Category: News

Posted on

What to Do When You’re Stuck – Turning the Kalideascope in Conceptual Design

This week, we delivered Session 3 of our Introduction to Conceptual Design for Structural Engineers, part of the ongoing programme we run with the Institution of Structural Engineers (IStructE).

In this session, we explored what happens when design thinking gets stuck. When initial ideas run out, when the first solution doesn’t quite fit, or when you hit a creative block — what do you do next?

The answer: you turn the Kalideascope.

Turning the Kalideascope is about deliberately shifting perspective to unlock new ideas. We introduced two practical techniques:
• Ask What If — to reframe problems, imagine alternatives, and expand possibilities.
• Professional Palette — using familiar structural forms as creative prompts for rapid ideation.

We also explored the distinction between conceptual design and detailed design, recognising that the early concept phase is the time for quick experimentation and testing, even when information is incomplete.

The session closed with the key question:

How do you know if an idea is a good one?
The answer lies in defining clear tests linked to the brief — giving designers a structured way to evaluate their early-stage ideas.

We’ll wrap up the series next week with Session 4, where we’ll bring these tools together into a structured design process.

Read more about our Introduction to Conceptual Design for Structural Engineers course.

Find out more
Posted on

Exploring Ecosystem Intelligence in Design and Critical Thinking

This week, we delivered the next module in our Critical Thinking series: Ecosystem Intelligence.

As we navigate ever more complex systems—whether in infrastructure, urban development, or organisational change—we need better ways to understand what helps systems thrive. For this, we can look to the living world itself. Ecosystem intelligence invites us to learn from nature’s patterns of interconnection, symbiosis, and adaptability.

In this workshop, we explored:

  • What thriving looks like in living systems and how these principles can inform design and decision-making.
  • How to recognise patterns of flow, exchange, and feedback in the systems we work with.
  • The importance of designing for continuous learning and adaptation, rather than static solutions.

Using the Living Systems Blueprint as a guide, participants reflected on how these ideas apply to their own projects and professional contexts. The session offered a chance to step back, rethink projects and approach complex challenges with a systems-thinking mindset.

This workshop builds on the ideas from The Regenerative Structural Engineer and forms part of a broader journey through critical thinking for design professionals.

Critical Thinking for Engineers (and other humans)

This module is part of our critical thinking programme. Find out about other modules in the programme

Find out more
Posted on

Join us for the London launch of The Pattern Book for Regenerative Design

We’re delighted to announce the London launch event for The Pattern Book for Regenerative Design — happening on Wednesday 19th June, 6–7.30pm at the Society Building in Clerkenwell.

This is an evening for engineers, designers and other humans who want to help shift the construction industry, one project at a time.

Oliver Broadbent will give a short talk about the book: how it emerged from the Regenerative Design Lab, why it matters, and how you can use it in practice. There’ll be copies available to purchase and sign.

The event is free to attend — but places are limited. Feel free to bring a friend who would enjoy this work.

Register here – and bring a friend too!

Come along, connect with fellow practitioners, and celebrate the next step in this growing community.

Posted on

Exploring Policy and Place – a Regenerative Design Gathering at Chatham House

On 7 May, we brought together members from all four cohorts of the Regenerative Design Lab, along with a wider group of thinkers, policymakers and practitioners, for a special event at Chatham House. Titled Regenerative Design: Exploring Policy and Place, the event explored how regenerative ideas are finding momentum across construction, policy, and planning. The event was also the final one in the most recent cycle of the Regenerative Design Lab, which we have been running in partnership with the Sustainability Accelerator at Chatham House

With keynote provocations, a panel of leading voices, and conversation corners during the event, we asked:

Where is regenerative design already working? What are the breakthroughs and challenges? And how do we scale this thinking into real, local action?

We heard from:

  • Joel de Mowbray (Yes Make) on circular construction
  • Rachel Fisher on regenerative thinking in national policy
  • Joe Jack Williams on 100-year business planning
  • Rahul Patalia on regenerative masterplanning
  • Rowan Conway drawing together the implications of regenerative design for policy

The day also marked the first public preview of the Pattern Book for Regenerative Design, offering practicable tools for those looking to deepen their practice.

