Biodiversity as a project lever
The School of Biodiversity project in Boulogne reminds us of an obvious fact that real estate too often forgets: living things are not a criterion for conformity. It's a slow, dynamic, uncertain system. The role of a methodological framework is not to freeze this complexity, but to make it possible. At IRICE, we've chosen to do just that.
1. Life is not a layer, but a logic
What the experience of the school designed by ChartierDalix and supported by AREP shows is that integrating living things means accepting their own temporality. Soil, light, plant succession, water and maintenance cycles cannot be decreed.
The project takes note of this reality. It does not seek to apply a technical solution, but to create the conditions for its appearance. The living becomes a component of the urban fabric, not an afterthought.
2. The risk of a paradoxical injunction
Faced with this, regulatory logic and overly prescriptive standards can become obstacles. Designers are asked to "make things live", while at the same time imposing construction deadlines, impact thresholds or instantaneous indicators.
The result: projects that green up, but don't take root. Visible efforts but no continuity. Ornamental planting that's not environmentally friendly enough.
3. Another approach: tools without constraints
At IRICE, we have made a clear commitment:
- Effinature aims to structure projects subject to environmental compliance requirements, without ever fixing the way to achieve them.
- The Biodiversity Performance Score qualifies a project according to its ability to integrate living things in a contextual, realistic and sustainable way.
In both cases, we provide the players with tools, without modeling the living world. We set thresholds, conditions and indicators, but leave room for the project's ecological strategy.
4. Accompanying transformation without assisting it
We don't provide advice, consultancy or support. But we do work to ensure that players have a clear framework that can be mobilized at every stage of the project, even when conditions change.
In our view, this is the legitimate role of a certifier: to give projects the chance to last, not to tick boxes.
Conclusion
At a time when we're talking about islands of freshness, living soil and ecological continuity, it's essential to remember that measurement can't get ahead of living things.
It must draw inspiration from them. Certification too.