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Living in Balance and Symbiosis with Nature through Biophilic Design

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Living in Balance and Symbiosis with Nature through Biophilic Design

How can Biophilic Design be used to create happier and healthier environments? Ben Channon is an architect, author, TEDx speaker and mental wellbeing advocate, and is well known as a thought leader in designing for happiness and wellbeing. As a Director at the wellbeing design consultancy Ekkist, he helps clients and design teams to create healthier places, and researches how buildings and urban design can impact how we feel. He also offers talks on workplace mental health, productivity and company culture, sharing his philosophy that happier staff are better staff.

Ben developed an interest in design for mental health, wellbeing and happiness after suffering with anxiety problems in his mid-twenties. His search for solutions to his personal issues led to him unearthing lots of amazing research including in the realm of environmental psychology, which proved that the environment we spend time in has a huge impact on how we feel, think, behave and interact with other people. All this led him to research the relationship between buildings and happiness, which formed the basis of his first book: ‘Happy by Design’. Ben’s second book ‘The Happy Design Toolkit’ - which offers more practical advice on how to create buildings for our mental wellbeing (published in March 2022) which gives people the tools to implement the principles of Happy Design.

Ben makes it clear that progress towards Happy Design doesn’t have to be in big steps.  He advocates using ‘nudge’ psychology; making small but significant changes that encourage healthier, happier behaviours, to add “little bits of joy” wherever we can, creating uplifting places and spaces that add elements of joy.

Biophilic Design is increasingly more widely embraced, but long-term thinking and better education are required for the benefits of a biophilic approach to be fully realised. Listening to this podcast is a fantastic way to start that journey as Ben’s advocacy of the benefits of biophilic design is clear and compelling....

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NEW proof that Biophilic Design increases the Value (£) of the Workplace!

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NEW proof that Biophilic Design increases the Value (£) of the Workplace!

Did you know for every £1 you spend on even simple Biophilic Design enhancements, you could get £2.70 back? So reveals the new research conducted by Joyce Chan Shoof Architect and Sustainability Lead at the UK Parliament.

Using a scientific approach with control environments, adding biophilic design elements to test the effect and then removing them to further test the effect of their absence, Joyce explains the rigorous approach she took over a seven-year period to arrive at her conclusion.

This is a phenomenal breakthrough for those of us working in Biophilic Design.

You can read the whole report here: https://plplabs.com/reap-what-you-sow-2/

And come and see Joyce present the research in person at Workplace Trends in London on the 18th April 2024 https://workplacetrends.co/events/wtrs24-prog/

We often have struggled trying to articulate the economic benefits of Biophilic Design, this research can be used to support arguments why businesses need it in the workplace.

Joyce has also developed a framework to help designers work out what we need and the impact it will have. Using existing frameworks, like the Flourish model (as advocated by Professor Derek Clements Croome) and others, she has woven a great new model we can all hang our designs on…. READ ON and LISTEN TO THE PODCAST

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Sensory Reactivity

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Sensory Reactivity

When we design spaces, we need to consider how beautiful a place looks, how useful it is, is it fit for function and so on. We should also consider how the sensory elements of the space also stack up. In other podcasts and also in the Journal itself, we look at how our senses are impacted by sound, light, smell, even the haptic elements (those things we touch), smell (is the air fresh and clear) and many other things. All of us are affected by the impact our environment has on our senses, some of us more than others.

In this episode, we speak with Dr Keren MacLennan, Assistant Professor in Neurodiversity in the Department of Psychology, Durham University. Her research focuses on understanding how autistic people’s sensory processing differences relate to their mental health and experiences of different environments. She is co-producing research to support mental wellbeing to make environments more enabling for autistic individuals

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Sustainable Habitats for Sustainable Habits?

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Sustainable Habitats for Sustainable Habits?

When you climb up a tree, don’t we see life from a different perspective? We realise we part of something bigger than ourselves, we see an overview of everything and it helps us understand our place in the world more. It is also true, that generally many people and businesses seem to have a distorted relationship with nature, but as Environmental Psychologist and Design professional Anicee Bauer of “Humans in Trees” puts it: “we are nature”. Can Biophilic Design really encourage a more sustainable lifestyle, and why should the Workplace include Biophilic Design in order to help reach that NetZero target?

In this podcast, she shares with us the three fascinating levels in her consultancy process. We touch on Wabi-Sabi design strategies, Aristotelian intellectual moral virtues, spirituality, reconnecting with the fun we feel in nature and Einstein… come join us…

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Rooted in Nature - how Biophilic Design helps us flourish

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Rooted in Nature - how Biophilic Design helps us flourish

Can we make the world a better place by design? Nicole Craanen definitely thinks so (and so do we). Nicole is founder of Rooted in Nature and believes that connection to nature, especially through Biophilic Design supports human wellbeing. Quoting E.O.Wilson “the crucial first step to survival in all our organisms is habitat selection. If you get the right place, everything else is likely to be easier”, she explores in this podcast, just how we are rediscovering how we can design close to nature to help create better spaces for us to live and work in, and this is especially true in healthcare.

