About Terra
Rethinking How
Cities Grow.
Mission
Every building should leave its site healthier than it found it.
Terra is not an architecture firm and not a construction company. We are a sustainable building consultancy — the environmental intelligence layer between design intent and built reality. We help architects, developers and cities design carbon-positive buildings using AI simulations, environmental analysis and regenerative design principles.
Approach
We enter early, or not at all.
Before the sketch
Site ecology, climate data and community context shape the brief itself — not just the response to it.
During design
Continuous simulation. Every option scored for carbon, water, daylight and biodiversity in near real time.
After handover
Sensors verify predictions. The model learns. The next project starts smarter.
Scientific Method
Predictions we can be held to.
Every claim we make is a hypothesis with a measurement plan. Our digital twins are calibrated against post-occupancy sensor data, and our carbon models follow peer-reviewed lifecycle methodologies. When reality disagrees with the model, the model changes.
- · CFD wind and airflow simulation
- · Annual solar and daylight modelling
- · Whole-life carbon accounting (EN 15978)
- · Biodiversity net-gain assessment
Material Philosophy
Materials with a past, chosen for their future.
We privilege materials that store carbon, age gracefully and return safely to the earth: cross-laminated timber, recycled aggregate, lime renders, living surfaces. Nothing specified without knowing where it comes from — and where it goes.
Team
Scientists, planners, builders.
Ingrid Halvorsen
Founding Principal · Environmental Engineering
Mateo Ruiz
Director of Carbon Intelligence
Amara Osei
Head of Regenerative Planning
Jonas Weber
Lead, Computational Simulation
Global Impact
Quietly changing how the built world behaves.
34
projects across 4 continents
11
cities advised on regenerative codes
6
research partnerships with universities