Terreform One
Terreform ONE is a Brooklyn-based 501(c)(3) nonprofit architecture and urban research group founded in 2006 that develops living-architecture, biotech, and ecological-design projects for governments, cultural institutions, museums, and real estate developers, funded via grants, sponsorships, and commissions.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2006
- HeadquartersNew York, United States
- Headcount11–50
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingServices
What Terreform One does
Terreform ONE is a Brooklyn-based 501(c)(3) nonprofit architecture, art, and urban research organization founded in 2006 and dedicated to combating species extinction through ecological design. It operates from the Brooklyn Navy Yard with 11–50 employees and develops proprietary projects at the intersection of architecture, biotechnology, and environmental systems, including living grafted tree structures (Fab Tree Hab), butterfly-integrated commercial buildings (Monarch Sanctuary), biologically driven Styrofoam decomposition (Bio-Informatic Digester), edible insect farming (Cricket Shelter), DNA-encoded kelp archives (Coding Plants), and patented modular smart-curb infrastructure (Curb Charger/Evercurb). Its underlying technology combines computational design, advanced digital fabrication, living materials, and engineered biological systems.
The organization is funded primarily through grants from federal and state arts agencies (NEA, NYSCA), philanthropy (Bloomberg Philanthropies, Ove Arup Foundation, RNR Foundation), corporate sponsorship (Intel, BASF, Art Works for Change), and individual giving via membership and donations. Projects are commissioned by government bodies, cultural institutions, museums, and real estate developers, and reach audiences through high-visibility international exhibitions including the Venice Architecture Biennale, Cooper Hewitt Design Triennial, Art Basel Miami, and the American Museum of Natural History. Supplemental revenue streams include book sales (Design with Life, XXL-XS, Global Design, Super Cells) and the T1 Fellowship / ONE Lab School education program.
Its customer base spans government agencies and municipalities, cultural institutions and museums, real estate developers, corporate sponsors, and academic collaborators. The go-to-market is event-driven and community-led: projects are acquired through exhibition visibility, grant competitions, institutional partnerships, and direct outreach, with no public pricing and a nonprofit pricing model. Leadership transitioned in September 2025 with the appointment of Mark Chambers as Executive Director, succeeding founding ED Vivian Kuan.
Terreform One firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Terreform One
- Legal name
- Terreform ONE Corp.
- Website
- https://terreform.org
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2006
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 11–50 employees
- Short description
- Terreform ONE is a Brooklyn-based 501(c)(3) nonprofit architecture and urban research group founded in 2006 that develops living-architecture, biotech, and ecological-design projects for governments, cultural institutions, museums, and real estate developers, funded via grants, sponsorships, and commissions.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Terreform One industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Ecological Architecture Design Services
- NAICS
- Architectural, Engineering, and Related Services (5413), Other Specialized Design Services (54149), Landscape Architectural Services (54132)
- SIC
- Services-Engineering Services (8711), Services-Commercial Physical & Biological Research (8731)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Landscape Architecture & Site Design (BPAHAKAC)
- akta.pro secondary industry
- Community Engagement & Participatory Planning (BPAHAKAO)
Keywords
Where Terreform One is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- New York
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices1 record
Markets served
Terreform One business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Supply Chain, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure
Revenue model
- Grants and Foundation Funding: Terreform ONE operates as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit receiving grants from government agencies (NEA, NYSCA) and private foundations (Ove Arup Foundation, RNR Foundation) to fund research and project development.
- Client-Commissioned Design Projects: Government agencies, cultural institutions, and corporate clients commission specific projects such as public art installations, architectural concepts, and research reports.
- Publications Sales: Sale of books co-authored by leadership including Design with Life, XXL-XS: New Directions in Ecological Design, and Super Cells through publishers like Actar, Prestel, and Amazon.
- Membership and Individual Giving: Membership program offering project previews, event discounts, and access. Individual donations support the T1 Fellowship program.
- Corporate Giving: Corporate sponsors engage with Terreform ONE through sponsorships of specific projects (e.g., Intel, BASF for Monarch Sanctuary; Art Works for Change for Cricket Shelter).
