New Zealand's urban coastlines are lined with bare concrete. We're retrofitting them with science-backed habitat panels that let marine life take hold — turning dead infrastructure into thriving ecosystems.
Across Aotearoa, our harbours and marinas are edged with smooth concrete and steel — seawalls, pilings, and breakwaters that provide almost zero ecological habitat. Where natural rocky shores once teemed with life, engineered surfaces offer nothing for marine species to cling to, shelter in, or feed from.
The Hauraki Gulf — the body of water most New Zealanders live beside — has lost over 90% of its seafloor habitats. Overharvesting, sedimentation, and habitat loss have pushed this taonga to a critical point. But the infrastructure that lines our coast isn't going anywhere. The question is: can we make it work for nature too?
Working with Reef Design Lab's Living Seawalls technology, we retrofit modular habitat panels — seapods — onto existing coastal infrastructure. Each panel mimics natural rock pools and crevices, giving marine species the footholds they need to colonise and thrive.
Every seapod profile is informed by marine ecology research — engineered textures that replicate the complexity of natural rocky shorelines, proven to attract diverse marine life.
Seapods bolt directly onto existing seawalls, pilings, and breakwaters. No new construction needed — we work with the infrastructure that's already there.
100 seapods installed in Tauranga Harbour in 2024 recorded glass shrimp, cushion stars, and triplefin fish within months. The technology works in our waters.
Work with iwi, councils, and marine scientists to select priority sites where seapods will have the greatest ecological impact.
Engineer seapod configurations matched to each site's tidal range, wave exposure, and target species — customised for Aotearoa's marine environment.
Bolt seapods onto existing coastal structures — seawalls, pilings, breakwaters — with minimal disruption and no new construction required.
Track biodiversity gains through scientific monitoring, citizen science, and community engagement — measuring what comes back and telling the story.
Whether you're a marine scientist, a community group, a coastal landowner, or someone who cares about our oceans — we'd love to hear from you. Sign up for updates as the project develops.
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