The Power of Biophilia: Benefits for Physical and Mental Health
A ‘biophile’ is a person with a deep love for life and an intrinsic desire to connect with nature. This natural affinity can have profound effects on both physical and mental health. In this article, we’ll explore the benefits of embracing our biophilic tendencies, the theory behind ‘biophilia’, and how ‘biophilic design’ can enhance our well-being.
Key Takeaways
Biophilia, the intrinsic desire to connect with nature, is crucial for enhancing human well-being, particularly through biophilic design in urban settings.
The biophilia hypothesis suggests that our evolutionary history drives a need for natural connections, which positively impacts mental health and emotional well-being.
Biophilic design benefits physical and mental health by reducing stress, improving air quality, and fostering environments that enhance learning and community engagement.
Understanding Biophilia
Biophilia, a term derived from Greek meaning ‘love of life,’ describes an intrinsic desire to connect with various forms of life. This connection is not just a fleeting preference but a fundamental aspect of human nature. We are naturally drawn to the vibrancy and diversity of the natural world, seeking out experiences that tie us to life in all its forms.
In design contexts, biophilic design recognizes this innate connection to nature to create spaces that enhance well-being. Integrating natural materials like plants, water, and natural light into our built environments highlights the profound impact these features have on our mental and physical health. Beyond aesthetic appeal, it’s about treating nature in ways that allow humans to thrive.
The COVID-19 pandemic has only amplified the recognition of biophilia’s importance. With increased stress and a renewed focus on mental health, the integration of nature into our daily lives has become more critical than ever. As we navigate through these times, biophilic design offers a pathway to healthier, more resilient living spaces.
The Biophilia Hypothesis
The biophilia hypothesis, introduced by renowned biologist Edward O. Wilson, posits that humans have an inherent tendency to seek connections with nature and other forms of life. This theory suggests that our affinity for the natural world is deeply rooted in our evolutionary history. Over millennia, humans evolved in close relationship with nature, and these bonds have shaped our psychological and emotional well-being.
From an evolutionary perspective, stronger ties to nature might have provided significant advantages, such as better access to vital resources and environments conducive to survival. These connections not only helped in physical survival but also fostered emotional attachment and a sense of belonging.
Today’s urbanized settings often leave us disconnected from the natural environments that once nurtured us. This hypothesis underscores the need to re-establish these connections to improve mental health outcomes. Exposure to natural elements reduces stress, lowers blood pressure, and enhances overall well-being, making a strong case for integrating biophilic design into modern life.
Benefits of Biophilic Design
Biophilic design significantly reduces stress and promotes relaxation. Studies reveal that environments enriched with natural elements significantly lower stress levels and improve mental health. Plants, natural light, and other biophilic features create a calming atmosphere, fostering peace and tranquility.
Biophilic design also enhances psychological well-being. Creating environments that nurture mental health helps individuals feel more connected, content, and engaged. This approach is especially beneficial in schools and healthcare facilities where mental health is a priority.
Students notably benefit from biophilic design. Environments incorporating natural elements address the needs of students with complex emotional and behavioral challenges, improving well-being and academic performance. High-quality air ventilation systems and natural light access contribute to a healthier, more conducive learning atmosphere.
Biophilic design promotes eco-friendly practices, benefiting both the environment and human health. Integrating natural landscapes into urban spaces improves air quality and supports physical health, showcasing the holistic benefits of biophilic architecture.
Real-World Examples of Biophilic Architecture
Biophilic architecture emphasizes the integration of natural elements into building designs, enhancing occupants’ connection to nature. Real-world examples abound, showcasing how biophilic design can transform spaces into havens of well-being and sustainability. From corporate offices to residential towers, biophilic architecture demonstrates the potential to promote ecological sustainability and enhance the quality of life.
Consider a few notable examples.
Apple Park – California, USA
Apple Park in California stands as a testament to the power of biophilic design. The campus is home to 9,000 trees and extensive wildlife spaces, creating a lush, inviting environment for employees. The thoughtful incorporation of natural elements within the workspace fosters a sense of tranquility and connection to the natural world.
Natural lighting is fundamental to Apple Park’s design. The Atri, with ample natural light, creates a brighter, more connected workspace, enhancing well-being and productivity. This design approach not only benefits employees’ mental health but also underscores Apple’s commitment to sustainability and innovation.
Bosco Verticale – Milan, Italy
Bosco Verticale in Milan is a striking example of biophilic architecture, featuring two residential towers adorned with approximately 20,000 trees. This vertical forest concept aims to combat urban sprawl and reduce expansion, bringing nature into the heart of the city.
Integrating plants into high-rise buildings, Bosco Verticale enhances urban biodiversity and promotes a healthier living environment.
The Jewel – Singapore
The Jewel in Singapore exemplifies biophilic design in a commercial setting. This architectural marvel integrates a significant number of plants and features an indoor waterfall, creating a serene and aesthetically pleasing environment. These natural elements enhance visual appeal and contribute to a sense of calm and relaxation for visitors and residents alike.
Natural features like indoor waterfalls and vast plant life in The Jewel demonstrate the positive impact of biophilic design on urban settings. Enhancing the connection between people and nature, biophilic architecture in commercial spaces fosters a more engaging and enjoyable experience.
Biophilia and Sustainable Practices
Biophilic architecture goes hand in hand with sustainable practices, emphasizing the use of natural and sustainable materials. Timber, straw, and clay are commonly used in biophilic construction, promoting ecological sustainability. Standards like the International Well Building Institute’s WELL focus on incorporating bio-based materials to enhance indoor air quality and occupant health.
Using local materials in biophilic design reduces transportation emissions and supports local economies, advancing sustainable resources goals. By sourcing materials locally, biophilic projects not only minimize their carbon footprint but also foster community resilience and economic stability.
Biophilic technology balances urban living with nature, encouraging eco-conscious lifestyles and choices. Integrating natural elements and materials from the construction phase, biophilic design aligns with sustainable practices to create healthier, more resilient environments.
Biophilia in Urban Environments
Incorporating biophilia into urban environments significantly enhances the quality of life. Green public spaces improve air quality, reduce noise pollution, offset carbon emissions, and create wildlife habitats. These green spaces serve as oases of calm in bustling cities, offering residents a respite from the urban grind.
Examples like the Amazon Spheres in Seattle show how integrating greenery and natural light into workspaces promotes a connection to nature and enhances employee well-being. These spaces demonstrate the potential of biophilic design to transform urban environments into healthier, more vibrant places to live and work.
Harmoniously integrating technology and natural elements creates urban settings that benefit both people and the environment. Blending the best of both worlds, biophilic cities can lead in sustainable, human-centric urban development.
The Role of Green Spaces in city centres
Green spaces in urban centers play a vital role in promoting physical and psychological health. Higher tree canopy coverage in cities is linked to better health outcomes, mitigating respiratory ailments and enhancing well-being. Well-maintained parks and gardens reduce stress levels among urban residents, providing much-needed relief from the pressures of city life.
Green spaces foster social connections and promote physical activities, enhancing overall quality of life. Access to nature in architectural spaces encourages outdoor activities, enhancing physical fitness and community bonding.
Indoor plants act as natural air purifiers, improving air quality and overall health in urban environments. Incorporating green elements indoors and outdoors, city planners can create healthier, more livable urban centers.
How Biophilia Concepts Influence Modern Education
Biophilic design profoundly impacts educational environments, enhancing cognitive function and creativity among students. Natural elements in classrooms, like plants and water features, lift mood and decrease stress, creating a more conducive learning atmosphere.
Access to natural light in classrooms is linked to improved academic performance and reduced anxiety. Large windows and outdoor access foster a calming environment, helping students focus better and perform well academically.
Outdoor classrooms extend the benefits of biophilic design, providing extensive exposure to nature and fostering better learning experiences. Indigenous perspectives emphasize a symbiotic relationship with nature, highlighting the importance of integrating biophilia concepts into education.
Summary
In summary, biophilic design is more than just an aesthetic choice; it’s a powerful approach that enhances physical and mental health by fostering a deep connection to the natural world. From reducing stress and improving air quality to promoting eco-friendly practices and enhancing cognitive function, the benefits of integrating nature into our built environments are vast and well-documented. Whether through biophilic architecture in urban centers or innovative educational spaces, the application of biophilia principles can lead to healthier, happier, and more sustainable communities.
As we look towards the future, it’s essential to embrace biophilic design as a cornerstone of sustainable development. By prioritizing our relationship with nature, we not only improve our well-being but also contribute to the health of our planet. Let us be inspired by the examples we’ve explored and strive to create living and working spaces that harmonize with the natural environment, fostering a brighter, more resilient future for all.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is an example of biophilia?
An example of a biophilia is the Barbican Centre in London, which integrates natural elements like lakes and wildlife within its brutalist architectural design. This harmonization of nature and built environment exemplifies biophilic architecture.
What is biophilia?
Biophilia refers to our inherent tendency to seek connections with nature and living systems. This instinctual bond emphasizes the importance of integrating natural elements into our environments for enhanced well-being.
How does biophilic design benefit mental health?
Biophilic design significantly benefits mental health by reducing stress and enhancing relaxation through the integration of natural elements into our surroundings. This approach fosters improved overall well-being.
Can biophilic design be integrated into urban environments?
Biophilic design can indeed be integrated into urban environments by incorporating green spaces, maximizing natural light, and utilizing sustainable materials. This approach significantly enhances residents' quality of life.
What are some examples of biophilic architecture?
Biophilic architecture can be exemplified by Apple Park in the USA, Bosco Verticale in Italy, and The Jewel in Singapore, all integrating natural elements to enhance well-being. These designs reflect a strong connection to nature, promoting a healthier living environment.
botanical design in architecture and interiors with wayward plants
A conversation with Wayward Plants Associate Director Tom Kendall covering their work creating biophilic public benches, large scale plant donations as an ethical business practice, designing botanically inspired playgrounds, a botanical memorial for nelson mandela in liverpool and their nature-inspired sustainable interior concept for a stella mccartney retail store in london
the green & healthy places podcast explores the themes of wellbeing and sustainability in real estate and hotels
Episode 059 took us to London, UK to chat with Tom Kendall, Associate Director of Wayward Plants, a botanical design collective on a mission to bring urban communities back into contact with the natural world.
Our conversation covers their work creating biophilic public benches that convey a message about inner city air quality, large scale plant donations as an ethical business practice, designing botanically inspired playgrounds, their work designing a botanical memorial for nelson mandela in liverpool and their nature-inspired sustainable interior concept for a stella mccartney store.
lemonary by wayward plants
Matt Morley
Let’s start with a question about your ‘better air benches’. There are so many different ways of bringing nature back into the city nowadays, it is one of the things that really inspires me personally and I think we share those same values.
How can something as seemingly banal as a public bench become much more functional and play an actual role in purifying the air within the city?
improving Air quality in the public realm
Thomas Kendall
Yes. So this was a collaboration with business improvement districts (BID) down in south London. And it was kind of interesting because it didn't start out as a bench, the initial proposal was supposed to be a gateway, it was supposed to be something big and grand.
