Conference Programme Sessions - Join us at the conference to learn and share best practice, cutting edge new research and inspire each other across disciplines and sectors. Together we can design a better world to live in. For people, for planet and for prosperity in every sense of the word...
As well as Keynotes, the rhythm of the conference will be a mix of mini TED type talk followed by panel discussion, or “in conversation” style debates, with ample opportunity to share your opinions with each other and ask questions.
Breakfast reception in the Garden Room and Barbican Conservatory. Meet each other, share business contact details, chat to the suppliers and innovators on show in the exhibition area.
Opening Session
9.15 - We move into the Frobisher Hall where the sessions will be live streamed across the Globe.
Soundscaping from Moodsonic will bring the outside in during our conference, proving that we can bring nature wherever we are to uplift and help us focus. Moodsonic have curated these supportive soundscapes exclusively for the Biophilic Design Conference. Their generative soundscaping technology has been deployed and researched in workplaces and healthcare buildings around the world, and has been shown to improve people’s focus, collaboration and restoration.
The day will begin with soundscapes that ease people in and help them feel comfortable in the space, before transitioning to selections that retain interest and keep energy levels high. The soundscapes will also take people on a biophilic journey around the world, in Europe, India and North America.
Moodsonic Soundscape Experience - Early morning – Alpine Lake: Lapping lake waves and local birds, designed to help people feel safe and comfortable.
Keynote - Oliver Heath
9.25 - Oliver Heath is founder and director of Oliver Heath Design, who are recognised thought leaders in health & wellbeing in the built environment. They are researchers, designers, and advocates for the creation of healthy flourishing spaces in the built environment, benefiting both people and planet. Having spent 15 years working for TV channels such as BBC, ITV and Channel 4, published 4 books, 8 white papers, online courses and presenting over 500 RIBA certified CPDs on Biophilic Design, Oliver has vast experience in knowledge creation and presentation.
[photo credit Richard Hanson]
Healthcare Sessions
This session kindly sponsored by MottMacdonald
9.45 - Presentations from Mathew Page, Chief operating Officer Avon & Wiltshire Mental Health Partnership NHS Trust on history of asylums/healthcare buildings, and the new one they are creating centred around nature in Bristol.
Siobhan Wyatt, Director of Property, Maggie’s Care Centres. Maggie’s work with some of the best architects in the world to design our centres because we know that light, colour and a connection to nature can help people to feel better. Every Maggie’s is thoughtfully designed to be calming and welcoming; a place to escape from the clinical environment of the hospital. There are no reception desks and no clocks; instead, we have comfy sofas and plenty of time.
A short message from Lori Pinkerton-Rolet on Third Age Design.
Gijs Bruggink, ORGA architects showing the Dental Practice Middenmeer: small scale healtcare practice - simplicity in biophilic architecture - nature in the building as a profitable investment, plus showcasing another project a Company retreat Westbroek which is a preventive mental health care unit, where urban professionals reconnect with nature - seamless transition from nature to built environment - indoor/outdoor connections and nature inclusive roofs.
The psychology underpinning biophilia
10.20 - Presentation by Nigel Oseland. Followed by discussion. Biophilic Design is much more than indoor planting and landscaping, it includes aspects of the natural world such as natural ventilation, natural light and natural soundscapes. Evolutionary psychology has helped us understand our preferred indoor conditions, directly inferred from our past living and surviving in natural environments.
Kindly moderated by Mark Catchlove, MillerKnoll.
The Financial Benefits of Biophilic Design
10.35 - Dr Sally Augustin shares with us, not only does Biophilic Design have a positive impact on our physical and mental health, but it also gives us an impressive economic uplift too.
Dr Augustin will share and distil research and data which proves just how beneficial Biophilic Design is on business’ bottom line, and how it helps reduce costs on staff recruitment, energy use and much more.
Kindly moderated by Mark Catchlove, MillerKnoll.
Break - Networking 10.45 - in the Garden Room and Conservatory. Meet up, network with each other and speakers, plus make the most of the opportunity to learn about innovations from our exhibitors.