We’ll share more reflections and write up the day more fully once we’ve had time to digest the many conversations and connections that emerged. For now, a huge thank you to everyone who joined us—and to Chatham House for hosting.

Posted on

Today’s webinar — Gathering inputs for the creative process

Today we ran Session 2 of our Introduction to Conceptual Design for Structural Engineers, part of the ongoing programme we deliver through the Institution of Structural Engineers. Titled Filling the Kalideascope, this session focused on how to gather and organise the raw material that fuels early-stage design thinking.

The heart of the session was our Kalideascope model—a tool we use to help engineers (and other humans) structure creative thinking by collecting information, questions, and ideas in parallel. Participants explored how real breakthroughs often come not from solving the brief, but from widening it—bringing in unexpected inputs, hidden tensions, and emerging possibilities.

There was a particular moment of shared recognition when we asked: “Who here takes photos of structural details on holiday?”—a seemingly simple question that lit up the conversation and revealed how much creative thinking is already happening, often unconsciously.

Participants shared sources of inspiration ranging from childhood cartoons to precedents in industry, highlighting what we call information over time—inputs that are gathered slowly and personally, long before the design brief arrives.

One participant returned from the coffee break and said, “I’m starting to have lots of questions now.” It reinforced a core theme of the session: sometimes the best thinking happens when we’re away from our desks.

We closed by asking everyone to sketch and place their ideas into the Kalideascope. As always, the act of drawing unlocked new lines of thought. Even moments of being stuck became teachable—reminders that conceptual design is as much about navigating uncertainty as it is about generating ideas.

Up next week: what to do when your thinking gets stuck, and how to use constraints and structure to get things flowing again.

Posted on

Critical Thinking — Learning from Experienced Designers

As part of our Critical Thinking Training Programme, we offer an optional module where participants learn directly from the experiences of senior designers and leaders.

Rather than relying solely on theoretical models, we invite experienced practitioners to talk openly about how they approach critical thinking in complex, real-world situations. Through a series of interviews, they share the tools, strategies, and experience they draw on when observing, analysing, deciding, and communicating in real project environments.

Continue reading “Critical Thinking — Learning from Experienced Designers”
Posted on

Kicking Off a New Round of Critical Thinking Training

Today we launched a new round of our Critical Thinking Training Programme, designed to help teams make better decisions in a world of complexity, ambiguity and change.

The first session introduced core concepts that will run through the programme: from the evolution of the knowledge worker to the shifting organisational contexts in which people now operate. We explored how traditional, rational approaches to decision-making are no longer enough — and why today’s leaders need to tap into more diverse forms of insight, including systems thinking, emotional intelligence, and even intuition.

Continue reading “Kicking Off a New Round of Critical Thinking Training”
Posted on

Designing experiments in policy change – lessons from RDL Cohort 4 Session 6 hosted at Chatham House

On February 4th, our current cohort of the Regenerative Design Lab returned to Chatham House London. In this session hosted by our delivery partners, the Chatham House Sustainability Accelerator, our aim was to deepen understanding of system change, policy change and the Ambition Loop model.

Continue reading “Designing experiments in policy change – lessons from RDL Cohort 4 Session 6 hosted at Chatham House”
Posted on

Exploring Regenerative Design with Hawkins Brown

On 30th January 2025, Oliver delivered the keynote for Hawkins Brown’s Regenerative Design Research Week, bringing together ideas on how regenerative design can reshape architectural practice.

As the final session in a week-long series of talks and workshops, this keynote helped tie together discussions on regenerative approaches in architecture. The session explored how organisations can map their activities against larger systems of change and provided practical frameworks for embedding regenerative principles into design practice.

Continue reading “Exploring Regenerative Design with Hawkins Brown”
Posted on

How to have ideas – workshop for DYSE

On 29th January 2025, we ran our ‘How to Have Ideas’ workshop with DYSE Structural Engineers in Manchester, exploring the creative process in design and how engineers can generate and test ideas effectively.

Building a Creative Toolkit

The session focused on:

  • Understanding a design brief as a flexible starting point for creativity.
  • Using our Kalideascope model to explore where ideas come from.
  • Testing and refining ideas through models and structured evaluation.
Continue reading “How to have ideas – workshop for DYSE”