After some really interesting discussions with the BID, we decided to change it to try and in a way take up more space. And to become more purposeful and useful within the public realm.
We knew there were other people who were doing other kinds of more ‘threshold gateway-esque strategies’ in London then anyway. So we wanted to try and find a way to integrate ourselves in a little bit more of a purposeful environment, we also knew that we were going to initially be sited in Borough Market, which is obviously this amazing sort of threshold and space of exchange, of constant flux and change.
We needed something that had an element of transition to it. And for us, this idea of a simple bench was I guess, the key that unlocked that for us, we wanted something that was going to be colorful, something that was going to be very simple yet interactive. And also obviously, that one of the key parts of us has to be something green.
Unusually for us, we ended up working with a monoculture of ivy in this instance. So we filled these very simple mesh cages of benches and we filled them with English IV, which is known to be really good for air quality. And we knew we were never going to fill them with enough to actively change the air quality. But for us, it was very much about raising awareness, which is also why we didn't want to be stuck in one site.
So whilst we started out in Borough Market, the whole point with the benches was that they were mobile, they could go out and fill space. Four years later, now, I'm still getting texts from friends being like, “Oh, I just saw your bench on this street” or “I just sat in this square and had my lunch on your bench”. There's something so wonderfully human and intuitive about them, that people really warm to.
borough market, london
Healthy buildings, outside air quality and raising public awareness
Matt Morley
So let me dig into that a little bit... If we had, say, a closed environment such as a healthy building interior, or specifically a workplace environment where we might be aiming for a much more tangible set of data and outputs. For example purifying the indoor air and improving productivity but when you're working in the public realm, perhaps the sheer scale of the problem is so huge that that you're never going to be able to make a meaningful impact on the air quality in that particular area of London. So do you set out with a different mission in a sense, just to raise awareness amongst the general public?
Thomas Kendall
Yeah, that was definitely one of the client’s key concerns with this was to have a wider discussion on air quality in Southwark obviously, it's a huge conflict points, so many congested roads, curbside deliveries, all day long and the amount of pollution varies so much, even down to like the huge spike in Christmas, because of Amazon deliveries to everybody's offices.
We knew there was a problem. but we only had a budget of £30,000. You're not going to solve all of the borough’s pollution problems for that clearly! There's there's always two strands - one is just the simple factor of enjoyability. In the public realm, the basic user interface of creating something that people will regularly use and then there is the lesson to be learned from that brief experience.
It's not we try not to make it like a giant placard, you know, we don't want to put a big billboard in front of you saying air pollution is wrong, it's usually a little bit more passive or subtle. So on the benches, we included a series of educational quotes or facts about the area and the pollution levels or different plants that can benefit our health and the environment.
air quality monitors and the role of data
We also had a series of sensors that were up for six months on them that were measuring the pollution in the different areas of particular, in particular, and that they sort of as they moved around, there was some data that was collected, just showing the amount of pollution in these different spaces, that was also then streamed to the business improvement district’s website.
In this way we did manage to get a really interesting look at the pollution levels, and how just moving two streets away from the main thoroughfare the amount of pollution would lower and there's now actually a green map that's been created of walks around Southwalk based not just on that data but on a much broader series of investigations to create different pathways to get to work or school for example avoiding pollution.
moor lane community garden by wayward plants
botanical design interventions in the community for added biophilia
Matt Morley
Let’s shift onto the Moor Lane Community Garden project and the idea of creating or co-designing effectively, and architectural interventions in the form of a garden in the local community as a way to bring an element of nature back into that that particular corner of the city. Talk to us a bit about that.
Thomas Kendall
Yes, Moor Lane was a really interesting one when it comes to engagement, because there was already a small community garden there and a huge future proposal involving the whole redevelopment of that particular street. So we were initially invited in actually as a mediator between the City of London and a series of local residence groups, where there seemed to be a bit of a disconnect happening.
Our first role there was to act as a middle person to help them communicate, and to find out what was missing, what wasn't being communicated effectively, and where things might be improved. Initially, we just having a lot of conversations, we didn't even dive into design. In fact the first three meetings were all about conversation and communication. And out of that we discovered that the future proposal had zero relevance to the site and zero relevance to the community. That was their problem.
We were eventually asked to not only come up with a green intervention for the site but also to challenge the entire future proposal for it. The future scheme had no relevance to the Barbecan, and it didn't reference its architecture, it didn't reference the community.
Not only were they concrete objects that we created in the end, but they were also etched in to exposed aggregate in the same way that the Barbican had previously been hand carved. There were certain color themes inspired by the area too as well as referencing old and new planting.
It was great for us, because as well as these conversations, we got to then invite people in to do planting in the project, too. So we had a really nice hands on aspect to it beyond the design and engagement. And then following up on that, obviously, there was a big report we put together that detailed every conversation, everything that had ever been said, as well as how it integrated into the designs.
Now in fact we're back on site, again, looking at how our designs have impacted it. And we're now redesigning the new planters, to include some of the details and motifs that the community thought was specifically poignant or interesting from what we did.
Even our own design got re-critiqued re-engaged with at the end of the whole thing, and the community groups came in and told us what they didn't didn't like about those and what was successful and what they would like to see go forward. It meant putting ourselves on the frontline to be critiqued.
sustainability and social responsibility in botanical design
Matt Morley
Is see that as being part of a wider concept of giving back and incorporating a community aspect into your work, which some could say is a version of corporate social responsibility (CSR) or ESG. It's certainly a cohesive approach within the overall framework of being a business working in the space of sustainability and biophilia that you to make an effort to, to give back via plants. Tell us about that.
Thomas Kendall
So this was something that started even before Wayward was Wayward. In a way, the very first thing that sparked this conversation for us was seeing a plant thrown out of a window in New York City, strewn across the street, it was incredibly dramatic, there was a couple shouting above, some sort of weird divorce argument I think!
Well, we picked up this plant from a broken home, we took it home, cared for it, brought it back to life, repotted it, and then we gave it to a friend. And the conversation we had with that friend was more in depth than I think most conversations we've ever had. And if a single plant had activated, this new conversation with somebody that we thought we knew quite well, we thought ‘well, maybe this is a thing’.
Plant donations as a way to give back through biophilia
It was an act of exchange and a way to use nature to explore human stories. And so we started off with one plant every year, we've gradually expanded on this. So moving to like 10 plants, 50 plants, 100 plants, so creating what we call ‘plant adoptions’, where we now invite people where we collect plants from unwanted homes, and we invite people into spaces, and they have to fill out an adoption form, and prove to us that they're going to be good plant parents by drawing or describing the home it's going to go to, and only once we deemed them a good plant parent will they then get the plant in exchange. And it's become this fantastic web. It's like exploring people's stories with gardens and nature. And it's not even just about filling out the form. Sometimes it's just the conversations that you have, again around these events.
We now use this as a tool for exploring public space and for large scale engagement. And so we also now give away through the same scheme, usually around 10,000 plants a year from the RHS Flower Show, Chelsea Flower Show, Hampton Court Flower Show, so we now give everybody about 10,000 plants a year to schools and community gardens, mostly sort of in and around London gradually gradually working our way out a little bit further afield as well.
Matt Morley
It's a really unique approach to giving back. We've collaborated on a biophilic design interiors project recently together and it was a very strong calling card for Wayward, being able to contribute to a greener, more ethical supply chain. create a supply chain and a network of consultants and other sort of service providers within that project.
Biophilic design and plants in kids playgrounds
I know that there's a playground that you're involved in recently, Asteys Row in London, I find playgrounds really interesting proposition they can often be so cold and heartless. But there's so many options simply by adding some biophilia and connecting the kids back to nature. Now, I often take inspiration from playgrounds I see in places like Germany, and Scandinavia, where they just seem to have completely reinvented what a kid's playground can look like. And then I see some other ones here, around me in Spain that look pretty, pretty frightening and harsh. But tell me about as these rows row playground because I know that was one you are deeply involved in yourself.
Thomas Kendall
Yeah, so Asteys Row was really interesting projct to be a part of because it was already embedded between two gardens in a way. So it's part of the New River Walk in the middle of Islington, London but when we first got faced with it, it was this very tarmac heavy, brutal, sad, grey crumbling space, a remnant from the 70s.
Again, through conversations with the locals, we started to gather stories about what it used to be the fact that there used to be speculations around streams running through it, there were a whole sort of weird little myths about who remembered what, but the key for us was this connection between the two existing gardens, and there's this amazing boulder garden that runs through part of the New River Walk right into where this playground space was. But there was no connection between it at all it was this is like they just sliced through it, and got rid of it.
rewilding the city for more biophilia
We saw it as an act of rewilding, we wanted to kind of bring this boulder garden back into fruition. It was also when we went on site with kids, as we did when we did our community engagement work for that we didn't want to get stuck in a local town hall talking about it, we went onto the playground. And we actually basically played with kids for half a day, in the space, both in the playground and up and down the area. So really, they we got the kids to take us on tours, rather than us going out taking them on tours.
We decided to take all the lessons learned from the existing garden, that was an amazing topography and landscape and bring that into the playground, whilst also having to handle all the many things that come with a playground, you know, health and safety issues, a ball court, which is never going to be the most appealing thing, especially on a sort of slightly tight Council budget. But it was we were actually really impressed with the way that the council really took the ideas on when we mentioned this idea of a boulder garden.
risk benefit analysis in healthy green playground design
We worked with a lot of amazing play safety inspectors as well, who brought the idea of a risk benefit analysis into the project. So we're no longer that concerned about a few falls or trips or hazards here and there. It's actually now about risk benefit analysis. So if the risk is great, but the benefit is greater, then that's actually deemed to be a positive thing.
And for me, the whole thing really it came out of very much replicating the existing landscape as well as learning from my own childhood, you know, I grew up on a farm near a beach. But there's sort of translation of how I played as a child. And my natural landscape. And the lessons I've learned from that, alongside working in talking with these children, and their appreciation of the natural landscape, sort of brought it all in.
Then we you know, as well as that, that, that's just the general topography, we then play with plants and planting as well on the site, we like introducing new trees, creating moments of play in interactions where the kids felt like they could disappear and hide from their parents and then reappear and emerge, even though they were never really out of somebody's sight. So it was a really nice way of integrating the whole of the History site as well as the way it was very much used by its existing community, and then just exaggerating it and and enhancing it.
Botanical design as part of biophilic design - an outdoor memorial project
Matt Morley
Some people might describe Wayward’s work outdoor biophilic design, others might call it, creative landscaping in some instances so you can go from a playground to something like the Nelson Mandela outdoor memorial project up in Liverpool where again, you're using nature for its mental wellbeing and quasi-spiritual benefits.
I think we all connect with nature on some level, often provoking feelings of calm for example. So how do you go about taking something like that and applying it to a memorial? And why in Liverpool?
Thomas Kendall
The Mandela project is an absolute privilege to work on, as you can imagine. And when we first got approached about this, we were a little unsure if we would be able to find our place within the project but when we started researching and reading, we discovered this amazing use that he himself had for gardens.
