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Pioneering Research study aims to prove The Value of Biophilic Design in the workplace.

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Pioneering Research study aims to prove The Value of Biophilic Design in the workplace.

Biophilic Design - the use of plants in providing cleaner air and connecting us with nature, coupled with natural light, certain colours, acoustics, and fragrances - has long been proven to have a positive effect on both mental and physical well-being. For over 25 years, expert horticulturalists Benholm Group have pioneered the use of plants for interiors, not only as an eye-catching focal point, but also to promote the natural health benefits that being surrounded by plants can bring.

This concept has now been brought to the forefront of a new research study led by Sustainability Lead at House of Commons + PhD Researcher, Joyce Chan-Schoof to question if we can apply a social and economic value to biophilic design.

Can biophilic design add value to the workplace - not only through improving air quality and aesthetics, but can it have a tangible impact on employee productivity, retention, absenteeism, satisfaction, engagements and up-skilling?

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How Biophilic Design creates Sustainable Environments

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How Biophilic Design creates Sustainable Environments

Connecting to the environment makes people feel more relaxed in their homes and workplaces. Incorporating nature indoors has become increasingly popular after the pandemic, we are seeing more people decorating their homes with plants and natural materials. The Biophilic Design concept can create a unique look and is excellent for the environment.

Here are some ways biophilic design creates a sustainable space.

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What are the Benefits of Biophilic Design on Healing?

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What are the Benefits of Biophilic Design on Healing?

Biophilic design can introduce better healing with natural elements and an improved look. Incorporating it in hospitals and doctors' offices could give patients more benefits than you would expect.

How can biophilic design help a patient’s healing process? Many studies have proven the positive effects of nature on the human mind. However, with modern interior design and increased times in the workplace, getting time outdoors can be challenging. Biophilic design can do a lot to increase patient and physician health. Here’s a look at some of the benefits and how to start introducing them into your facility.

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Healthy Home - Pop up Biophilic Design inspiration

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Healthy Home - Pop up Biophilic Design inspiration

Westfield London is launching a biophilic-designed home pop-up called ‘Healthy Home’, with renowned sustainable and wellbeing designer Oliver Heath, working with a range of home and interior brands to curate an exclusive collection inspired by biophilia. Visitors to the pop-up, which will be live between 19th to 22nd May, will be able to discover the benefits of biophilic design and how to transform their own homes into mindful and restorative spaces through clever designs that focus on various approaches, ranging from sensory design to supporting biodiversity.

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Time and Tide - The COP26 Pilgrimage update

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Time and Tide - The COP26 Pilgrimage update

We catch up with Glen Cousquer who was leading part of the COP26 Nature Pilgrimage. He shares with us some images and a poetic thought on the feelings, the view of the SSI, the haunting fiddler on the beach. “The earth holds our footsteps even as the tide patiently wipes them clean. Sadly, our footsteps lay increasingly heavy on the earth and we can no longer rely on the time and the tide to wipe them clean.

Time and tide wait for no man as they say … especially when man is leadenfooted.”

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Space and Nature are a Need, not a Luxury

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Space and Nature are a Need, not a Luxury

From Edible bus-stops to pocket parks and Roof gardens on the tops of London Banks, journalist Hartley Milner takes us on a trip around the UK and London highlighting the difference nature has made to spaces, and how clever and heart-felt use of Nature in Design has transformed lives.

Read on for not only some interesting statistics but also there is a compelling interview with the architect of the beautiful and inspiring Maggie’s Cancer Care centre in Southampton.

Why the Hospitality Industry needs Biophilic Design

Why the Hospitality Industry needs Biophilic Design

Why the Hospitality Industry needs Biophilic Design

As many of us are aware, the benefits of bringing nature into your life include reduced stress and anxiety, creating clarity of mind and increased creativity. The hospitality industry needs nature to meet sustainability goals as well as bringing unique benefits to people in their venues, subsequently attracting additional customers. One of the main benefits of visiting hospitality spaces incorporating nature, include reduced stress and anxiety, and enhanced relaxation and enjoyment…

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‘Biophilic Design in the Home’ – a new online course from the Oliver Heath Design School

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‘Biophilic Design in the Home’ – a new online course from the Oliver Heath Design School

Have you ever wanted to really ground yourself in Biophilic Design?

