Paradise Found: Annual Summit 2025 recap

Last week, we welcomed nearly 300 attendees and participants to our fourth Built by Nature Annual Summit, held for the first time outside the Netherlands. We were absolutely thrilled by the turnout, the diversity of voices, and the depth of representation from across the sector and across Europe. From our six network countries – Netherlands, UK, France, Germany, Spain, and Italy -to partners and prize winners joining from Singapore, Australia, the US, Kenya, and Brazil, the summit truly embodied the global momentum behind building in harmony with nature.

This year’s event was hosted in a very special building: Paradise, a project by one of our UK frontrunners and also one of the commended projects in this year’s Built by Nature Prize. A giant thank you to Bywater for hosting us. We invite everyone to learn more about this inspiring building.

Discover Paradise

Day 1: Celebrating progress and connection

We kicked off the summit with four biobased city tours across London, each offering a unique lens on how the city is embracing regenerative materials and design. (More on those soon!)

Back at the venue, we celebrated the progress made across our networks with the premiere of our new Network Video, and introduced a new tradition: the Frontrunner of the Year Award, awarded to the inspiring team at dRMM; congratulations again!

dRMM wins Frontrunner of the Year Award

Day 2: Honouring global excellence and deepening dialogue

The main conference day began with a powerful “state of the union” from Paul King, reflecting on the collective achievements of organisations, businesses, and changemakers working to realise a built environment in harmony with nature. His 360-degree view reminded us how far we’ve come, and how much potential lies ahead.

Paul and co-host, Prize judge and Head of Sustainability at LaSalle Investment Joelle Chen then announced the winners and commendations of this year’s Built by Nature Prize, celebrating buildings around the world that best embody the Principles for Responsible Timber Construction. These projects are not just beautiful—they are bold, practical demonstrations of what’s possible when we align design with ecological responsibility.

See all Winners and Commendations

In the afternoon, we split into two deep-dive sessions: one focused on our Prize Winners, offering a chance to explore their projects in detail and understand the innovations behind them. The other spotlighted our European Networks in Germany, Italy, Spain, and the Netherlands. Led by our network leads, these sessions brought together local leaders to share what’s happening on the ground, discuss barriers and opportunities, and showcase success stories that can inspire others across borders.

See detailed programme with speakers

Together, we are a movement

We closed the day with Paul once more, who invited us to entertain a powerful thought experiment: what if we were not just one industry, but perhaps one organisation, a multinational with branches across the world. What if this summit is our annual organisational gathering? He challenged us to think differently about how we share knowledge and collaborate. Could colleagues in Germany help those in France tackle similar challenges? Might Spain’s successes offer insights for the UK or the Netherlands? The energy in the room was undeniable. Cross-sector and international connections were forming everywhere. The sense of shared purpose was uplifting. And the evidence of progress, real, tangible, inspiring progress, was all around us.

We left the summit energised, united, and more committed than ever to building a future where the built environment works in harmony with nature. A massive thank you to everyone who joined us, participated, and engaged. Together, we are a movement across Europe and the world that can truly drive biobased building into the mainstream.