Within the prison that he was in, he used the gardens to grow food, both for himself and the other inmates because as you can imagine, the food was not particularly great on Robben Island all those years.Then he also used it as an act of exchange between them and the prison guards to allow books to come into the space. So he used it as this tool for both sustenance and education.
He would turn the quarries into temporary classrooms during lunch. They would then educate each other. And it was all through this exchange of edible foods for books and other educational materials.
In his act of kind of digging the garden over, and he had to grow plants, he'd also then be hiding his manuscripts. So the gardens were originally built, either just dug in the ground or dug into oil barrels, which would be cut in half as a very sort of simple on site piece of infrastructure. We've replicated these oil barrels in form and scale on site, there's going to be 32 of these simple cylinder shapes that are going to have his words on. And that's the reference and the way to Mandela and his approach to gardening.
What we were really keen on is that it wasn't just a memorial or just a public artwork, I don't think we will ever do just a public artwork, it will always have to be interactive, it will always have to be education, it will have to be a place that's accessible and inviting. And so very much in the way that he turned the quarry into a classroom we wanted to turn the island that this project is going to be on, in the middle of Prince’s Park in the middle of a lake and on this island, we wanted to turn it into essentially a theater, or at the very least an outdoor classroom that is active and engaging.
Even now, it's kind of amazing, we go into schools in Liverpool, and we've been doing workshops as well with kids there. And they already understand this at the ages of 9,10,11. They already understand this relationship that Liverpool had with Nelson Mandela. And they understand the importance of this. Hopefully, when they come to use the space, in the end, they will treat it as a classroom and as a theater and as a space to engage and learn and meet as a community. And not just as a memorial. But underneath it, there will still be his words gently carved in and around the space.
stella mccartney store, london botanical installation by wayward plants
botanical interior design narratives in sustainable retail
Matt Morley
It's an example of the role of narrative and big ideas that drive your projects Tom, there's always a lot going on behind it for anyone who's prepared to engage with that experience rather than just seeing the visual aspect, there's always an experiential component clearly.
When you're working indoors in an interior space of say 300 square meters in a retail store, such as the project you did for Stella McCartney, flagship, how do you go about trying to create that same experiential component and integrate those big ideas around bringing the outside world in through biophilia using certain types of plants? It must be a very different mindset, right?
Thomas Kendall
So in a way, there was a lot of similarities, they're both very personal projects, very much dealing in a way with the image of an individual. So obviously, Nelson Mandela, he had his particular approach to gardens and Stella McCartney, she herself has a very particular approach to the environment and sustainability.
With with Bond Street store, we knew that her interior design team were very much trying to explore something new, when it came to retail, they weren't just trying to create a store, what they really wanted to look at was how to integrate elements of her life. And her own experiences into the space.
There'd be a lot more personal conversations around her upbringing and growing up and how it started to translate into sustainable fabrics and finishes, as well as treating the whole building more like a home, there was a welcoming hallway, there's this almost sitting room upstairs.
This idea of a garden is core to any domestic situation, to the sense of the home. But then obviously incomplete counterintuitively to that we needed the kind of polish expected of a flagship store on London’s Bond Street.
So lots of the finishes and stuff that were going into the design of the store itself with the all this beautiful polished brass and concrete work and playing with materials and things there was a lot of process going on invited us to go right the other way and try and keep process to an absolute minimum and to really focus on very raw simple combinations of elements.
We were speaking to a lot about her father's Island up in Scotland and her relationship to stone, we proposed this idea of a boulder garden, right in the middle of the store, very weighty but at the same time relatively calm, sort of meditative. She felt a huge resonance with this idea. She's a big believer in sort of geological crystals and things as well.
The sustainability angle was important so we made sure that every stone in the place was sourced within the UK, carved within the UK, or the mosses either came from local growers, or were recycled from Chelsea Flower Show, and built into the garden. So then yeah, it became this very interesting conversation between the simple raw material of the stone and how to integrate it into into a beautiful green retail environment.
Matt Morley
It's a really unusual case study. And I think one that adds a lot of substance to your to your credentials, as well.
If people want to follow along and read more about what you're up to, where where's the best place for them to go, or to see what you're up to?
Thomas Kendall
Maybe just to have a look at our website https://www.wayward.co.uk/ we treat it like a live news feed as well, I have to confess, we're not the greatest on Instagram at the moment. But we're getting there slowly. We're too busy being outdoors rather than just online!
If you do want to get involved with any of our plant re-homing schemes as well. There's links on there that you can either sign up to as a school or community or as a volunteer. And yeah, usually for sort of have a look about usually around April or when there's usually some really good opportunities to come and volunteer and collect plants with us and enjoy the flower shows.
Thank you very much Matt.
Best Examples of Biophilic Buildings in Commercial Real Estate — Biofilico Wellness Interiors
Examples of biophilic design in real estate architecture are gaining prominence in high-profile commercial buildings around the world, here we examine the best concepts that combine elements of nature, wellbeing and sustainability.
Best Examples of Biophilic commercial developments
Examples of biophilic design in architecture are gaining prominence in high-profile commercial buildings around the world, here we examine the best concepts that combine elements of nature, wellbeing and sustainability
LaMercedes, Barcelona / Developers: Conren Tramway / Architects: BatlleRoig
Roots In The Sky, London / Developers: Fabrix / Concept Architects: Studio RHE / Project Architects: Sheppard Robson
CapitaSpring building, Singapore / Developers: CapitaSpring / Architects: BIG
Yorkville - The Ring, Hong Kong / Developers: Hong Kong Land / Architects: PHA
NION, Frankfurt / Developers: Groß & Partners / Architects: Unstudio
Holbein Gardens / Developer: Grosvenor Property UK / Architects: Barr Gazetas
Incorporating natural elements into biophilic design is essential for supporting sustainability and enhancing wellbeing.
LaMercedes Barcelona - a biophilic mixed-use development
LaMercedes, Barcelona by Conren Tramway (architects Batlleiroig)
LaMercedes, Barcelona by Conren Tramway (architects Batlleiroig)
Conren Tramway are a Spanish investor, developer group based in Barcelona and Madrid with an expansive portfolio covering office, residential and mixed-use development and investment projects.
In addition to the iconic Three Towers, ‘Les Tres Xemeneies del Parallel’, in Barcelona and various mixed-use developments in the new business distric @22 in Poblenou, this group have taken on what is perhaps their most ambitious urban regeneration project yet - LaMercedes, set to the first ‘eco-district’ in Spain integrating a variety of sustainable green building concepts, healthy building wellbeing strategies real estate ESG criteria.
What was once a car factory in an industrial area of the city is to be transformed by local architects Batlleiroig into an 185,000 sqm development that is “carbon and car-free”, a “sustainable island’“ in the city. Public services will include a museum, community center and an educational facility.
The project aims to mimic natural environments to improve the health and wellbeing of its occupants, as well as to optimize sustainability and environmental performance.
A total of 15,000m2 of retail space and 1300 residential units combined with 46,000m2 of creative offices and a ‘talent campus’ for 2000 students will make this a truly unique new addition to Barcelona’s urban landscape.
Another key feature of this ‘eco-illa’ will be the intelligent mobility system that pushes the infrastructure underground including a traffic system to leave the ground floor vehicle-free, meaning a pedestrianized and cycle-friendly experience for residents and visitors.
Expect to see an abundance of green space in the built environment, plenty of outdoor space to enhance wellbeing, an architectural design that integrates biophilic design principles and natural materials for human connection with the outside world.
Roots in the Sky, London - biophilic design and natural light in office real estate
Roots in the Sky by Fabrix
Already attracting attention for its headline-grabbing 1.4-acre urban forest rooftop accessible by the local community, Roots in the Sky is a statement of intent by the developers Fabrix, showing their focus on - biodiversity and sustainability in real estate.
What was once a 1960s era building housing Blackfriars Crown Court will undergo an urban regeneration facelift into an all-electric 385,000 sq ft mixed-use development containing offices, community spaces and retail.
Based around a hybrid steel and CLT (cross laminate timber) frame that reduces embodied carbon content, the concept architects are Studio RHE led by Richard Hywel Evans and project architects are Sheppard Robson with environmental consulting support by Atelier Ten.
A passive ventilation strategy, operable windows for natural ventilation on warmer days, a feature atrium for waste heat extraction, and 1300 tonnes of soil on the roof to attract nature back into the city while protecting against the risk of flash flooding, all make this one of the most sustainable real estate developments to take shape in London in recent years, and there has been no shortage of them due to the increasingly strict planning regulations coming into place via the Mayor’s office.
That rooftop will accommodate a restaurant, landscaping by Harris Bugg, an estimated 10,000 plants and a passive water capture system for irrigation on-site reducing the building’s water demands.
This is an example of how to enhance well being in office buildings through a combination of natural light, natural landscapes and green walls as key biophilic design principles.
CapitaSpring, Singapore - biophilic architecture in mixed-use real estate
CapitaSpring office building
Combine BIG Architects, a ‘city in a garden location’ and the backing of a giant developer and out comes this 51-floor, 280m high building of Grade A office space, serviced apartments and a four-story garden dubbed the ‘green oasis’.
Transforming the site of a former car park complex built in the 1980s this new example of biophilic design in architecture aims for icon status with its eye-catching exterior facade complete with vertical elements that appear to be prized apart to reveal flashes of nature emerging through the cracks, at a giant scale.
This interplay between building and nature is more common at an interiors scale but doing it here takes the concept in a completely new direction.
This is also, as we would expect, a ‘smart building’ full of IOT tech and sensors to facilitate customization of the building occupant experience.
Eight floors of serviced residences with a long list of lifestyle amenities such as a mini indoor jogging track, pool, gym, residents lounge and BBQ pits are topped by offices and the open-air garden space large enough for work breaks, lunchtime walks and more.
Natural features such as biophilic design in the interior environment, show how the developer, architects and interior designers have integrated natural systems and organic materials, natural forms and consideration for mental health, creating a seamless connection with natural environments.
To create spaces like this in modern society takes a bold vision of the health benefits of introducing an element of natural habitat back into dense urban areas.
hongkong land's yorkville the ring - botanical architecture in real estate
hong kong land’s yorkville the ring
Located in Chongqing, China this 420,000m2 mixed-use retail-led development called Yorkville - The Ring is split between 170,000m2 of retail mall, 110,000m2 of offices and… wait for it, 70,000m2 of indoor botanical garden.
PHA Architects are behind the masterplan and design of this new lifestyle destination that has an enclosed landscaped commercial street embraced by two office towers.
This opens up the possibility of visual dialogue between the verdant, stepped terrace balconies of the towers above and the indoor botanical garden space.
In an attempt to blend a highly urban retail concept with a nature-centric, or biophilic design approach, the retail circulation spaces have been interwoven with the indoor botanical garden at various levels, inviting visitors to engage with the botanical experience as they navigate from one retail store to another, incorporating natural elements into the built environment.
