What are Smart Enhanced Reefs?

• March 17, 2026

Smart Enhanced Reefs concrete blocks dropped into the sea. For decades, that was roughly the state of artificial reef technology. The idea was simple: give marine life something to grab onto, and biodiversity would follow. And to an extent, it worked. But the ocean is not simple, and the blunt-instrument approach left enormous potential on the table.

Smart Enhanced Reefs (SER) are a fundamentally different proposition. They are precision-engineered ecosystems, designed using AI-driven software, built from biologically compatible materials, and monitored in real time. The shift from dumping concrete to deploying data-informed living structures represents one of the most significant leaps in marine restoration technology in recent years. And PHAROS is deploying them in Gran Canaria right now.

What Exactly Is a Smart Enhanced Reef?

A Smart Enhanced Reef is an artificial reef structure designed using parametric intelligence. Rather than following a generic blueprint, each SER is custom-built to match the specific ecological, geological, chemical, and biological conditions of its deployment site.​

The technology was developed by Underwater Gardens International (UGI), a Spanish marine restoration company and PHAROS consortium partner. At the core of their approach is Reefhopper®, a proprietary software platform that combines environmental analysis, digital modelling, and generative design to produce reef structures optimised for a specific location and set of restoration goals.​

Marc García-Durán, CEO and founder of UGI, describes SER as “not just artificial constructions: they are living refuges shaped by science and technology so that nature can reclaim its space.” That framing matters. The ambition is not to replace a natural reef with a synthetic one. It is to create the conditions in which a natural ecosystem can re-establish itself, faster and more reliably than it would without intervention.​

How Reefhopper® Designs Each Reef

The design process starts with data. Reefhopper® maps the biotic assemblages of the target site, accounting for soil composition, water chemistry, current patterns, light availability, the presence of suspension feeders like corals and sponges, and the life cycles of the native species you are trying to attract. All of this feeds into a generative design algorithm that produces a reef structure tailored to that precise environment.​

The result is a structure with complex, multi-layered surfaces, cavities, and crevices that replicate the functional architecture of natural hard substrates. Different species need different conditions. Benthic species that live on the seabed need one thing. Pelagic species that move through the water column need another. Juvenile fish need nursery spaces. Encrusting organisms need surfaces to colonise. A well-designed SER accommodates all of these requirements simultaneously, within a single structure or a coordinated set of them.​

The materials are equally deliberate. SER structures are built from a mix of calcium carbonate, biomaterials, and cement, chosen for their ecological compatibility and their ability to attract and support marine life. Some structures incorporate bioreactive surfaces that actively encourage colonisation. Importantly, the algorithms embedded in the design process are iterative and self-learning, meaning the system analyses how the ecosystem responds and feeds that information back into future design decisions.​

Smart Monitoring Makes the Difference

The word “smart” in Smart Enhanced Reefs is not marketing language. It refers to the monitoring infrastructure integrated into each deployment.

Underwater cameras equipped with artificial intelligence automatically identify and count fish species visiting the reef. Hydrophones record underwater soundscapes, detecting marine mammals and measuring the impact of human noise pollution. Environmental sensors monitor water temperature, salinity, nutrient levels, and dissolved oxygen continuously. All of this data streams in real time to researchers and, in the context of PHAROS, directly into the local Digital Twin Ocean model.​

This matters because it closes the loop between deployment and understanding. With a traditional artificial reef, you drop the structure and come back periodically to count what has turned up. With a monitored SER, you have a continuous picture of how the ecosystem is developing, what is working, what is not, and what adjustments might help. Adaptive management, rather than deploy-and-hope.

What PHAROS Is Deploying in Gran Canaria

The waters off Gran Canaria present a stark starting point. The PHAROS demo site in the PLOCAN research area is approaching what researchers describe as “oligotrophic desert status,” meaning near-total depletion of the nutrients that support marine life. It is precisely the kind of degraded environment where conventional restoration approaches struggle and where precision matters most.​

PHAROS has developed three distinct reef types for deployment at this site, each targeting a different ecological niche. Ten Type A reefs are designed for benthic species on the seabed. Twenty-four Type B reefs are semi-submerged floating structures to attract pelagic species moving through the water column. Sixteen Type C cavity reefs are integrated directly into mooring blocks to provide habitat for small demersal and encrusting life.​

The path to deployment has not been straightforward. Spanish regulatory requirements meant that the original permitting plan had to be redesigned. Authorities recommended integrating the artificial reefs into the IMTA (Integrated Multi-Trophic Aquaculture) permit, which led to the reef deployment site being relocated from 15 metres to approximately 49 metres depth, and the entire layout being rethought. As any practitioner in marine restoration will tell you, regulatory navigation is often as technically demanding as the science itself.​

Fabrication is underway. Delivery to Gran Canaria is expected by the end of 2026, with deployment alongside the IMTA system planned for March 2027.

Smart Enhanced Reef Proof: Barcelona’s Port Olímpic

The Gran Canaria deployment is not UGI’s first. The results from Barcelona’s Port Olímpic provide a compelling preview of what SER technology can achieve in practice.

