Case Study: Building homes whilst protecting the habitats they sit on

09 Sep 2025

Partnering with Biofarm 

Biofarm delivers fully managed, off-site Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) by transforming unproductive land in England into thriving, lasting habitats. 

They do this by restoring land to nature and managing it for 30 years. 

What is BNG?

In simple terms, it makes sure that habitats for wildlife are left in a measurably better state than they were before the development took place.

Unearthing the problem

The BNG industry is a new and complex one. 

Decades of disconnected development, poor land management and disjointed policy making have come at the cost of nature. Trees, plants, insects, birds and animals have been pushed out to make way for the homes, schools, roads and more that communities rely on. 

The truth is, we need it all to live.

The brief to us

The brief to DACRE was a total rebrand, which was split threefold:

1. Create a proposition and positioning that articulates clearly who Biofarm are, what they do and to whom. 

2. Build an identity that differentiates them in the sea of sameness.

3. Launch a campaign that doesn’t just shout the loudest but enriches the lives of their audiences.

We started by interviewing their customers

From developers, local planning authorities to landowners and their own employees. 

We unearthed three main themes:

1. Unclear offering: their customers had to work hard to understand their offering.

2. No one ‘owns’ the market: being such a new market, no one dominated the BNG market; this was a huge opportunity for Biofarm to step in. 

3. Underutilising their story: they own a farm in Somerset, their own BNG flagship project but weren’t talking about it at all.  

Our research led us to the simple yet powerful conclusion that if we were able to clearly articulate who they were in a new, interesting and unexpected way, with an identity that matched, we would be able to capture market share. 

Defining who they are, what they do and to whom

The vision: To consciously build a balanced future where nature works with and for all. 

The mission: Accelerating nature restoration to fuel economies and communities. 

This was then tailored to each audience with ‘reasons to believe’ and key differentiators. 

Translating it into a differentiating brand identity

Our starting point for the creative concept behind the identity was the antagonists we uncovered during our research phase. 

Everyone in and surrounding the BNG market all looked and sounded the same:

1. Stereotypical rolling green hills and fields.

2. Full of plant life but no species or people. Lacking the ‘human’ touch. 

3. No sign of construction i.e. what BNG enables and how BNG providers get paid.

The concept that underpinned everything: All the Small Things

The concept was born out of the idea that both in nature and construction, mighty things grow from the small. Exploring those beginnings: seeds and buds to bricks and mortar. 

Focusing on the small reflects the attention to detail Biofarm gives its clients, a clear theme from our research. 

Playing into the idea of the butterfly effect, where small changes at the outset can have a large impact later down the line. 

Creating coexistence through design and tone of voice

To reflect the ‘small but mighty’ and ‘coexistence, not conflict’. 

Our design used a large amount of white space around the designs. Paired with highlights of a muddy green and a new logo using a custom font Rati, a playful sans-serif typeface, with a small butterfly icon subtly placed at the end. 

With this minimalist approach, for it to stand out, we knew we needed every element of the design to work hard and in harmony. 

We kept coming back to the product that Biofarm sold: restoring nature into thriving habitats over 30+ years. In a world where AI can create work in a split second. We wanted to instead focus on craftsmanship, which has been learnt over time and takes time. 

We decided to commission the illustrator Zoë Barker and photographer Zoe Salt to bring the craft to life alongside our design team. Working closely with Biofarm’s ecology team to showcase the species that inhabit their flagship BNG site, Sleight Farm.

Turning ideas into reality

The execution of the rebrand touched every aspect of the company. From a new website, socials and sales collateral to business cards, email signatures, letterheads and event stands. 

This was wrapped up into a launch campaign that brought all these elements together running across their key channels. Mixing the micro details of nature and construction through human craft with clear, confident and punchy copy. 

Aiming to give viewers some respite in the busy, complex and messy world we walk in. 

Creating long-lasting results from small beginnings

The rebrand launched on 1st September 2025. 

In the short term, success is being measured by a mindset shift and refocus of the business to unlock its next stage of growth. A journey they’ve just started venturing into. 

A shift from seeing brand as a foreign land to now a key competitive advantage in the market vs their competitors. 

“The rebrand is ambitious and bold, and while we’ve just launched, it already feels like a big step forward. It’s given us a clear identity and a strong foundation to build on as we grow. The result is a brand that reflects our values and sets us up for what’s next.” 

Andy Brainin, Co-Founder, Biofarm