When Expedia, the online travel group, built their headquarters in Seattle they hired Surfacedesigns to restore and incorporate nature as a big part of the development. This meant two bays filled with garbage had to be replaced with new soil for reseeding of natural growth. There is a
shift in the view of developers in so much as they are not just preserving nature but, in some cases, restoring it according to the founding partners of Surfacedesigns. The waterfront was to have a bike path, a soccer field and driftwood benches to view the ocean. The aim of Expedia was to move away from a manicured look to one of a more natural setting. Similar projects are under way along the Brooklyn waterfront where a pair of high-rises “River Ring” will include tidal pools and marshes to encourage herons. In the Rockaways a nature preserve is to be created from an old parking lot. Many developers now feel it is their duty to build responsibly which means working with and around nature.