In just twelve months, a once-degraded seabed in Port Olímpic was transformed into a living laboratory supporting more than one hundred marine species. The intervention used Reefhopper®-designed SER structures alongside gabions filled with mollusc shells to encourage larvae and invertebrate growth. The reefs acted as ecological connectors, allowing species to disperse safely and helping the broader ecosystem stabilise.​

The results were measurable, not anecdotal. This is a critical distinction for marine restoration. Too much of the field has relied on qualitative assessments and optimistic projections. The Port Olímpic project demonstrated that SER technology, deployed with scientific rigour, produces quantifiable biodiversity outcomes in a relatively short timeframe.

UGI has now deployed SER structures across multiple European environments, including sites in Tenerife, Tarragona, Køge Bay in Denmark, and Porsangerfjorden in Norway, each designed specifically for the local ecosystem. The diversity of deployment contexts is itself a validation of the parametric approach. One design cannot fit all marine environments. Reefhopper® produces a different answer for every site, because every site asks a different question.​

Why This Matters for EU Ocean Policy

The EU Nature Restoration Law, which entered into force in August 2024, sets a target to restore at least 20% of EU land and sea areas by 2030 and all ecosystems in need of restoration by 2050. That is an enormous ambition, and it will not be met with conventional approaches operating at conventional speeds.​

Smart Enhanced Reefs offer something the policy framework urgently needs: scalable, measurable, site-specific restoration technology that can be deployed across diverse marine environments and monitored continuously. The combination of AI-driven design, ecological monitoring, and Digital Twin integration means that every SER deployment generates data that improves the next one.

For PHAROS, the SER work in Gran Canaria feeds directly into the EU Biodiversity Strategy 2030, the EU Mission to Restore Our Ocean and Waters, and the broader push to develop Nature-Based Solutions that are not just conceptually sound but operationally proven. The PHAROS consortium brings together the scientific rigour of PLOCAN and ULPGC, the design innovation of UGI, the digital twin capabilities of blueOASIS, and the MPA governance tools of CMCC to ensure that what is learned in Gran Canaria can be replicated across the Atlantic and Arctic basin.

Beyond Restoration: The Carbon and Coastal Resilience Case

Marine ecosystems restored by SER do more than support biodiversity. They deliver measurable climate services.

Macroalgae cultivated alongside SER structures captures CO2 from the atmosphere and contributes to local ocean acidification buffering. Reef structures stabilise sediments, reduce coastal erosion, and break wave energy, contributing to the resilience of coastlines that are increasingly exposed to extreme weather events under climate change. The reefs serve as carbon sinks in their own right, and their role as ecological connectors helps maintain the genetic diversity that makes populations more resilient to environmental stress.

This is why the conversation about SER cannot stay confined to marine biology. It belongs equally in climate adaptation, coastal infrastructure planning, and blue economy investment. A restored reef is not a cost. It is infrastructure that delivers multiple services simultaneously, with a value that compounds over time as the ecosystem matures.

The ocean does not need us to invent solutions from scratch. It needs us to create the conditions in which it can recover. Smart Enhanced Reefs are, at their core, exactly that. precision tools for giving nature back its starting point.

What is a Smart Enhanced Reef (SER)?

A Smart Enhanced Reef is an AI-designed artificial reef structure built to restore marine biodiversity at a specific site. Unlike traditional concrete reef blocks, SER structures are custom-engineered using parametric software to match the ecological, geological, and biological conditions of their exact deployment location.​

How is a Smart Enhanced Reef different from a traditional artificial reef?

Traditional artificial reefs use generic structures placed in the water with the hope that marine life will colonise them. Smart Enhanced Reefs are designed using Reefhopper®, a generative AI software that analyses site-specific data and produces a structure tailored to attract the right species for that environment. Every SER is different.​

What is Reefhopper®?

Reefhopper® is a proprietary software platform developed by Underwater Gardens International (UGI). It combines environmental data, digital modelling, and generative design to produce reef structures optimised for specific marine ecosystems. The algorithms are iterative and self-learning, improving with each deployment.​

What materials are Smart Enhanced Reefs made from?

SER structures are built from a mix of calcium carbonate, biomaterials, and cement, chosen for their ecological compatibility and ability to support marine life colonisation. Some structures include bioreactive surfaces that actively encourage the growth of corals, sponges, and other encrusting organisms.​

How are Smart Enhanced Reefs monitored?

Each SER deployment is integrated with underwater cameras using AI to identify fish species, hydrophones to record soundscapes, and environmental sensors measuring water quality in real time. In the PHAROS project, this data feeds directly into a local Digital Twin Ocean model for continuous ecosystem analysis.​

Where is PHAROS deploying Smart Enhanced Reefs?

PHAROS is deploying three types of SER at its Gran Canaria demo site in collaboration with UGI. Ten Type A reefs target benthic species, twenty-four Type B floating reefs attract pelagic species, and sixteen Type C cavity reefs support small demersal and encrusting life. Deployment is planned for March 2027.​

Do Smart Enhanced Reefs help with climate change?

Yes. SER structures support marine forest and macroalgae growth, which captures CO2 and buffers ocean acidification. The reefs also stabilise sediments, reduce coastal erosion, and break wave energy, contributing to coastal climate resilience. They function as carbon sinks and ecological connectors simultaneously.​

Has Smart Enhanced Reef technology been proven to work?

Yes. At Barcelona’s Port Olímpic, UGI deployed SER structures that transformed a degraded seabed into a habitat supporting over 100 marine species within twelve months. SER has also been deployed across multiple European sites including Tenerife, Tarragona, Denmark, and Norway.​