Parametric modeling of the building facade allowed for a modular design, combining curved ceramic tiles with aluminium panels and LED lighting for an understated yet elegant aesthetic perfectly pitched for the expectations of both the local clientele and the all-important retail brand tenants.
Biophilic design principles such as respect for the natural environment in the interior space as well as natural ventilation, a strong visual connection with the natural world in respect of human evolution, even natural geometries evoking nature. There is so much goodness for human health in this building!
NION by Unstudio Frankfurt am Main - biophilic design in real estate
Unstudio NION office building
Designed with the deliberate intention to become one of Frankfurt’s if not Germany’s most sustainable office building, NION is located in the city’s Europaviertel West district where big things are happening in urban regeneration over the past two decades.
Unstudio have integrated ESG criteria and resource-efficient tech to deliver a sustainable building that considers its environmental impact as well as a social angle via the wellbeing of its regular occupants and of the community around it.
Abundant landscaping is nothing new nowadays in real estate developments such as this yet when combined with a low-carbon, modular and circular economy principles it takes on renewed meaning, becoming almost like the external signal of what is going on inside the building’s facade and daily operational energy use.
A green wall is one such biophilic design intervention that can be implemented to improve views and connect people with the natural environment within a built space.
When biophilia and greenery are purely superficial, this chain link falls apart; for us it a fundamental component of a biophilic design concept to combine elements of sustainability and wellbeing as in this example.
The planting serves to encourage biodiversity, contributing to an emerging urban green corridor in the district and giving insects, birds and wildlife an opportunity to return to this corner of the city.
Rainwater management systems improve water efficiency, geothermal heating and cooling reduce energy demands, smart building management ensure daily operations are fine tuned with the demand-based air conditioning (especially relevant now in the post-Covid, remote work era when areas of an office may be in greater or lesser demand at certain days or times of day).
Biophilic design focuses on well being for occupants while respecting the environment, so often there is a need for landscape architects to create multi sensory interactions via water features, naturalistic shapes, organic forms in the landscaping and so on.
Here we see a material connection between the indoor and outdoor environment by the seamless integration of biophilic principles thanks to the vision of UN Studio.
Holbein Gardens, London - biophilia in real estate
Sitting prime real estate near London’s Sloane Square station this 26,524 sq ft development by Grosvenor Property UK and Barr Gazetas architects dials in the sustainable building credentials to create what will be a highly efficient, low-emission building set to be Net Zero by 2025.
Holbein Gardens by Grosvenor Property UK
Sitting prime real estate near London’s Sloane Square station this 26,524 sq ft development by Grosvenor Property UK and Barr Gazetas architects dials in the sustainable building credentials to create what will be a highly efficient, low-emission building set to be Net Zero by 2025.
Barr Gazetas retained the existing structure rather than opting for demolition (equivalent to 59 tonnes of concrete / a 39% embodied carbon saving), reusing 13.5 tonnes of steelworks to reduce embodied carbon emissions, used a CLT structure, used reclaimed brickwork with lime based mortar for improved disassembly (Circular Economy principle). In total, 99.95% of all strip out waste was successfully diverted from landfill.
This all-electric, eight-story block powered by 100% renewable energy procured from the UK grid combined with photovoltaic panels on the roof generating around 17% of the projected maximum demand. As such, it is scheduled to save 50% operational energy consumption compared to benchmarks in the London, according to the developer.
Improved fenestration allows for enhanced access to natural daylight, reducing the need for artificial lighting at certain times of day.
Rainwater capture and reuse on the rooftop reduces water demand while a 714 sq ft communal roof garden with outdoor kitchen provides both biodiversity opportunities (135% net biodiversity gain) and access to biophilia for building occupants during their work days. That is in addition to the four green walls on the exterior facade.
Active travel features include 79 cycle spaces, 68 lockers and nine showers for those using active transportation methods to get to or from work each day.
Such passive strategies have obvious psychological benefits while also ensuring some ecological attachment at the start and end of a work day for example.
Cognitive function is enhanced via a connection to nature which can be both through direct experience and representations of nature, public spaces with potted plants, natural colours and local timber, outdoor areas with biomorphic forms in the garden design, if all urban environments looked like Holbein Gardens we have no doubt the foot traffic would explode as we all have this inherent need for a strong connection to nature.
A total of four different green building certifications are targeted, namely: BREEAM Outstanding, WELL Enabled, Nabers 4.5 and EPC A rating.
Cognitive performance and sound in a healthy building interior
The Biofilico team explore the risks and opportunities of appropriate acoustic conditions in an indoor environment, from unwanted noise to sound wellness therapies such as biophilic soundscapes designed to foster calm and concentration.
What is the connection between sound and wellness in healthy buildings?
All of the body’s senses can be used one way or another in order to alter a person’s physical and mental wellbeing but hearing is a main sense that is often targeted first because of the many benefits that can arise from minimal intervention.
A healthy building concept on the rise is that of sound wellness - using soundscapes or acoustic environments such as nature sounds. These can be played through apps or streamed via a website or software platform.
Mental health benefits of nature sounds or ‘biophilic sounds’
What is meant by a sound “working” or not can be seen through physiological and behavioral changes. For example, listening to sounds of nature (biophilic sounds) has been proven to increase mood, improve focus, promote sleep, help relaxation, and just overall ensure a boost in mental wellbeing.
Natural sounds can alter the brain connections that trigger fight or flight response and therefore calm our systems down, implicating that no perceived threats are around. The mellow birdsongs or serene waves tell the body that things are fine and there is no immediate threat which, in turn, reduces stress and the cognitive load that is associated with a heightened alertness.
Even though there are different types of nature sounds that range from rustling of trees to crashing of waves, the nature (no pun intended) of the sounds does not seem to matter but rather varies from person to person based on familiarity.
For instance, rusting trees may cause more benefits for someone who grew up surrounded by trees than they would for someone who grew up by the ocean. There appears to be a level of familiarity or nostalgia that goes into the effectiveness of certain sounds.
So even though initiatives such as Quiet Parks International are popping up and showing improvements in people’s moods it also seems that beaches and other settings will be just as effective for the right individual. There is no one size fits all solution in other words.
What type of biophilic nature sounds work best?
Studies have shown that the more variety of nature sounds are experienced at once, the more a person can feel immersed in the environment and trigger healthy patterns such as calm mood and regulated circadian rhythm. This biological clock helps us to get better acclimated to our surroundings and fall into a comfortable routine.
The more biodiversity in an audio soundscape in other words , the more likely an individual’s brain is to experience something akin to being outside in actual nature.
how does sound therapy promote mental wellbeing?
Another useful aspect of sound wellness is the role music can have, specifically with therapeutic processes. Music therapy is a newer practice that has also shown promising health and wellness benefits. The key difference between the two practices being the applications.
Sound wellness is often a means to treat the symptoms of a bad mood and music therapy is primarily seen in hospitals and other treatment facilitates to aid in reversing or correcting some undesirable behavior.
Music therapy is usually used alongside other affirmative actions in order to touch upon one of five beneficial categories: emotional, physical, spiritual, social, or cognitive. The emotional benefits can help reduce anxiety and encourage self-expression.
The physical benefits are most seen in pain reduction through distraction, relaxation, improved motor development, etc. They can also include motivational factors that reflect the task at hand by providing the energy needed in order to get things done and do them well.
Spiritual and social benefits can bring people together through shared interests or a common goal. Lastly, the cognitive aspect can advocate for better coping skills, increased sense of control, and better focused attention for the task at hand.
Whether a company or individual user wants to become better a task, improve their mood, or become more equip to deal with life’s challenges, sound wellness can apply in a multitude of different ways.
Can music positively impact task performance?
Studies have shown that music can reduce anxiety levels and decrease the time required to complete a complex task such as surgery in a hospital. Music in operating rooms can make communication moderately more difficult but is generally not considered a hazard, in fact it is a positive influence on the person carrying out the procedure.
Equally, noise (unpleasant, unwanted sound) will elevate cortisol levels, a hormone in regulating blood pressure and responding to stress. This is particularly a risk in work environments where productivity in the workplace is closely linked to indoor environmental quality factors such as generally acceptable acoustic working conditions.
REFERENCES:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6901841/
Benefits of Listening to Nature Sounds: Mental Health and Biophilic Wellness Design Consultants
Here we explore the science behind natural soundscapes and biophilic sounds via their impact on mental wellbeing. As more and more apps promote the concept of listening to nature as a way to reduce stress, boost productivity and improve mood, we look at the evidence behind and ask how it works. Biofilico Healthy Building consultants, London and Barcelona.
Health Benefits of listening to Pre Recorded Nature Sounds vs. Music
All of the body’s senses can be used one way or another in order to alter a person’s physical and mental wellbeing but hearing is a primary sense often targeted first because of the bang for buck - multiple benefits from minimal intervention.
This is the foundation of the acoustic comfort concept present in healthy building standards such as WELL (acoustic comfort chapter here), partly as a way to balance any negative aspects of distracting noise present in an indoor environment that can in turn create a negative mood state.
A practice that is on the rise in the world of acoustic comfort in healthy buildings and wellness design is a sub-segment of the sound wellness trend focused specifically on natural soundscapes and biophilic sounds - acoustic environments that taken directly from or inspired by natural environments.
Such biophilic sounds and natural soundscapes are being deployed in apps / software programs such as SWELL by Open Ear Music. These apps often use pre-recorded nature sounds to enhance relaxation and well-being.
the science behind biophilic sounds and mental wellbeing benefits
Even though the science behind listening to nature sounds does not necessarily have concrete benefits, there have been many studies conducted and theories created as to why listening to these types of sounds work, and work they do!
What is meant by the notion that a sound is “working” can be seen through physiological and behavioral changes. For example, listening to sounds of nature has been proven to increase mood, improve focus, promote sleep, help relaxation, and overall ensure a boost in mental wellbeing. Additionally, exposure to natural soundscapes can lead to enhanced cognitive function, improving cognitive performance, alertness, memory, and problem-solving skills.
The theory behind why nature sounds work well has to do with the biological appeal that being exposed to nature, provides. Natural sounds can alter the brain connections that trigger fight or flight response and therefore calm our systems down when we don’t perceive a threat.
The mellow birdsongs or serene waves tell the body that things are fine and there is no immediate threat which, in turn, reduces stress and the cognitive load that is associated with a heightened alertness. Nature sounds also have an immediate calming effect, providing a respite from the distractions of modern life and contributing to mental and physical wellbeing.
This high-level of stress has also been seen through listening to artificial sounds by causing an increase in inward thinking that is associated with ruminating, and over-thinking which lead to depressive and anxiety disorders.
Even though there are different types of nature sounds that range from rustling of trees to crashing of waves, the nature (no pun intended) of the sounds does not seem to matter but rather varies from person to person based on familiarity.
For instance, rustling trees may cause more benefits for someone who grew up surrounded by trees than they would for someone who grew up by the ocean.
There appears to be a level of familiarity or nostalgia that goes into the effectiveness of certain sounds. So even though places such as Quiet Parks are popping up and showing improvements in people’s moods conversely, beaches and other settings will be just as effective for the right individual.
