The Constructivist Regenerative Design Lab supports the transition to a regenerative built environment. Through our eight-month, programme leaders and future leaders explore the principles of regenerative design and experiment with applying them in practice.
This is a learning journey that is both explorative and transformative. We create a community of change-makers and give them the tools to make change.
Our journey so far
Since 2022, four cohorts of the Lab have explored regenerative deisgn in practice. Participants have come from across the built-environment — engineers, architects, policy-makers, local authorities and educators. Along the way we’ve:
- Developed a robust methodology and regenerative design toolset.
- Published The Pattern Book for Regenerative Design and The Regenerative Structural Engineer.
- Built an alumni community that is continuing to shape practice in their organisations and projects.
What’s next: the 2025-2026 programme
In 2025-2026, we are running three cohorts:
- Cohort 5: Hazel Hill Lab — an internal Lab for Hazel Hill Trust staff and trustees. Not open for applications, but an important demonstration of how the Lab can work for site-specific teams.
- Cohort 6: Open Lab — our core programme for professionals across the built environment. Applications open later in September for our start in Spring 2026. Full details now available.
- Cohort 7: Alumni Lab — a new programme designed for those who have already been through the Lab and want to deepen their practice. Runs Spring to Autumn 2026. Register your interest in Cohort 7
What to expect
Over 8 months, five online workshops and three residential gatherings at Hazel Hill Wood, you will:
- Unpack the principles of regenerative design
- Apply them to a live project or workplace challenge
- Explore how regenerative practice can shape your own life and work
- Reflect on the impact of your experiments with a supportive peer group
Our programmes are rooted in peer-support and practical, action-learning, blended with expert facilitation.
Hazel Hill Wood — an off-grid learning centre near Salisbury — is our hearth for the journey. Returning there three times over the programme, we connect with the forest ecosystem as both a teacher and a mirror for our work.
What you bring and what you get
What you bring
- A live project or challenge to use as a testing ground
- Curiosity, courage, and willingness to experiment
- A commitment to support and be supported by your peers
What you get
- A toolkit of regenerative design approaches you can apply immediately
- An alumni community of peers across the built environment
- Renewed clarity, resilience, and inspiration for your own regenerative practice
- A contribution to the wider field — insights from each cohort are shared openly with industry and academia
Ready to join?
- Applications for Cohort 6 & 7 open in September. Register your interest.
- Talk to us about an in-house lab.
Meet the Regenerative Design Lab facilitators
Oliver Broadbent
Co-leader.
Oliver is 1851 Fellow in Regenerative Design and founder of Constructivist. He is a writer, international speaker on creativity in engineering and an award-winning design teacher.
Ellie Osborne
Co-leader.
Ellie is a facilitator, designer, researcher, coach and collaborator who works at the intersection of innovation, systems thinking, future trends and learning design.
Previous cohorts
Since we launched the Regenerative Design Lab in 2022, we have welcomed a wide range of built-environment professionals to the programme, including participants from: Architects Declare, Arup, Beep Studio, Buro Happold, DEFRA, Engineers Without Borders UK, Elliott Wood, Essex County Council, Expedition, GLA, Hawkins Brown, IStructE, Piers for the Planet, Price and Myers, Ramboll, Robert Bird, Sheffield Council, Studio Dash, UCL, UKGBC, University of Bath, University of Bristol, WSP and YesMake.
- Cohort 1 (2022): Piloted the Lab with 19 leaders and future leaders from engineering and construction → Read the Cohort 1 report
- Cohort 2 (2023): Developed and tested our Lab methodology and toolkit for explaining key principles in regenerative design→ Read the Cohort 2 report
- Cohort 3 (2023–24): Explored the intersection of policy and regenerative design → Read the Cohort 3 report
- Cohort 4 (2024–25): In partnership with Chatham House, focused on creating policy that delivers regenerative design → Read updates from Cohort 4.
With gratitude…
We are grateful to an array of friends, partners and allies that have made The Regenerative Design Lab possible.
Chatham House Sustainability Accelerator
Delivery partner for Regenerative Design Lab Cohort 4.
Engineers without Borders UK
The development and delivery of the Regenerative Design lab is supported by Engineers Without Borders UK
Hazel Hill Wood
We are grateful to the team at Hazel Hill Wood who create such a creative and inspirational environment for our residential sessions.
Royal Commission 1851
The design and development of the Regenerative Design Lab is funded through the support of the Royal Commission for the Great Exhibition of 1851.