminster, NJ Integral Assessment® and Story of Place Green consulting for treatment wetlands, soil regeneration, green building techniques Integration of environmental thinking within the school’s curriculum Advanced regenerative design and curriculum development consulting to integrate the activities of the school with the watershed, community, and parents The Willow School is a K-8 private school. Its development was initially met with horror in the semi-rural upscale community where it was proposed. Neighbors soon saw, however how the process included them and would further their goals of restoring the ecological health of their area. Through engagement in the “Story of Place” development as well as the design process they saw that both the physical development and on-going place based educational processes would develop a community with the knowledge and caring to live in that place in a restorative way. VIEW ADDITIONAL CASE STUDIES » [ 2MB PDF ]