We have many studies proving just how beneficial Biophilic Design is, which underlines that deep innate connection that we have to the space around us. All this research is helping us determine habitats that support us in the built environment. It is also helping advocate the environmental stewardship aspect of Biophilic Design as a sustainable design practice.

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Creating Positive Spaces with Biophilic Design

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Creating Positive Spaces with Biophilic Design

How do we reduce distraction at work? How do we entice our staff back into the office? Why do they need to come in? How can zoning help? What are non-rhythmic sensory stimuli? How can biomorphic shapes help us do our best work? What is the business case for Biophilic Design? These and many other questions are answered in this podcast with Oliver Heath and Tanja Künstler. Oliver is founder of Oliver Heath design, and co-author of a new seminal guide from Interface “Creating Positive Spaces”. Tanja is concept designer for Interface. Between them they share some essential insights from the guide and how, by employing a Biophilic Design and human-centred approach to refreshing our office, we can create a workplace where we we will do our best work.

We have an opportunity right now to rethink how we design the workplace as we bring people back to the office. How we cater for different sensory thresholds of our workforce is a key element in designing better.

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Psychoacoustics - an introduction; the importance of Biophilic Design for our ears and brains

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Psychoacoustics - an introduction; the importance of Biophilic Design for our ears and brains

What is psychoacoustics and why should we care about it? Paige Hodsman, concept developer for Saint-Gobain Ecophon explains how the psychology of how we perceive sound is essential for our health and wellbeing. She explains how humans react to sound stimulus directly relates to our performance at work for instance. This helps us understand how people respond to their environment and how we can design better spaces. Did you know that biophilic improvements to a space has a positive impact on our brains through our hearing too? The vast experience of humans have been outside, in fact we are particularly suited to being in a natural environment, in fact neuronal activity is greater when we hear natural sounds.

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Nature and Health in an Urban Setting

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Nature and Health in an Urban Setting

There has been quite a bit written and discussed recently about the mental health benefits of getting out into nature especially in urban environments. COVID19 highlighted the relief that being outside in nature gave us. We speak with Dr. Melissa Marselle (see our previous conversation as well on Complex Patterns, Biodiversity and Nature Views”) on how nature especially in cities has helped us deal with stressors of the pandemic and the consequences of lockdown, how it has enabled us to meet other people safely, get out of our homes and also offer us the opportunity for physical activity. Melissa discusses over 40 years of research which consistently shows that a natural environment has beneficial and restorative effects on us.

She shares with us what types and qualities of nature are best for the health and wellbeing of people and the planets looking at greenspace, water, planting and spaces that promote biodiversity and more. We have just entered the UN Decade of Rewilding (launched June 2021), where we hope to see more nature being brought into cities and biodiversity encouraged. Improving our urban environment with nature is so important now more than ever.

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A Dose of Nature

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A Dose of Nature

From studying the fragile ecosystems supporting the threatened lives of gibbons, Professor Helen Chatterjee is combining that understanding of evolution and conservation, with her practice of raising awareness of the importance of sustainable green environments which can be used as “nature prescriptions” for us, especially if we live in inner cities.

Access to quality spaces is vital to our mental and physical wellbeing. She shares with us her personal story, as well as an impassioned call for the need to try to encourage social prescribing of nature-based solutions from GPs and healthcare workers. Whether it’s a walk in the park, gardening, or other connections with nature, there is extensive evidence for the bio, psycho and social health benefits to us.

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The Power of Sound

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The Power of Sound

Julian Treasure is a leading Ted Speaker and founder of The Sound Agency. We catch up with him to talk about how sound affects us on four different levels: physiologically, psychologically, cognitively and behaviourally. He discusses dynamic biophilic soundscapes and how we can use nature in improving acoustics and how we should be using good sonic design and aural architecture to make the places we work in, learn in and heal in, better.

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Complex Patterns, Biodiversity & Nature Views

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Complex Patterns, Biodiversity & Nature Views

Environmental Psychology is the study of the relationship between people and their physical environment. They look at how psychological processes (emotions, behaviours and cognitions) are place-related and place-dependent. In other words, they look at how environments influence people -- as well as on how people influence the environment. We speak to Melissa Marselle, academic, writer and environmental psychologist about patterns in nature and how creating a biodiverse environment has positive impact not just on the natural world but also us as human beings and our cognitive and physical health. We also speak about Goldilocks...