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Subscription | Annual | General Membership |
| Subscription | Annual | T1 Fellowship |
Go-to-market motion2 records
Distribution channels4 records
Marketing channels7 records
Terreform One product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Terreform ONE is a nonprofit design research group that conceives, develops, and commissions ecological architecture, public art installations, biotech-integrated built environments, and urban design research for governments, cultural institutions, developers, and corporate sponsors. The organization sells commissioned design projects (e.g., Fab Tree Hab, Monarch Sanctuary, Bio-Informatic Digester, Coding Plants), professional services (Environmental Master Planning, Biophilic Design, Engineered Living Materials, Urban Resilience Consulting, Urban Analytics, Mobility Solutions), educational fellowships (ONE Lab / T1 Fellowship), and publications.
Product overview
Terreform ONE is a national nonprofit architecture, art, and urban research group dedicated to combating species extinction through pioneering ecological design. The organization offers a diverse portfolio of projects and services centered on sustainable architecture, biotechnology integration, and environmental systems. Core products include built projects like the Fab Tree Hab (living tree structure), Monarch Sanctuary (butterfly-friendly building), Bio-Informatic Digester (biodegradation system), Cricket Shelter (edible insect farm), Plug-In Ecology (urban farm pod), Curb Charger/Evercurb (smart city infrastructure), Ghost Netscape (ocean pollution art), Puffed Rice Bales (edible architecture), Coding Plants (DNA-encoded kelp archive), and Butterfly Feeders. Services encompass environmental master planning, biophilic design, engineered living materials, urban resilience consulting, urban analytics, and mobility solutions. The ONE Lab school provides educational fellowship programs. The portfolio emphasizes socio-ecological approaches combining advanced digital fabrication, ecosystems integration, and living materials.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- Fab Tree Hab
- Monarch Sanctuary
- Bio-Informatic Digester
- Cricket Shelter
- Plug-In Ecology
- Curb Charger (Evercurb)
- Ghost Netscape
- Puffed Rice Bales
- Coding Plants
- Butterfly Feeders
- Post Carbon City
- Environmental Master Planning
- Biophilic Design Services
- Engineered Living Materials
- Urban Resilience Consulting
- Urban Analytics + Smart Systems
- Mobility Solutions
- ONE Lab School / T1 Fellowship
Quantifiable outcome
- 100,000 mealworms consume a cubic meter of polystyrene per month in the Bio-Informatic Digester
- +2 more outcomes
Companies that use Terreform One
Customer profileNamed customers6 records
Segments5 records
Ideal customer profiles4 records
Terreform One technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Integration1 record
Feature7 records
Terreform One partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
13 partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.
- Evercurb LLCcoreCo-development partnership for the Curb Charger / Evercurb system, a patented modular curb infrastructure that distributes power and data connectivity at street level. Evercurb LLC operates as the commercial entity for the technology.
- Art Works for ChangeminorSponsor of Cricket Shelter, the modular edible insect farm project presented at Art Basel Miami, supporting sustainable food systems and architectural innovation.
- NYU GallatincoreAcademic partner providing institutional support, research collaboration, and sponsorship for multiple projects including Coding Plants at Venice Biennale and the School of the Earth program.
- SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry (SUNY ESF)minorAgricultural and biomass partner for Fab Tree Hab, providing willow tree biomass sourced from a local renewable energy farm for the living structure.
- Robert Silman Associates Structural EngineersminorStructural engineering partner for Fab Tree Hab and Coding Plants projects, providing engineering expertise for the living structures and complex architectural installations.
- Arch Production and Design LLCminorFabrication partner for Fab Tree Hab, producing the structural components and assembly of the living architecture.
- GreenCastle Building Solutions, LLCminorBuilding solutions partner contributing to Fab Tree Hab construction and implementation.
- Oslo School of Architecture and DesignminorAcademic sponsor for Coding Plants project at the 2025 Venice Biennale, contributing to the international research collaboration.
- RheinMain University of Applied SciencesminorAcademic sponsor for Coding Plants project at the 2025 Venice Biennale of Architecture.
- WE-DESIGNS (Wendy W. Fok)minorDesign collaborator on Coding Plants project contributing to the Venice Biennale installation.
- New York Botanics (Sebastian S. Cocioba)coreScience partner leading the molecular encoding work for Coding Plants, developing the amino acid sequence and DNA synthesis for embedding architectural information in kelp DNA.
- TYLinminorStructural engineering partner for Coding Plants project at Venice Biennale, providing engineering support for the kelp reef installation.