We have teamed up with Oliver Heath to give you 10% off their level 2 course. ‘Biophilic Design in the Home’ is perfect for anyone who wants to learn more about Biophilic Design, whether you’re a designer looking to add another string to your bow or are simply interested in helping yourself and others feel happier and healthier..

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Farming and Town Centres – the future of shopping and grazing

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Farming and Town Centres – the future of shopping and grazing

There were two articles in the FT at the weekend (5/6 December 2020) which caught my eye. One of them was about British farming written by a farmer calling for a bit of sense. With the fall-out that is going to rain down on us from leaving the EU, one of the industries that will feel the pinch will be British farming. For years now farmers have received subsidies and been flooding the land and soils with artificial aids such as fertiliser and chemical sprays in order to stress the land to produce more. …

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Why we should live together - Part 1 . PLANTS & AIR

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Why we should live together - Part 1 . PLANTS & AIR

You may have heard of the “sick building syndrome” where the actual building we live and work in is making us sick. There are a mass of chemicals that are hidden in the paint we use, the cushions and chairs we sit on, the clothes we wear, the carpets we walk on… it can cause everything from coughs, allergies, skin problems, dry eyes, right down to cancers and inflammatory diseases of the respiratory tract.

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The Ancient & The Modern: Luminous Spaces Biophilic Design

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The Ancient & The Modern: Luminous Spaces Biophilic Design

I became aware of the topic of biophilic design in 2008 through an online presentation by Stephen Kellert, former Professor Emeritus of Social Ecology & Senior Research Scholar, School of Forestry and Environmental Studies at Yale University.

I immediately recognized a kinship between my work in feng shui and this new discipline and have dedicated the last decade to studying and, eventually earned a certificate in biophilic design from the International Living Future Institute earlier this year. (See my earlier post on The Intersection of Feng Shui & Biophilic Design)…

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Sound Without Walls – Considering room acoustics in hospitals as an integral aspect of biophilic design

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Sound Without Walls – Considering room acoustics in hospitals as an integral aspect of biophilic design

Sound may not be one of the first things we think of in biophilic design but what most people want from the auditory environment is intrinsically linked to nature.

Our hearing is often key in our perception of the world around us; it helps us to interact, communicate and be aware of what is happening and impending change. It is designed for the outside, a world without walls and other hard reflective surfaces that focus sound and allow it to build up to levels where it affects our concentration, increases levels of anxiety, negatively affects performance and interrupts our sleep….

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The Intersection between Feng Shui and Biophilic Design

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The Intersection between Feng Shui and Biophilic Design

Feng shui is an intuitive art that has been practiced for thousands of years. It was built on the observation of nature, common sense, and gut instinct and was used to locate the optimal places for survival. But today, the primary goal is to enhance success in life. Feng shui is a language of metaphor that requires attention to the feel of spaces.

On the other hand, biophilic design was developed in reaction to our modern, technology-driven lives. It is based on researchthat shows access to nature and natural elements decreases stress and improves our feeling of wellbeing.

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Shinrin-yoku - Forest Bathing

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Shinrin-yoku - Forest Bathing

By 2050, the United Nations states that 75% of the world’s projected 9 billion population will live in cities. So, is it so surprising that as a species we have become disconnected from nature…and forests, in particular, where we have lived for most of our life on earth? We are also, increasingly an indoor species. The World Health Organisation names stress as the health epidemic of the 21st century. Since its inception in Japanese culture in the 1980’s, Shinrin-yoku, meaning ‘Forest bath’, has proven to affect health and wellbeing beneficially in a myriad of ways. Forest Bathing/Shinrin-yoku - a Japanese practice reconnecting people with nature, alleviating effects of stress and burnout, developed in the 1980s during tech boom. Research into the practice has continued since then, and expanded worldwide…

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Biophilia, Five Elements and Wabi Sabi

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Biophilia, Five Elements and Wabi Sabi

Biophilia finds its way in most of my projects

It is only recently I asked myself the question “Why is it that everything I do encompasses biophilia in one way or another?