Going back to the idea of Quiet Parks brings up an important piece of the puzzle which is, how connected do you feel to nature?
Nature sounds and circadian rhythm
An equally important notion is how submerged in the environment you feel. Studies have shown that the more variety in nature sounds, at once, the more a person can feel immersed in the environment and trigger bodily patterns such as circadian rhythm.
Nature sounds act as a powerful sleep aid by creating a tranquil environment that masks disruptive noises and promotes restorative sleep.
This biological clock helps us to get better acclimated to our surroundings and fall into a comfortable routine. The more biodiversity in a soundscape, the more likely an individual is to really believe they are there and better be able to connect with the natural processes required to sustain a happy, comfortable state of mind.
Another useful aspect of sound wellness is the role music can have, specifically with therapeutic processes. Music therapy is a newer practice that has also shown promising health and wellness benefits. The key difference between the two practices being the applications.
Sound wellness is usually a means to treat the symptoms of a bad mood and music therapy is primarily seen in hospitals and other treatment facilitates to aid in reversing or correcting some undesirable behavior.
Music therapy is usually used alongside other affirmative actions in order to touch upon one of five beneficial categories: emotional, physical, spiritual, social, or cognitive. The emotional benefits can help reduce anxiety and encourage self-expression.
The physical benefits are most seen in pain reduction through distraction, relaxation, improved motor development, etc. Physical benefits can also include motivational factors that reflect the task at hand by providing the energy needed in order to get things done and do them well.
Spiritual and social benefits can bring people together through shared interests or a common goal. Lastly, the cognitive aspect can advocate for better coping skills, increased sense of control, and better focused attention for the task at hand.
Whether a company or individual user wants to become better a task, improve their mood, or become more equip to deal with life’s challenges, sound wellness can apply in a multitude of different ways.
Both nature sounds and music can produce a wide range of results that show positive results so when asking the question of “how can I better help myself?” It all depends on context and desired results.
Additional research notes and links:
Nature sounds alter brain connections and reduce fight or flight reflex
https://www.health.com/condition/stress/why-nature-sounds-are-relaxing –> brain scans, heart rate monitors, behavioral experiments
Artificial sounds linked to more inward focus while nature sounds focused on outward focus
Inward = worrying, over-thinking; linked to conditions such as depression/ anxiety disorders; slower reaction times (means less sustained focus)
Natural sounds improve focus
Familiarity makes a difference—dif. Nature sounds might help one but not other person
Parks are key relaxation places less human-made noise and nature sounds together
Improved health: decreased pain, lower stress, increased mood /cognitive performance
anthropogenic sounds = especially in marine life, is noise pollution (high intensity; opposite of relaxing)
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0301479717307193 Acoustic environments matter: Synergistic benefits to humans and ecological communities
Protected areas key for biodiversity, which provides a more realistic, immersive experience
“Your Wellbeing Garden” by Alistair Griffiths, Matt Keightley, Annie Gatti, Zia Allaway- Birdsong; better to have multiple diff kinds
Thought to be parallel btwn how birdsong develops, and humans speak that can account for why birdsong is more appealing
https://academic.oup.com/bioscience/article/61/3/203/238162?login=true
Nature sounds linked to environmental quality
“no coherent theory regarding the ecological significance of all sounds emanating from a landscape exists”
Soundscape ecology landscape and composition of sound
Geographical context, recognizing anthropogenic/ biological processes, temporal/ spectral patterns and how a break in pattern can alter configuration of landscapes (lack of biodiversity creates less connection with nature) provide info about surroundings
“The rhythms of nature;” ex. Singing of birds strongly correlates to sunrise and sunset
Music Therapy
helpful distraction from painful procedures
helps decrease sedative needed
music modulates mood, if paired with action, release hormones that reduce perception of strain; good distraction
https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/treatments/8817-music-therapy
Listening, singing, playing or composing
Enhanced communication/ social skills to manage thoughts
Increased motivation
Pain managing
Behavior disorders
Emotional benefits—self expression, anxiety reduction
Physical benefits – changing heart rate/ lowering bp, improved motor development, pain management/ distraction, relaxation
Spiritual benefits
Cognitive—coping skills, increased sense of control
Social—bring people together
Sound therapy focuses on controlling symptoms and music therapy relatively new and primarily used in hospital type facilities
https://www.verywellmind.com/benefits-of-music-therapy-89829
May not work on its own; more medically based than sound therapy
Goal-oriented
Accesses shared brain systems: cognitive, motor, speech centers
https://www.biausa.org/public-affairs/media/neurologic-music-therapy-in-neurorehabilitation
How music is processed/ perceived in the brain
Being actively or passively engaged simulates multiple parts of the brain
Neurologic Music Therapy
Improving Sleep Quality with Nature Sounds
Listening to nature sounds before bed can significantly improve sleep quality by creating a calming atmosphere. Research has shown that exposure to natural sounds, such as ocean waves or rain, can reduce stress and anxiety, making it easier to fall asleep. These soothing sounds can also help mask disruptive noises that can disturb sleep, such as traffic or snoring.
Studies have found that listening to nature sounds before bed can lead to improved sleep quality, increased sleep duration, and better overall well-being. The calming effect of nature sounds can also help reduce symptoms of insomnia and other sleep disorders. Incorporating nature sounds into your bedtime routine can be as simple as playing a recording of ocean waves or rain on a phone app or sound machine.
By improving sleep quality, nature sounds can also have a positive impact on physical and mental health, including reduced blood pressure and improved cognitive function. The simple act of listening to nature sounds can transform your sleep experience, leading to a more restful and rejuvenating night.
Reducing Stress and Anxiety through Biophilic Sounds
Biophilic sounds, such as bird songs and water sounds, can have a profound impact on reducing stress and anxiety. Research has shown that exposure to natural sounds can lower cortisol levels, heart rate, and blood pressure, all indicators of stress. Nature sounds can also have a positive impact on mental health, reducing symptoms of anxiety and depression.
The calming effect of biophilic sounds can be attributed to the way they interact with the brain’s default mode network, which is responsible for relaxation and stress reduction. Incorporating biophilic sounds into your daily routine can be as simple as taking a walk in a park or forest, or listening to a recording of nature sounds on a phone app.
By reducing stress and anxiety, biophilic sounds can also have a positive impact on physical health, including reduced blood pressure and improved immune function. The positive effects of biophilic sounds can also be seen in the workplace, where they can improve productivity and overall well-being. Embracing the natural world through sound can be a simple yet powerful way to enhance your mental and physical health.
Boosting Cognitive Function with Natural Acoustics
Natural acoustics, such as the sounds of ocean waves or wind, can have a profound impact on cognitive function. Research has shown that exposure to natural sounds can improve attention, memory, and creativity. The calming effect of natural acoustics can also reduce distractions and improve focus, leading to enhanced cognitive performance.
Nature sounds can also have a positive impact on mood, reducing symptoms of anxiety and depression. Incorporating natural acoustics into your daily routine can be as simple as taking a walk in a park or forest, or listening to a recording of nature sounds on a phone app.
By improving cognitive function, natural acoustics can also have a positive impact on overall well-being, including improved sleep quality and reduced stress. The positive effects of natural acoustics can also be seen in the workplace, where they can improve productivity and overall well-being. Embracing the soothing sounds of the natural world can be a simple yet effective way to boost your cognitive performance and enhance your quality of life.
Wellbeing Gardens and Biophilia with Dr. Lauriane Chalmin-Pui
Welcome to the Green and Healthy Places podcast, in which we explore the themes of wellbeing and sustainability in real estate and interiors today.
I'm your host, Matt Morley, founder of Biofilico healthy buildings and in this episode is episode (50) I'm in the UK talking to Dr. Lauriane Chalmin-Pui, a wellbeing Fellow at the Royal Horticultural Society. The RHS is the UK's leading gardening charity.
Dr. Lauriane Chalmin-Pui completed her PhD at Sheffield University where she conducted research on how domestic gardens can support physical and mental health via exposure to plants and wildlife. So if you're a regular listener to the podcast, you'll see the angle of where our conversation might go connecting gardens with biophilic design in interiors and buildings.
Our discussion covers topics as diverse as
wellbeing gardens, also known as healing gardens
planet friendly low environmental impact gardening
environmental psychology as it relates to gardens
the emotional, physical, and even social benefits of gardening and generally tending to plants
the benefits of biophilia for our microbiota via direct exposure to soil and earth
her forthcoming research publication on the role a garden’s colors and scents can play in creating a positive impact on human health and wellbeing.
Matt Morley
Thank you so much for being here with us today. I'd really love to start with a an initial question on the concept of environmental horticulture, which is your area of expertise. Could you give us a brief intro to that?
environmental horticulture
Dr. Lauriane Chalmin-Pui
Yeah. Hi, Matt. Thanks a lot for having me. So I'm a postdoctoral fellow at the Royal Horticultural Society under the University of Sheffield. And I'm physically based in Wisley, in the hilltop home of gardening science, and I'm in the environmental horticulture team.
So we're primarily primarily concerned with improving our understanding of the interactions between soil, plants, water, and people. This includes carbon, water and nutrient cycles for both outdoors and indoor plants, and how they're impacted by people, of course, as well as the impacts of gardens and gardening on human health and wellbeing. All of these functions are interconnected. And that's why the word ‘environment’. And of course, as I'm sure you'll know, it's all in the context of accelerated urbanization and land use change the biodiversity and climate crises.
We're having more frequent extremes of temperatures and precipitation, which then has the knock on effects on climate on the hydrological cycle and biodiversity on soil health. And our environmental horticulture team is composed of different specialists in these areas.
So we've got horticultural scientists, the soil and climate change scientist, water scientist and fellows like me on tree traits and ecosystem services, for example, in sustainability, of course, research technicians as well. So our primary question in all of that is about the practical interventions that gardeners can apply to reduce their gardening footprint and then also improve environmental health and human wellbeing.
Biophilic design
Matt Morley
It strikes me that there's a parallel between the work you're doing, which is very much academically driven around these outdoor spaces, and biophilic design - some of the principles that apply to my world in terms of creating greener and healthier buildings, where we're constantly balancing those twin demands around our impact on the environment, and the potential positive or indeed negative impacts on the occupants of a building.
You mentioned, climate change. I know it's not perhaps your first specialism but just give us a very broad intro to sustainable gardening, how can gardening be anything but sustainable?
Sustainable gardens
Dr. Lauriane Chalmin-Pui
Right, so I think in terms of a garden sustainability is very much about environmental resilience, whether that's indoors or outdoors. And there's many ways in which we can actually have a negative footprint, if you will. So if you're using peat based compost, for example, that is depleting peat bogs, which are a very important ecosystem and also a carbon store. So it really depends on the practices. And there are so many different ways of garden gardening.
When we think about surface area, we might think that oh, domestic gardens, for example, are quite small and won't necessarily have a big impact. But residential gardens comprise about 30% of Great Britain's total urban area while the total area of UK domestic gardens is about 700,000 hectares, which is equivalent to more than 90,000 football pitches. So it's quite a large area.