- Black Rock Forest ConsortiumminorLocal stakeholder partner for Fab Tree Hab, contributing to community engagement and ecological research around the New Windsor site.
Scale indicators5 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights5 records
Terreform One competitors and assessment
Company assessmentRegional players
- SHoP Architects: NYC-based architecture firm with innovative and technology-driven design practice. Comparable as a peer New York architecture studio with strong institutional and developer client base.
Broad incumbents
- Snøhetta: Global architecture and design firm with deep sustainability and landscape integration focus. Comparable as a larger incumbent also working on ecological and landscape-driven architectural commissions.
- Heatherwick Studio: London-based experimental design studio working across architecture, public art, and installations. Comparable in its public-facing, mission-driven, often nature-themed commissions (e.g., Learning Hub, Coal Drops Yard).
- Studio Gang (Jeanne Gang): Established architecture practice with strong sustainability and biophilic design portfolio. Comparable as a broader ecological-architecture peer with significantly greater commercial scale.
Direct peers
- ecoLogicStudio: London-based architecture and design practice working at the intersection of biology, computation, and urban ecology. Comparable for its integration of living systems (algae, mycelium) into architectural and public-space design.
- The Living (David Benjamin): NYC-based biotech architecture studio that pioneered living materials and computational design. Most directly comparable as a peer combining architecture practice with bio-design experimentation (e.g., Hy-Fi mushroom tower at MoMA PS1).
- Jenny Sabin Studio: Cornell-based architecture and design practice working with computational and living materials, including knitted and biological structures. Comparable niche overlap with Terreform ONE's living-materials experimentation.
Others
- Buckminster Fuller Institute: Nonprofit dedicated to advancing design science and visionary ecological architecture. Thematically comparable as a similarly small, mission-driven design-research nonprofit with comparable scale and grant-funded model.
- Biomimicry Institute: Nonprofit promoting nature-inspired design across industries. Thematically adjacent as a mission-driven organization advancing ecological design and biomimetic thinking, though focused on education rather than built projects.
Emerging players
- Bio-Integrated Design Lab (UCL Bartlett): Academic research lab at UCL applying biological growth and behavior to architectural design. Comparable for its bio-design research output and intersection with built-work prototyping.
Market position
Strengths4 records
Weaknesses4 records
Competitive moat4 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
Terreform One social profiles
Digital presenceTerreform One financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Terreform One leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles3 records
Terreform One funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Terreform One M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Terreform One
What does Terreform One do?
Terreform ONE is a nonprofit design research group that conceives, develops, and commissions ecological architecture, public art installations, biotech-integrated built environments, and urban design research for governments, cultural institutions, developers, and corporate sponsors. The organization sells commissioned design projects (e.g., Fab Tree Hab, Monarch Sanctuary, Bio-Informatic Digester, Coding Plants), professional services (Environmental Master Planning, Biophilic Design, Engineered Living Materials, Urban Resilience Consulting, Urban Analytics, Mobility Solutions), educational fellowships (ONE Lab / T1 Fellowship), and publications.
Is Terreform One a public or private company?
Terreform One is a private company. It is classified as nonprofit foundation owned and is currently operating.
When was Terreform One founded?
Terreform One was founded in 2006. It employs 11 to 50 people.
Where is Terreform One based?
Terreform One is headquartered in New York, United States, in the North America region.
How does Terreform One make money?
Five revenue lines are on record. Grants and Foundation Funding is the primary driver. The others are client-Commissioned Design Projects, publications Sales, membership and Individual Giving and corporate Giving.
Who are Terreform One's main competitors?
SHoP Architects is listed as a regional player. Broad incumbents are Snøhetta, Heatherwick Studio and Studio Gang (Jeanne Gang). Direct peers are ecoLogicStudio, The Living (David Benjamin) and Jenny Sabin Studio. Others are Buckminster Fuller Institute and Biomimicry Institute. Bio-Integrated Design Lab (UCL Bartlett) is listed as an emerging player.
Does Terreform One have an API?
No public API is recorded for Terreform One.
What industry is Terreform One in?
Terreform One's product category is Ecological Architecture Design Services. Its primary akta.pro industry code is BPAHAKAC, Landscape Architecture & Site Design, with a secondary code of BPAHAKAO, Community Engagement & Participatory Planning. Its NAICS code is 5413 and its SIC code is 8711.