Soundscape experience: Late morning – Apennine Forest: Moving from the lake to the forest, we settle by a woodland stream to encourage focus.
Bill Browning
11.15 - Bill Browning and Catie Ryan from Terrapin Bright Green couldn’t be with us today, but Bill has kindly sent us a message.
Salutogenic Spaces
This Session kindly sponsored by Ecophon Saint Gobain
11.20 - Health and Wellbeing in the Workplace and Environmental Responsibility go hand in hand.
Chair: Mark Eltringham, editor of Workplace Insight.
Paige Hodsman in conversation with Dr Harriet Shortt, presenting and discussing when people prioritise their own health—physically and mentally—they are more resilient and capable of addressing broader concerns, creating a balance where both individuals and the environment thrive together.
Biophilic Design and Community Spaces
This session kindly sponsored by Rebalance Earth
11.50 - Presentations by David Mooney, CEO of London Wildlife Trust, Kenton Rogers, Treeconomics and Simon Needle Birmingham City Council.
BIID Panel - Biophilic Design and Wellbeing
This panel kindly supported by BIID
12.25 - A curated panel of BIID practitioners working with Biophilic Design.
Chair: Matt Freeman
Panel: Preet Anand (Mood Interiors), Chloe Bullock (Materialise Interiors) and Rajashri Chakraborty (Interior Design Studio)
LUNCH and NETWORKING - 13.05 - in the Garden Room and Conservatory. The Networking continues over a buffet lunch. Why not also chose to participate in a Forest Bathing experience led by Amanda Bond through the Barbican Conservatory.
Don’t forget to collect your FREE BOOK BONUS - the new "Science Informed Guide to Biophilic Design” written specifically for the conference by our very own environmental/design psychologist Dr Sally Augustin.
Moodsonic Soundscape Experience - Early afternoon – Monsoon Focus: Gentle rain and distant thunder combine with an Indian tanpura to create a warming ambience. This simple, restorative soundscape is designed to help people feel refreshed after lunch.
Special message from Jojo Mehta
14.05 - Jojo Mehta ia Co-Founder & Executive Director, Stop Ecocide International. Imagine a world where our Earth’s vital ecosystems are legally protected from the severest harms. This is the vision behind ecocide law: providing an enforceable framework to deter destructive practices, safeguarding the natural world and all our futures.
Future Proofing Cities with Biophilic Design
This session kindly sponsored by MottMacdonald
Chair: Eleanor Young, Editor RIBA Journal.
14.10 - Presentations from Robert Delius, Stride Treglown, Robert Gardner Rebalance Earth and Tom Dolan, UKRIC - Systems Thinking, Biophilic design principles, climate positive landscape architecture, biomimicry, nature based solutions and Doughnut Economics all have a vital role to play in shaping, and making this reimagination a reality.
Gijs Bruggink on the Floating District Oosterhoutse Baai (Eastwood Bay) - water residences as a solution for rising sea levels - parallel biophilic design for both human and natural life - low impact, nature inclusive architecture.
The Biophilic Village Swansea
This session kindly sponsored by Rebalance Earth
Chair: Eleanor Young, Editor RIBA Journal.
14.45 - Professor Geoffrey Proffitt will present how “The Biophilic Living” development will clearly be an inspirational building for the people who will live and work there. The building is driven through with cutting-edge biological, design, and engineering innovations. It will be a living, working example of great design, innovation and existing technology combining to support and nurture human health and wellbeing.
The Biophilic Living plan and the ethos that underpins its design and development is a focus for change, the start of a new sustainable, Biophilic urban regeneration of Swansea.
If we are to fully respond to increasing global challenges, urban development and redevelopment will have to take a lead.
The project will contribute to local and global goals to address the climate change emergency, such as the UN Sustainable Development Goals.
The Wood Sessions
15.05 - Presentations by Andrew Waugh, Waugh Thistle Architects discussing their mass timber buildings plus the Black and White Building. It promises to be a really enlightening session.
Chair: Eleanor Young, Editor RIBA Journal.