I do “Interiors with a Purpose” - mostly for workspaces - and I always invite nature into the spaces I create. It’s the most obvious way to create an environment that thrives and engenders wellbeing I believe.

It worries me whenever I see an office environment in a bad state. Of course, I like designer furniture, art ,etc. But even more I appreciate when people make an effort - when you feel that the surroundings have been taken good care of and you feel a good atmosphere. The best atmosphere is when nature is present. Humans have an innate tendency to seek connections with nature…

World Bee Day 20 May 2020

World Bee Day 20 May 2020

Something different from us today. I received an email this morning from Friends of the Earth. It was addressed to me from the Bees.

I wanted to share something with you. I am founder of Argenta Wellness, I’m a commercial documentary, portrait and natural world photographer, all my life has been wrapped around conservation, environmentalism and the embracing of nature. My mother was influential on me when I was a child, her own course on ecology and vociferous stance on protecting our rain forests helped shape my thirst for understanding the natural world. My father used to swim in the River Wensum when he was a boy, he loved birds and just being outside, birds would come to sit on his hand or just by him as he painted in the garden. I was a real bird nerd when a child too, priding myself on identifying as many as I could (I still do this I confess…!)…

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We Are Who We Were

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We Are Who We Were

Many things have changed for humans since their early days as a species—how excited do you think early Homo sapiens would have been by heating, air conditioning and weather tight structures to install them in, for example?

Not everything is different, however. We still have fundamentally the same brains as the first creatures we would recognize as “one of us.” That means we process and respond to the basic sensory inputs we see, hear, feel, taste, and smell today as our earliest human ancestors did….

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Epigenetics - Why our hospitals need to look and feel more natural

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Epigenetics - Why our hospitals need to look and feel more natural

Epigenetics - Why our hospitals need to look and feel more natural. ‘Epigenetics’ is a recently established pillar of biomedicine, it examines how environmental signals control the health of our cells. the opposite of the placebo effect, the nocebo effect, which, simply put, says negative thoughts create sickness. If you believe the power of the placebo effect, think about how important it is to not fall into the nocebo effect, driven by negative thinking. This may worry many, as psychologists say that 70-80% of the average person’s thoughts are negative ones. So, coming back to the fear of being in hospital…

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Changing your environment and mindset with actor and leadership coach, Paul Ryan

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Changing your environment and mindset with actor and leadership coach, Paul Ryan

Theatre, TV and film create simulations of environments to transport the audience somewhere else. Similarly here at The Journal of Biophilic Design and those who work using biophilic design, we create harmony by mimicking nature to bring about a simulated environment of an outside space to bring peace and calm to workplaces, healthcare and so on….

Biophilic Design – A practical way to restore our equilibrium

Biophilic Design – A practical way to restore our equilibrium

Whilst there remains some debate over the precise causes of SAD there is a consensus that it is associated with reduced exposure to sunlight and the deprivation that results. Light therapy and certain lifestyle measures can play their part in helping address the condition and are a potent reminder of a human’s need for certain stimuli and an equilibrium that puts us both at ease and in a better frame of mind. To some of us a woodland walk and being able to savour the petrichor that results from recent rains proves a welcome tonic. For others filling our homes with plants and flowers does the trick, tapping into that deep bond with the natural world that continues to inspire artists, poets and other sentient beings. Where once great houses might seek to bring nature within by hanging paintings by Claude Lorrain or John Constable now homes and public and private institutions can help simulate nature through Biophilic Design. Mental wellbeing is being improved via the use of canvasses, plants and art installations that enhance transport hubs, hospitals, universities and the workplace…

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