Integrated habitat design ensures that development maintains the health of the natural systems that we all depend on. The focus of the IHDC competition is to ensure that working with nature, adapting to climate change and enhancing biodiversity is integral to the design of new urban, suburban and rural built developments.

Submissions can be for any built environment design project in an urban, suburban or rural location, of any size, anywhere in the UK and must take into account each of the Design Criteria (Ecosystem Services, Nature, Water, Energy & low-carbon, Livability, Economics).

Designs can be for new-builds, retro-fits, open spaces, public spaces, transitional-spaces, residential, commercial, mixed-use, brown-field etc

As a guiding principle: a bee should never be further than 20 metres from a food source within the site and a hedgehog should be able to cross the scheme in safety.

The main award will be for the design that best integrates nature and the built environment, using innovative approaches that balance imagination and practicality and will be awarded GBP2,000. All runners up and winners will also be given free entrance to the World Green Roof Congress in September, as well as having their work published and displayed at a 5 week long exhibition at The Building Centre in Central London.