Carbon sequestering trees
One positive thing for example a gardener can do is to plant a tree, in their garden or community or school or wherever. And if every gardener did that we would be storing huge amounts of carbon. But one further thing to think about when we think about environmental horticulture, again, is that we shouldn't necessarily just plant a certain tree because it's sequester is more carbon, because we would loose diversity if we planted the same tree. And the goals of a garden are different for example, the goals of a woodland or an agricultural patch.
We're operating on different timescales. So in a timber woodland, you might want to plant a tree that sequesters more carbon in that shorter timescale before it gets cut down. But in a garden, you're probably not anticipating to cut down your tree within the next 10 years. So you might want to choose a tree that encourages that slow growth and sequester carbon over time and storing it in the tree.
Water efficiency for sustainability
Then there are water practices. So whether you are irrigating your garden from mains water will be very different to if you are harvesting rainwater, creating permeable as much permeable surface area and just different practices of how you water, how you feed your soil. There's definitely lots of scope that any gardener can do in their home and for us at the RHS how we can influence the horticultural industry, the government and how we can promote these different, more sustainable behaviors. And then, of course, we have our own gardens that, you know, we have our own operations that are going in here. So we're also trying to improve that.
sustainable green buildings
Matt Morley
Great, okay, so you've brought up a couple of things there. I think the one point that just occurred to me as I was listening to you is very much same principles, when we look at, say, putting in a green roof on a, on a building as part of a sustainable real estate plan.
You know, we're trying to achieve many of the same outputs that you've you've just described and also deal with many of the same issues around for example, irrigation and how rainwater collection can just effectively reduce overall water consumption and lower irrigation systems and shear escaping and things like that.
wellbeing gardens
You mentioned the RHS and its role so for those who are perhaps not familiar with it, or anyone listening from outside of the UK, we're Royal Horticultural Society, what is the overall aim you're obviously specialists in Wellbeing within the health and planetary aspect of the Environmental Horticulture team, but the RHS itself? How does your team fit into the wider picture? And what are the aims and objectives of your teamwork over the course of a year?
Dr. Lauriane Chalmin-Pui
Right. So the Royal Horticultural Society is the UK is largest gardening charity. And so it's, it's all about that horticultural knowledge. So we have an advisory service members can call in and ask questions. It's about inspiring people to, you know, do the best and their guidance. And it's about promoting that horticultural industry as well. And within our team, it's very much the science so the evidence base for this for for all of this the different initiatives, we've also got a community outreach team, for example, who work in areas that may not have that safe and quality access to green spaces.
planet friendly gardening
One of the campaigns at the moment is a planet friendly gardening campaign. So this is exactly the kinds of things that we're talking about. And the aim of that is to help gardeners make the most of the physical and emotional benefits of gardening both for the planet And for ourselves? What was the next part of your question?
healing gardens
Matt Morley
So you mentioned? Well, you, you've just tied them both in next you mentioned the emotional benefits of gardening. And you also mentioned that the IHS had been working on some of his own gardens. And doing some research for our conversation, I saw that I think it was four of these sort of health and wellbeing gardens going up. So let's dig into that a little bit. So the emotional benefits from your evidence based perspective, like, how do you quantify those? How do you provide evidence for them? And what are the sort of broad buckets in terms of those emotional benefits? We're presumably talking more about mental health and well being?
biophilia for mental wellbeing
Dr. Lauriane Chalmin-Pui
Yes, so there is a wealth of evidence on the mental, but also the physical and the social health benefits of gardens and gardening. And this is it's a relatively new field in science, it started picking up in the 80s in the field of environmental psychology. So there is an and it's been growing ever since. And I think the COVID pandemic, one thing that it has alerted us, other than, of course, you know, medical infections, is the importance of green spaces.
Biophilia research
So I think it's really picked up. Most people now understand this, if you tell them about the mental health impacts of a garden, they're not going to look at you like you're crazy. So I think that it's really been building but in the 80s, one of the first studies was by an environmental psychologist called Roger Ulrich, and he had a sort of natural experiment where he was looking at patients recovering from gallbladder surgery.
In the hospital, one wing of the hospital had a view of trees, the other wing of the hospital, the windows had a view of a brick wall, and other buildings. And he saw that the people who were having rooms with a view of the trees were recovering a couple of days faster and being discharged a couple of days earlier than the patients with the view of the brick wall. They were requiring less painkillers, and they were less grumpy with the nurses. So that that was the real seminal studies.
Since then, there have been theories that have been proposed. So the likes of attention restoration theory by Stephen and Rachel Kaplan stress reduction theory which was developed by the same Roger Ulrich. And I started this research with my PhD in 2016. And really, in these past five, six years, it's it's really grown a lot to the wealth of evidence on mental physical and social health.
So for example, the things we can really look at are symptoms of depression, anxiety, so that's been shown to be reduced with gardening. There you can also look at pleasant and unpleasant emotions and the frequency of them. You can look at mental health during the COVID lockdowns for example, they've been quite extreme scenarios, but quite common scenarios now for many of us, we can look at general scales of well being we can look at reported stress, feminine.
Physiological benefits of biophilia
So that's a self reported psychological perspective. But we can also look at physiological stress regulation. So one of my studies, for example, looked at cortisol, which is the body's main stress hormone. And I found that the presence of plants and small front gardens did actually have an impact on the residents cortisol patterns on the daily basis.
So there's all sorts of things you can there's also in terms of physical health, you can look at positive habits forming around diets and physical exercise, there have been studies showing that greener spaces are more likely to encourage active travel, so such as walking and bicycling, for example.
Green exercise in the garden
Gardening regularly also has been shown to reduce the risk of fracture. So like limb fractures, and it's it's an adaptive form of physical exercise. So as one grows older, and perhaps physical abilities change, it is an activity that one can keep up with, as opposed to maybe running that is not as adaptive. And we're learning more and more about the importance of exposure to microbial diversity. So that's through soil and vegetation, small microbiota, very small organisms that are found on the skin and in our gut depending on what we eat, and that will have a knock on impact on our immune system.
social health benefits from gardening
Finally, social health, which does often get forgotten is linked to things like a sense of community, a sense of belonging in one's area, making friends, feeling feeling connected with the world around us. And that will have a knock on impact on our sense of self esteem and creativity and having, you know, a kind of meaningful occupation to do. So there's, there's lots of things, really, and it's only growing. Of course, each of these studies are done in particular context of particular populations. So there's always more to do.
Biophilic design research studies
Matt Morley
The thank you for that. It's, it's so interesting to see the crossover, you know, that Ulrich study, which I think was in sort of the early 80s. And not that much seems to have been done since then, if I'm honest, we all go back to that one study of X number of patients in a hospital room, but even in the biophilic design space, it's really the seminal piece that we all refer to, and then again, into the sort of the ATR and that are SRT studies, or concepts and theories biophilic design.
What I'm seeing is that it has much more of a passive component, I think what's coming through from what you've just said, is there's this active piece. And I think the key word, there might be gardening, rather than just exposure to plants in nature.
So I often think about that in terms of forest bathing, where there is an element of engagement with nature. And I think with gardening, you're taking it a level further, because you're then prompting exposure to the plants and therefore tapping into that sort of immune health microbiota. And then that social peace around community and engagement is immediately suggesting that perhaps a like a rooftop garden in a residential building, for example, or an office even would have far more or perhaps a wider application in terms of the physical benefits than just bumping up the number of air purifying plants in reception, for example, I think that's, it's a really striking piece of of, of insight that perhaps biophilic design, yeah, maybe struggled to get to, because it tends to be more about introducing these elements into a space and then accepting that people will just sort of passively take in their surroundings and, and hope for the best gardening is much more about engaging with the garden and, and playing an active role in it clearly, that's the main difference. Right?
Dr. Lauriane Chalmin-Pui
Right. So there's two, the active and the passive engagement of the plants, you're absolutely right to, to draw those two as key differences. And of course, when you are gardening, you do have that added element of creativity of being able to shape the environment that's around you, which psychologically is very linked to to, to a feeling of control. And when we look at how that might be impacting, I mean, often a lot of the ills that we have, are often around uncertainty and lack of control.
So when someone can control something that will usually have quite a lot of benefits. However, I do disagree with you, but the more passive exposure to plants doesn't have much impact. And that is kind of negligible because there are more and more studies, including one of my own, that, even just that that passive exposure of having something nearby so whether that's in an office or in a home or just outside of the home, that very frequent access does have an impact on perceived stress on perceived well being but also on this cortisol patterns, which I mentioned earlier.
So I did a study that we we found the whole street, that garden, they had front gardens, so that the physical space between the House and the street or front yards if you're in North America, that were previously paved over and so I did an intervention where I added plants to them. And I studied the residents there of over the course of a year. And we found that before the interventions only intervention only 24% of the residents had this healthy diurnal cortisol pattern. So it healthy physiological stress regulation, and then after we added the plants this increase to 53%, suggesting that those individuals had better physiological stress regulation in their bodies, which probably had a link to their mental health.
Matt Morley
That was your four year research project with the University of Sheffield. Is that the one Yes,
Dr. Lauriane Chalmin-Pui
most of those people were not actively taking care of. So they were to planters, with some ornamental plants in them. They were self watering containers. So that was a store of water underneath. So the participants barely even had to watch them. It was in Salford, where it rains a lot. Though for the vast majority of these people, there was no real active gardening engagement, but they still got those benefits.
Matt Morley
And you went with ornamental plants. Is that so what were the specifics of that we're looking for color. Do you think what you obviously went for what you would imagine would create the most positive benefits? Right? So is that about aesthetics? Is it about painting the rainbow with the flowers and the plants that are out there? Or what suggestions would you have in terms of trying to bring a little bit of that in?
Dr. Lauriane Chalmin-Pui
Sure. So interestingly, in that experiment, I didn't go for what I thought would have the most benefits, I wanted to isolate as many factors as possible. So when you're doing a science experiment, I didn't want to kind of conflict I didn't want to put food for example, because then it could be argued that the people were having a higher well being because they were deriving other benefits, maybe having a cheaper food bill, if they were getting some harvests from it. I didn't want to go for anything to aromatic that might, you know, lift up spirits in other ways. I wanted to go for something not too exotic either, that would provide a huge novelty factor.
For example, I wanted to go with plants that are quite normal. So all found in regular garden centers and quite familiar to people. So we had a mix of some bedding plants, some shrubs and climbers. And the focus also was of course, the climatic conditions of of Salford, but something that was easy to know, maintenance and that self watering container. But yeah, I mean, we did go for something.
So we went for a kind of purple palette we had asked for. We had asked the residents beforehand if they had anything they particularly didn't want. But then beyond that, they were happy to go with anything. So they were Viola's petunias as alias clematis, then spring bulbs, so daffodils, snowdrops and practices. Yeah, so So quite a quite a familiar range of plants.
Matt Morley
And I know you recently were involved in the health and horticulture conference 2022, and your particular presentation, there was around research and community. So with those two, research a community, the city and the street. So were you there talking about that subject? And have you evolved or thinking since the end of the research projects? What were the sort of key messages you were communicating there to the audience?
