THE ground-breaking achievements and pioneering work of Arc and Artecology has seen it scoop a national award for biodiversity.

Arc and Artecology and their corporate partners LaSalle Investment Management were awarded the top accolade at the construction industry thinktank CIRIA’s BIG Biodiversity Awards last week.

The Sandown Bay-based team’s influence and impact was recognised along with clients and university partners throughout the virtual ceremony with a hat-trick of awards including community engagement and habitat creation, for rewilding retail centres and for bringing biodiversity to marine infrastructure.

Dirk Vennix, chief executive of CIRIA, said: "We were delighted to see our independent judging panel recognised the pioneering work undertaken by Arc Consulting and Artecology.

"A triple award-winning feat is also very uncommon in our awards’ history so many congratulations are truly in order.

"The awards also reflect the consultancies’ ground-breaking achievements which have made a huge difference on a local, national and international stage."

LaSalle and Arc’s Wild Glades project was recognised for its wide-angled approach to rewilding retail, via green roofs, a pop-up natural history museum in a London shopping centre and an online biodiversity festival.

The work brought together a whole network of nature and arts experts, corporate partners and local residents, from the Biosphere, Bromley and beyond to win the Biodiversity Award for Community Engagement too.

Judges from across the industry chose Wild Glades over entries from Heathrow Airport, Siemens, Atkins and more.

Artecology’s eco-engineers and researchers at Bournemouth University’s teamwork on international research project MARINEFF was rewarded with the Biodiversity Award for Habitat Creation (Small Scale).

MARINEFF is a cross-Channel collaboration between industry-based and academic partners which explores habitat creation on manmade coastal structures.

Part of the project is cement-cast artificial rockpools, now known as Vertipools™.

Nigel George, director at Artecology, said: "It’s absolutely brilliant to share this environmental award with our academic partners at Bournemouth University Marine Sciences.

"Us folks at Arc and Artecology are delighted our Island innovation — artificial rockpools or Vertipools — have inspired and are playing such an important part in this multi-faceted international research project."