Break - Networking 15.30 - in the Garden Room and Conservatory. Meet up, network with each other and speakers, plus make the most of the opportunity to learn about innovations from our exhibitors.
Moodsonic Soundscape Experience - Late afternoon – Imaginative Beach: Californian beach waves and birds, plus a sunny guitar ambience. This is the liveliest soundscape of the day and will help keep energy levels high. The warm, optimistic feel is also a great match for the takeaway message from the conference.
Sensory Design
This session kindly sponsored by Ecophon Saint Gobain
16.00 - Presentations by Jean Hewitt, Buro Happold on Neurodiversity, Steve Edge of Salvedge Design on Water and Xander Cadisch on Light. Sensory design can help improve mental well-being and health, reducing anxiety, can create more inclusive environments for people with sensory sensitivities. Sensory design considers how all of our senses are engaged, including how a space feels, sounds, smells, and how light and temperature affect us. This session will explore different sensory aspects of Biophilic Design.
Education Session 1- Designers Talk - school design
This session is kindly sponsored by Virtual Nature Walls
16.30 - Presentations by Clare Bowman, RCZM Architects on theme of nurture with nature showing their design journey and evidence of introducing Biophilic design in existing schools.
Nicholas Atherton, Landscape Architect and qualified Urban Designer, founder Natural Dimensions, on the Merstham School design
Ian Bogle, Bogle Architects on creating a Blueprint of a Kindergarten and how the use of natural solutions in a school in Dubai created natural air flow, cooling etc.
Learn from three vital perspectives: Landscape Architect, Interior Designer and Architect
Education Session 2 -
Schools as Hubs of Natural Capital - Dept of Education
17.00 - Crawford Wright – Head of Architecture and Design: Schools and Colleges (Overview and DfE’s approach to biophilia) Ian Naylor – Head of Technical Development (Lead Design Advisor for St. Mary’s and Merstham Park) Duncan Craig – Technical Policy Lead (Author of DfE’s Biophilic Design Brief for St Mary’s)
The Architecture of Life
17.35 - Robert Bedner, Architectural Technologist, will be celebrating Kellert’s Biophilic effect on people and planet, sharing examples of how Biophilic Design is incorporated into community buildings for health, happiness and regeneration of life and living systems.
Kinship and Biophilic Design
17.50 - Connecting us and nature - Martin Brown, Sustainability Provocateur & Consultant. Author of ‘FutuREstorative’ (RIBA), co-editor of ‘Sustainability, restorative to regenerative’ and ‘RESTORD 2030’ (#CostRestore). VP at Living Future Europe, founder of Zoom Regenerative, a global conscious collective that reciprocates and invigorates, nurtures, and heals, cross-pollinating regenerative practices for a healthy thriving future.
Final Words and the Magic Brush of Biophilia
18.10 - Adding a Sparkle Layer Professor Derek Clements Croome
18.20 - Final words to wrap up the day - Dr Vanessa Champion
If you could paint the World with a Magic Brush of Biophilia, what would it look like?
Evening in person Networking Party
6.30pm - As the lights go down, we move into the Garden Room and conservatory for an unforgettable evening of music and networking, surrounded by the gorgeous interior landscaping of the Conservatory.
Plus this is your final chance to explore the Garden Room, where we are inviting just 12 carefully curated exhibitors at the show. From plants and materials to furniture and innovative Biophilic Design solutions, you will be inspired by the passions of our exhibitors. We encourage you to network and build your materials library to lay the foundations of your next new business collaboration.
Special Suprise Guests and Music Premiere
From 6.30pm until 10pm - Conference attendees will be joined by a gathering of leaders and stakeholders for an evening celebration, drinks, canapés, music and a guest celebrity. Continue to network, ask questions, share ideas, speak with our innovative exhibitors, eat, drink and celebrate life and better design!
Plus there will be the world Premiere of “The Green Book: The Biophilic Suite” composed and performed by acclaimed musician Javier Rodriguez, commissioned by us and inspired by the Barbican.