Dr. Lauriane Chalmin-Pui
Yeah, so the RHS, health and horticulture conference that was on the 17th and 18th of March was very much part of my own research agenda. Were going beyond the actual logistics of the research itself, we really do want to play that role in bringing people together. So one of the things we've found is that the horticulture industry itself doesn't necessarily fully recognize these health and wellbeing impacts and the evidence base for it.
And the health and social care sector as wide as I can cast that net doesn't necessarily have the skills and understandings to really have that Win Win effect. And then of course, around and associated that to that you've got professionals in urban planning and in the built environment, like yourself, and, and there's so much more.
So really, what we wanted to do was bring people together and share that knowledge and my own talk as as part of that was, yeah, so titled, research and community and that was really to tie in the importance of people in the development and the application of that research.
So how can we achieve the integration between science and and I mean, to call it outreach, but knowledge dissemination and sharing, and what I meant by the city and the street level, was because it refers to the scale at which physical, mental and social health often operate for individuals and for communities, especially when we're thinking about green and cultivated spaces and domestic gardens.
So for the average individual, their well being will be based on you know, to a certain extent their genetics and their lifestyle and things like that. Of course their family their Friends, but then in terms of a spatial scale, it will be the city and the street, their home, their workplace, their school.
And it the aim of the conference all together is to improve the recognition of gardens and gardening as that as a valuable public health asset and as a resource that can contribute to promoting better health for everyone, but also reducing that incidence of poor health that are generally well seemingly well population as well as for specific groups of people who might need more targeted interventions or more specific support to access safe green spaces.
Matt Morley
And from the outputs of the conference, and but also based on your own knowledge. When one thinks of, say, healing gardens in cancer care homes, for example, like in the Maggie's care centers, where they create gardens that are intended to be spaces for cancer patients to on some emotional level to heal. Is there a is there a playbook emerging in terms of the way to maximize the space to get the most out of it from a scientific perspective, in terms of those mental well being benefit mental and physical? Benefits? Are there key principles that are starting to become clear? Or is that still a work in progress?
Dr. Lauriane Chalmin-Pui
From the design element, I'd really recommend the work and the book of Claire Cooper Marcus, who has looked at therapeutic garden design, and she has based a lot of her findings on post occupancy evaluations. And it's it's really wonderful, she not only looks at the impacts on patients and their visitors, but also quite importantly, on the staff who are working at that hospitals who often do have quite tough frontline jobs.
Again, we've seen that even more with the pandemic. But actually, there's not yet any scientific evidence base. So I have a PhD student who's just been citing out doing a scoping review for exactly what you're saying. And looking at the scientific literature, she's not really found much that has any kind of quantitative evaluation of this. So it's all quite qualitative, subject to the designs, of course, in very different contexts, it can be relatively straightforward, I think, to spot a bad design, something that just isn't used by people, you might have a garden space that, you know, has metal benches in a hot climate.
So of course, nobody's going to sit there, that's very easy to pinpoint. But then, in terms of really leveraging and optimizing what we do know, that scientific approach isn't there yet. And that is the case for these kinds of hard features, let's say but also for plants. So the role of scent of color of symmetry, for example. And often in when you're looking at planting design handbooks, there isn't, there's often an approach that's based on choosing the plants for their function for the wider ecosystem. And then the last thing is kind of aesthetics and sensory properties. And of course, all three of them are very important.
But that last point, is generally just completely subjective. And based on personal taste of either the garden designer, or if they've done a sort of consultation, focus group with the with the future and potential users of the place. But there's not. Yeah, there's not yet that scientific approach. So that's what we'd really like to get to one of our goals at the RHS is to create an evidence based blueprint for wellbeing gardens, whether that is in a hospital context or a a residential context, the school context, the prison context, those kind of model to go on that is based on scientific evidence
Environmental Psychology
Matt Morley
which would then be so useful for various other sectors, including my own. That's what's I think, so powerful about the work that you're doing is that it can then be leveraged in other sectors too, because it has this sort of spillover effect. You mentioned. Color and scent. I know you've been doing your own research on that. It may be too early to, to speculate on the outcomes of it, but what's your initial hypothesis in terms of the role of color and scent on stress and well being from a garden context?
Dr. Lauriane Chalmin-Pui
Yeah, so I've started doing some indoor experiments and we'll be doing outdoor ones as well to kind of have a multi pronged approach to understanding this. Essentially, what we've got outdoor for example, in the wizzley RHS Bisley garden in Surrey, we've got a wellbeing garden, which has been designed by Matt Keatley as a living laboratory. So it's got these different features, there is an area of running water for example, there is an area of Stillwater there's an area of plants and flowers that are deeper reds and oranges. And then an area that has more whites, pale pinks, pale yellows.
So the wellbeing garden there is, as I said, not based on any scientific conclusions, but it's based on scientific hypotheses. Um, and then it gives us the space to test them out. So one of the hypotheses for example, is the impact of color on an emotional responses to different colors. So in psychology and marketing, we know for example, that the color red can evoke certain different emotional responses. So be that power or anger or love. And often these kinds of things will be mediated, of course, by cultural and individual idiosyncratic experiences. But there's no research so far on whether those color stimuli, whether they have the same emotional responses when they're in a natural setting in a garden and on a plant.
And so one of the hypotheses following that psychological theory is that the reds and the warmer colors might be more arousing when we when in terms of arousing emotion, so they're the more active emotions, like excitement and invigoration. And anger as well is excited is an arousing emotion. And then when we look at the cooler colors, the whites, the pastels, the blues, whether they would be more calming. And of course, when I think often when we think of a well being garden, or a therapeutic garden, or a healing garden, or whatever you want to call it, I think most people automatically think of relaxation under lower stress.
But actually, that's not necessarily what we need. As humans, we don't want to just be relaxed all the time. And guidance can be a place for us to experience our full range of human emotions. So sometimes we want to be really stimulated. And so that's part of the design and whether that's through color that I've been talking about or a sense. So we know that sense, like rosemary, for example, there have been tests on rosemary essential oil that has increased alertness and cognitive attention.
aromatherapy for wellbeing design
So you know, if you do a little kind of little cognitive tests, people have scored higher when they've had some rosemary essential oil next to them versus without. So there are so many ways in which the planting palettes of a garden can influence and if you've got a space that can be, for example, divided into two areas very crudely, you can have one that is less arousing one one that is more arousing, and depending on how you as an individual are feeling that day, you can go and surround yourself in an environment that suits what you need, what you want, how you're feeling. And that will help you regulate your emotions in a in a healthy way, rather than suppressing anything.
Matt Morley
Well, if you can get to it, that type of insight would help anyone working in the biophilic design field to say create know how to adapt the interiors in a space, for example, in an office environment where perhaps it is more about cognitive performance and alertness and concentration productivity, versus, say a quiet room space within a large office, which was more about the end to that Yang.
So then about calming and restorative, because I think, yeah, we just don't have the scientific base basis for that. I think we're often doing it more on instinct. And I was going to close if I may, by a question on that, Rob, perhaps less instinct more on an angle around evolutionary psychology. I just wondered from your perspective, which is clearly science based.
evolutionary health perspective
Is there any room for an evolutionary psychology approach that says, well, perhaps some of what we're dealing with here is, is about as much as anything our genes, our history, our evolution on the planet in tune and connected with nature? Is there space for that? Or are you looking for hard facts only in the present day?
Dr. Lauriane Chalmin-Pui
Really interesting question. So I think that at the end of the day, we are all the same species with Animals, you know, we have our habitat our habitat is increasingly for, for most people in the world, urban. And I don't personally, I kind of understand the very big dichotomy between urban manmade environments and nature when especially these are often contrasted.
But I think that what's important and what we as a as a kind of modern day human need is, is the balance and the integration of those two things. I think that often there can be a very easy over attribution to these evolutionary arguments, that we are a much more today we are much more mediated by our cultural experiences, whether that is nationality or race or gender, or just just past experiences that we've had as individuals. And I think that for most people, that will probably be the more important when we think about emotional reactions that often will kind of override any evolutionary aspects.
But I think that we certainly at the basic level, yes, we are, we are drawn to nature. But the question is, which kind of nature and and the you know, a tree is something that is very understandably, nature, a virus or pathogen less so. So I think, you know, sometimes we've got to, we've got to really understand what we're talking about. And sometimes it can be over generalized. So. Yeah, I mean, I think there is definitely an importance for that, for that science of understanding what it is, and what reactions are we finding? And the, the argument isn't, it doesn't always just go back to, you know, where did we evolve?
Matt Morley
It think that's critical. It's, it's too much of a, of a, an umbrella concept to just say, well, nature dominates nurture. So it's not about what we've learned, but it's about what we were born with in our DNA, and therefore, Biophilia is, is already proven, and we don't need to back it up. I think it's, we need, we need both, we need an understanding of the science that's proving that it's still present today. And that we are in fact, reacting as perhaps an evolutionary approach might suggest, we need to
Dr. Lauriane Chalmin-Pui
definitely and I think we also need to understand our impact on nature. So things like sustainable practices, environmental, Pro Environmental behavior, things like that. I mean, they may sound quite small in the grand scheme of things, when you look at, you know, the huge tipping points of climate change and things like that. But ultimately, that integration, however much nature there is in your environment, you still depending on the water, you're still depending on the air, you're still depending on climate stability.
And we do need to understand our impacts on that and how it all ties in. And I think that's how just to go full circle back to the kind of Environmental Horticulture it's not. It's not just our well being versus a planetary natural, you know, very Green Planets everywhere. It's really about everything coming together and everything is interlinked and equally important.
Matt Morley
I think we should close on that. That's a big thought to wrap things up with thank you so much. Well, we'll leave a note. We'll leave a mention of the well being garden book by your colleague at the IHS, Professor Griffiths in the show notes, in terms of people connecting, showing support for the RHS, how can they follow along with the work that you're doing that?
Dr. Lauriane Chalmin-Pui
Well, we've got a oh, I can't remember the URL, you might have to link it. But we've got some we've got plenty of pages on our website that has links to all of this well being research. People, of course can contact me directly if there is a specific question or access to a specific paper or study in terms of more generally gardening inspiration for for example, small spaces, things like that.
The rest of the RHS website https://www.rhs.org.uk/ also has plenty of horticultural knowledge that is freely available. You don't have to be in the UK but of course it is probably more biased towards UK plants. And in terms of sustainable gardening practices, again, there's a wealth of tips and advice on the RHS website.
FURTHER READING:
Best examples biophilic design research — biofilico wellness interiors
Best examples of biophilic design research studies as selected by the Biofilico team of sustainable design and healthy building experts.
What is biophilic design and the biophilia hypothesis?
Urbanization and life in dense city centres brings with it a concomitant risk of a disconnect from nature on one level and a cascade of negative impacts on the environment on another. To counter-balance this trend, biophilic design proposes a realignment of priorities by bringing the outside world back into our urban planning, architecture and interiors.
