01
Stormwater failure
Pipes sized for last century's rainfall are flooding streets and basements that were never supposed to flood.
For municipalities, developers & campus operators
Green & Blue Urban Infrastructure
Engineer cities & campuses that absorb storms, cool streets, & host biodiversity, without losing buildable land.
The problem
Grey infrastructure alone can no longer keep up with climate
Stormwater volumes, heat events, and biodiversity expectations are all rising at once, while grey-only infrastructure budgets are not.
02
Heat-island liability
Surface temperatures in hard-scaped districts now cross thresholds with measurable public-health and operating cost.
03
Biodiversity scrutiny
Permits, ESG reports, and capital sources increasingly ask the same question: where in the project is nature?
01
Stormwater failure
Pipes sized for last century's rainfall are flooding streets and basements that were never supposed to flood.
02
Heat-island liability
Surface temperatures in hard-scaped districts now cross thresholds with measurable public-health and operating cost.
03
Biodiversity scrutiny
Permits, ESG reports, and capital sources increasingly ask the same question: where in the project is nature?
What is actually at stake
Green-washed landscaping does not pass the next storm, or the next audit.
When green infrastructure is treated as decoration, it underperforms hydraulically, dies under-watered, and erodes the very narrative it was meant to support.
Municipal engineers
Green infrastructure has to demonstrate flow attenuation in litres, not in renderings.
Developers
Stormwater, amenity, and ESG asks are all hitting the site plan at the same time — usually after design lock.
Campus operators
Maintenance teams inherit plant palettes they were never trained for, and the asset declines from day one.
The R3 approach
Living infrastructure, engineered to municipal standards.
We design green and blue infrastructure as performing systems — sized for the storm, costed against the alternative, and specified so operations teams can keep it alive.
How it works
Our Process
Every engagement moves through the same structured sequence calibrated to the site, the system, and the people who steward it.
- 01
Diagnose
Read the system
Ecological assessments and baseline surveys — site, species, soil, hydrology, and regulatory frame mapped before a line is drawn.
- 02
Design
Plan the long arc
Restoration planning and compliance strategy built with licensed engineers, architects, and ecologists.
- 03
Implement
Deliver with care
Coordinated execution and fieldwork with specialist crews, clear milestones, and compliance throughout.
- 04
Monitor
ADAPT OVER TIME
Ongoing reporting and adaptive stewardship — ecological and social metrics feed a loop so outcomes hold up over decades.
What this looks like
Infrastructure that keeps performing as the climate changes.
Green and blue infrastructure designed by R3 carries hydraulic load, lowers ambient temperature, and adds ecological function to the same parcel.
0%
Reduction in surface runoff from bioswales sized to design storm (EPA, 2021)
−0°C
Ambient temperature drop on hard-scaped blocks with canopy & green roofs
0%
Reduction in peak-storm flooding across green-infrastructure districts
- Urban forest master plans with species, succession, and canopy targets
- Green roofs and living walls specified for structural and irrigation reality
- Bioswales, rain gardens, and constructed wetlands sized to design storms
- Pollinator corridors and biodiversity overlays across the public realm
- Maintenance and training protocols handed over with the asset
Before / after
Same street, same parcel — what changes is whether the system absorbs the storm and lowers the temperature. Four representative arcs across the public and private realms we work with most.
BeforeAfter
BeforeAfter
BeforeAfter
BeforeAfter
Sample outputs
What lands on your desk.
Each engagement produces design, performance, and operations documentation that municipal engineers, developers, and campus teams can actually deploy.
Site-specific green & blue infrastructure design plan
A comprehensive design strategy for ecological infrastructure across the catchment or parcel.
GIS-based hydrological & heat mapping
Detailed analysis of water flow, surface temperature, and intervention priority across the site.
Vegetation & substrate specifications
Plant palettes and growing media specified to climate, slope, and building load capacity.
Pollinator & habitat integration strategy
Comprehensive plan for biodiversity enhancement woven through the engineered systems.
Performance forecasts
Modelled water capture, evapotranspiration, biodiversity impact, and energy-efficiency gains.
Optional add-ons
Post-installation monitoring, carbon-offset readiness, and stakeholder-engagement toolkits.
Why it matters
Cities now have to perform like ecosystems.
Over 80% of Canadians now live in urban areas, where extreme heat, flooding, and air pollution pose increasing health and infrastructure risk (Statistics Canada, 2021). Green and blue infrastructure offers proven, cost-effective responses: bioswales can reduce surface runoff by up to 90%, and green roofs can lower ambient temperatures by 1–4°C (EPA, 2021).
Ecologically, green and blue infrastructure creates habitat corridors, restores pollinator networks, and reconnects fragmented ecosystems. Socially, it improves access to green space, air and water quality, and community wellbeing.
Economically, it reduces long-term maintenance and energy costs, increases property value, and opens access to sustainability financing and urban-development incentives. Integrating nature into urban systems is no longer optional — it is essential infrastructure for 21st-century cities.
Case example
Quartier des Spectacles, Montréal
Green roofs, bioswales, and pollinator corridors across a downtown district.
In Montréal's Quartier des Spectacles, a partnership between the city and private developers installed green roofs, bioswales, and pollinator corridors across multiple building sites.
The initiative reduced local flooding during peak storms by 65%, lowered rooftop temperatures by 3.2°C, and created new habitat for native bee and butterfly species — helping the city meet its climate-adaptation goals and supporting ESG reporting for private-sector partners.
−0%
Local flooding during peak storms
−0°C
Rooftop temperature reduction
New
Habitat for native bees and butterflies
Bring the catchment, the masterplan, or the campus.
We will read the hydraulics and the ecology together — and recommend only the infrastructure your operations team can actually steward.