Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam – Global design and consulting firm B+H continues to bolster its reputation as leaders in resilient design with the addition of Jamie Miller, Director of Biomimicry. In his role, Miller will help grow B+H’s Biomimicry consulting offering on a global scale by collaborating with clients on groundbreaking projects to create new paradigms in sustainable and resilient design. Jamie will apply biomimetic design principles to projects and initiatives across the firm through close collaboration and integration with B+H’s Planning & Landscape, Architecture, Interior Design, and Advance Strategy disciplines.
Miller joins B+H from Biomimicry Frontiers, an award-winning sustainability consultancy and strategic planning firm founded by Miller in 2017 and named a “World Changing Idea” in 2019 by Fast Company for its collection of services in consulting, education, incubation, and investing. B+H has a longstanding partnership with Biomimicry Frontiers, integrating the principles of Biomimicry in its projects for several years. One of the team’s successful project collaborations is the concept master plan development for the 200-hectare Nhon Trach Hamlet Waterfront Residential in Dong Nai, Vietnam. Located in a floodplain currently used for agriculture, the site is crossed north to south and east to west with many small canals and tributaries leading to the Saigon River. Using Biomimicry as a design parameter to set the design principles for site master plan concept, the proposed plan was based on an organic grid to mimic the existing environment and ecosystem allowing for easy adaptation as uses evolve over time. The low impact approach will preserve the existing water system and water volumes – working with forces of nature and the land to promote resiliency.
As a practitioner of biomimicry, Jamie Miller questions established paradigms within the built environment. “Our designs are formed on the basis of how we interpret nature to work,” he says. “Biomimicry invites us to re-examine our existing knowledge and to determine whether our agriculture, architecture, engineering, and industry are derived from knowledge that is compatible with nature’s own.”
B+H’s investment in its Biomimicry consulting practice affirms its commitment to growing its global Sustainability + Resilience platform. As the world grapples with a slew of environmental crises, from climate change to rapid ecological degradation due to urbanisation, B+H hopes to lead by example, addressing threats head on through progressive and thoughtful design strategies that benefit nature, and society.