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Beyond the Workplace Zoo

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Beyond the Workplace Zoo

We’ve not been in our respective “Workplace Zoos” for over a year now as a result of “Lockdown” and we’ve got an opportunity RIGHT NOW to improve those spaces we work in. So argues Dr Nigel Oseland, who many of you might know as the inquisitive environmental psychologist, behaviourist, statistics sleuth, author, agent of change and broadcaster. Nigel argues that contrary to some workplace strategists (and employers worried about the bottom line) we should NOT get rid of space, instead we should make the most of it. Reduce the desks yes, but not the space. He describes how we should be…

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Designing for Extremes

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Designing for Extremes

Designing for extremes for the benefit of the mean, creates a solution that’s good for us all. 69-90% of our time at work is focussed on what we call, “deep work”, as little as 40-10% on collaborative activities. Of course depends on your job, but that’s some averages that are worth considering. Having 15 minutes to recharge is really important. Somewhere which gives you acoustic relief as well as some “you” time is important, somewhere you don’t have to be “on” or be in the spotlight or be judged. Personalising your workspace is really important, and this is not the first time, nor will it be the last, that we’ve discussed how human-centric design is paramount to creating better places for us to work in…

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From Veterinary Science to a Wellbeing Biophilic Economy

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From Veterinary Science to a Wellbeing Biophilic Economy

Fascinating and positive conversation with Glen Cousquer, covering biology, philosophy and the concept of the self, we talk conservation medicine, experiential education including getting outdoors, and exploring the concept of listening not only for human relationships but also listening to the living world around us. He is a qualified Vet, but after realising how there were underlying issues affecting different eco systems he moved away from the traditional veterinary model into developing a more holistic approach to health and welfare concerns…

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Elemental Change - Making Stuff Happen when nothing stands still.

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Elemental Change - Making Stuff Happen when nothing stands still.

Normality is just a point in time. We are in such a strange place, so many gold posts have shifted personally as well as in the workplace. Uncertainty is our opportunity, because nothing stands still everything is connected in some way. In this fascinating and compelling pod/videocast with Neil Usher, Chief Workplace and Change Strategisy at GoSpace AI we discuss his new book Elemental Change and how this period is a fantastic opportunity, we have to capture the energy of uncertainty and do some amazing things…

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Oliver Heath - How to create Happiness, the benefits of Biophilic Design

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Oliver Heath - How to create Happiness, the benefits of Biophilic Design

Biophilic design principles allow us to bring elements of nature into the built environment, especially into those places where we experience a great deal of stress. Our connection to nature can unlock so many benefits, stress washes off us, we become different people, we can think more holistically about our life and where it’s going. The impact the buildings we inhabit and work in have an enormous effect on our lives, especially now with the restrictions placed on us as a result of the Covid epidemic. With an onset of almost cabin fever, we are recognising the fact that the building we surround ourselves with has a huge impact on our physical, mental and emotional states. Nature can play a valuable role, the benefits of plants and greenery, adding personalisation, direct influence over a space, improve air quality, sunlight, fresh air, easy to improve spaces. S..

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Unblocking Creativity and aiding Healing in Times of Change - Nature, Retreats and a Haven in London

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Unblocking Creativity and aiding Healing in Times of Change - Nature, Retreats and a Haven in London

Sharing a space in silence can be uplifting, revelatory and inspiring, sharing a space in nature can be an even more powerful experience. Allowing your brain to think in different ways by taking time away by being in a different space unblocks creativity, it can help you shape a different way of thinking, a different ways of being. This is important in times of change, career change and stress. Doing this surrounded by nature compounds the effe..

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5 Fixes to Improve Working From Home

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5 Fixes to Improve Working From Home

If you are working from home for the first time during this Covid 19 Lockdown, or maybe you have always worked from home, there are some simple biophilic design “tweaks” you can do to really improve your workspace. From clearing clutter, to your lights, nature views, air quality and even sounds to improve your space, help you focus more, be less stressed, be creative and productive too. We speak to Sally Augustin, author of the great book “Designology” to find out what we can each do right now without having to go out or take up too much time out of our day.

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Environmental Psychology - We are who we were

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Environmental Psychology - 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.

Neuroscience research suggests that those sensory consistencies may be why biophilic design gives us such a powerful mental boost today. Biophilic design applies the same sorts of design principles in today’s built-environments that were naturally present in the outdoor settings where we were at ease aeons ago, when our bodies took on their current form. We still feel comfortable in biophilic spaces today, and the sorts of experiences that we have in biophilicly designed spaces boost our cognitive performance, for example, and for some of us even enhance the performance of our immune systems.

Our brains continue to respond positively to the sorts of sensory stimulations that long ago signalled good times, or at least that bad times were unlikely.

So, what are the principles of biophilic design?

In a biophilic space, there is moderate visual complexity. This means that there is order in the world around us, and a carefully edited palette of colours and shapes in play. Moderate visual complexity makes it less stressful for us to continuously scan the world around us—something we still do without considering what we’re up to today, just as our forebears did aeons ago to determine if there was danger nearby. Clutter creates high visual complexity, which is why it makes us tense.

We speak with Environmental and Design Psychologist, Sally Augustin. Sally is also Principal at ‘Design with Science’. She is also Fellow of the ‘American Psychological Association’ and author of “Place Advantage: Applied Psychology for Interior Architecture” (Wiley 2009) and with Cindy Coleman, “The Designer’s Guide to Doing Research: Applying Knowledge to Inform Design” (Wiley, 2012).

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