By integrating both sustainability and wellbeing, green building design and healthy building design concepts, this biophilia hypothesis led strategy offers a bridge between the artificial dichotomy of ‘People’ on one side and ‘Planet’ on the other. Incorporating biophilic design elements, such as natural materials and elements, into these designs can improve air quality, thermal comfort, and water management, contributing to the overall sustainability goals.
On the basis that we cannot act on one without inevitably acting on the other, a nature-centric approach provides a vision of future buildings and interiors that nudges us considerably closer to a state of harmony with nature, as per all of our evolutionary history up until the industrial age.
Why do we need biophilia and natural light in buildings and interiors?
City living often equates to a disconnect between our daily existence and nature, with many of us now spending 80-90% of our lives indoors. Introducing a connection with nature through biophilic design is crucial in urban living, as it integrates natural elements into built environments to enhance human health and well-being.
Whereas once our own health and that of the natural environment we inhabited were inextricably linked, it is all too easy to ignore that dynamic when our days are spent between our home, office, school, gym, restaurants and so on… i.e. indoors most of the time!
Indeed, the disconnect has been more extreme and more damaging than any of us could have foreseen, with climate change being only the most prominent manifestation of this new state of affairs.
Only now are we truly coming to appreciate the positive impact this nature exposure, previously taken for granted, can have on our mental and physical wellbeing, or rather - what happens when we deprive ourselves of it (this is the essence of the biophilia hypothesis)
what are benefits of biophilic design?
The main benefits of biophilic design patterns, from our perspective as healthy building and wellness interior consultants, can be collectively grouped into three main categories, specifically spending time in nature has been shown to:
reduce anxiety and stress, lowering blood cortisol levels. Biophilic design has positive effects on human health, promoting healing and restorative benefits.
increase cognitive function, concentration and memory. It also significantly impacts mental health, improving well-being and productivity, especially in the workplace.
enhance positive mood states, promoting a sense of vitality and purpose.
Evidence-based biophilic design in architecture and interiors simply harnesses these scientifically proven insights to bring nature back into our built environment, inviting the outside world in once more via natural materials, colours, patterns and shapes.
Best examples of biophilic design research studies
1.Biophilic design benefits - reduction in stress and anxiety, improving mental health
Vegetation can reduce stress, increase healing through stimulation of nature views and accessibility (Bratman).
Biophilic elements increased physiological stress recovery (lowered blood pressure), reduced anxiety, lowered heart rate (Yin, Dec 2019). Creating a seamless connection between indoor and outdoor spaces can further reduce stress and anxiety by integrating natural elements like water, natural ventilation, and greenery.
The Stress Reduction Theory (SRT) (Ulrich/ Jimenez) states that stress is reduced in nature due to our natural affinity and comfort with the natural world
Increased healing/recovery rates due to lower stress (Kaltenegger, ch 13). Views of vegetation has been proven to decrease hospital stay times and increase healing (related to stress/pain levels)
Exposure to natural light increases a neurotransmitter in the body called serotonin, which increases happiness (Kaltenegger ch. 13)
Research shows that exposure to the natural world can reduce negative thought and rumination (Bratman)
Two groups, one walked in nature one on a busy street
Those in nature: increase in positive thought, decrease in negative thought/rumination (the part of the brain linked to depression), decrease in stress/anxiety
Biophysical services (if larger scale/parks etc.)
The physical changes that nature creates causes benefits to humans (ex: if more parks, people may be more encouraged to go on a run near their house and will cause decrease in mental disorders, rumination, obesity, etc).
2. biophilic design benefits - increase cognitive function, concentration and memory
Improved memory, cognitive performance in office setting in VR (Aristizabal) in a study involving three groups over a 10-week Virtual Reality open office biophilic design study. Working memory and cognitive performance improved in all biophilic design conditions compared to baseline.
Lower levels of absenteeism/higher productivity levels (Kellert) when daylight is incorporated into office and school buildings
Student test scores increase, lower dropout rate (Kaltenegger ch. 13). In school buildings with increased natural light, students test scores on average rise between 7-25% due to increased cognitive capacities.
Attention Restoration Theory (ART) (Kaplan/Jimenez) states that spending time in nature causes humans to refresh their mental state, overcome mental fatigue and improve mental focus and attention
Increased memory and creativity as exposure to green spaces can positively affect brain development in children through creativity/discovery/risk taking opportunities
3. biophilic design benefits - enhance positive mood states, promoting a sense of vitality and purpose
Exposure to natural light increases a neurotransmitter in the body called serotonin, which increases happiness (Kaltenegger ch. 13)
Research shows that exposure to the natural world can reduce negative thought patterns (Bratman). Two groups were assessed, one walked in nature and the other on a busy street, the former experienced an increase in positive thought patterns and a decrease in negative thought patterns (interestingly, this is the same part of the brain linked to depression), whilst also stated they felt a decrease in overall stress levels and anxiety.
Biophilic design in urban environments can significantly enhance positive mood states by integrating natural elements into city settings.
Biophysical services (if larger scale/parks etc.). The physical changes that nature creates causes benefits to humans (ex: if more parks, people may be more encouraged to go on a run near their house for example, thereby reducing obesity risks, cardiovascular disease, and so on).
Benefits of nature exposure <> benefits of biophilic design
Biophilic design studies are slowly becoming more common (see our own studies into the benefits of biophilic design here) but much of what is out there is still based on reviewing a number of key research studies done a while ago. Biophilic design plays a crucial role in promoting sustainable development by integrating natural elements into built environments, which contributes to sustainable architecture and the transformation of healthcare spaces.
There is considerably more information available on how nature exposure positively affects humans, and a lot can be inferred from these studies as the properties of nature exposure are similar, and correlations can be reasonably inferred.
Biophilic design studies are slightly different than nature-based studies but there is considerable overlap, for example
window/nature views could be included in both
natural light/sun exposure could be included in both
greenery/vegetation could be included in both (although likely on a smaller scale with biophilic design)
Direct nature has been proven to have the most wellness benefits but indirect exposure (ie, looking at a picture of a tree) still has health benefits too - this is how a lot of examples of biophilic design can justifiably claim to be wellness spaces even if they do not contain any direct biophilia (i.e. living plants or trees).
This does however mean that white blood cells known as Natural Killer (NK) cells may not increase with some examples of biophilic design interiors as there are likely far fewer or even no phytoncides in those spaces that a real forest provides in abundance (see forest bathing research for more on this).
Tsao, Tsung-Ming et al. “Health effects of a forest environment on natural killer cells in humans: an observational pilot study.” Oncotarget vol. 9,23 16501-16511. 27 Mar. 2018, doi:10.18632/oncotarget.24741. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5893257/
Examples of biophilic design sources referenced above:
Aristizabal, Sara, et al. “Biophilic Office Design: Exploring the Impact of a Multisensory Approach on Human Well-Being.” Journal of Environmental Psychology, Academic Press, 9 Sept. 2021, https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0272494421001353.
Bratman, Gregory, and Gretchen Daily. The Benefits of Nature Experience: Improved Affect and Cognition. Tech. Vol. 138. Stanford: n.p., 2015. Landscape and Urban Planning. Stanford University Libraries. Web. 24 Oct. 2016.
Jimenez, Marcia P. et al. “Associations Between Nature Exposure and Health: A Review of the Evidence.” International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 18.9 (2021): 4790. Crossref. Web.
Note: this source was used for ART/SRT info (although original theory names given credit above)
Kaltenegger, Ingrid. “Integration of Mother Nature into Smart Buildings.” Integration of Nature and Technology for Smart Cities. By Helen Santiago Fink. Switzerland: Springer International, 2016. ch. 13,18. Print.
Kellert, Stephen R., and Bill Finnegan. “Biophilic Design-The Architecture of Life Viewing Guide.” (n.d.): n. pag. Biophilic Design. Tamarack Media and Stephen Kellert. Web. 7 Dec. 2016.
Yin, Jie, et al. “Effects of Biophilic Interventions in Office on Stress Reaction and Cognitive Function: A Randomized Crossover Study in Virtual Reality.” Wiley Online Library, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd, 11 Sept. 2019, https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/ina.12593
Yin, Jie, et al. “Effects of Biophilic Indoor Environment on Stress and Anxiety Recovery: A between-Subjects Experiment in Virtual Reality.” Environment International, Pergamon, 24 Dec. 2019, https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0160412019336347?via%3Dihub
Biophilia Benefits: Combining Biophilia and Fitness for Green Exercise
A review of the benefits of combining biophilia (nature exposure) and fitness, a concept known as “green exercise” that can leverage biophilic design for added mental wellness benefits
KEY CONCEPTS: GREEN EXERCISE / BIOPHILIC DESIGN / GYM DESIGN / INDOOR GREEN EXERCISE / PHYSICAL AND MENTAL WELLBEING
What is green exercise and why is it good for us?
Nature has an impact on our mental and physical wellbeing, this is the basic insight behind the biophilia hypothesis that states we co-evolved with nature, our histories are inextricably intertwined but ultimately she makes the rules and if we distance ourselves too far from them, we eventually pay a price, be that at an individual or collective level.
What is Biophilic Design? A way to align sustainability and health objectives via the built environment, be it an office interior, or our home. It equates to healthy, natural materials in the floors, walls and ceiling as well as the furniture. Often there is a natural colour palette, as well as wabi-sabi (organic, imperfect) finishes, nature-inspired shapes and patterns, as well as a component of multi-sensory design such as sound, light and scent.
What is Green Exercise? This is about exercising in natural, outdoor environments as a way to leverage some of the health benefits of being in nature, i.e. incorporating biophilia into the exercise experience, again drawing on evolutionary theory in the same way Biophilic design does, essentially.
Think of road cycling, trail running, hiking, rock climbing, kayaking, surfing, skiing, kitesurfing and so on. An inherent part of the pleasure and satisfaction we take from such activities is connected to the dominant presence of natural surroundings. Whether we recognize it or not.
The term ‘green exercise' itself was coined by a team of researchers at the University of Essex (UK) led by Professors Barton and Bragg, to sum up these synergistic health benefits linked to physical activity combined with nature.
Indoor green exercise is a further iteration of the concept that combines biophilic design in a health club, gym or fitness studio context, as exemplified by our own Biofit designed gyms. While this solution will never match the outdoor experience, it arguably justifies itself in terms of convenience, especially for the time poor living in dense urban environments with limited access to nature during the work week.
More than simply interior decor, this concept should in our view extend all the way into the equipment selection and training on offer - less isolation machines full of plastic parts and more functional fitness gear made of wood, leather, iron and rope in other words.
What are the proven health benefits of nature exposure?
Research shows that exposure to the natural world can reduce stress, increase cognitive function and productivity, improves mood and enhances creativity. These concepts represent the fundamental pillars of why biophilia is important for our wellbeing- i.e. staying connected to nature.
Bratman, Gregory, and Gretchen Daily. The Benefits of Nature Experience: Improved Affect and Cognition. Tech. Vol. 138. Stanford: n.p., 2015. Landscape and Urban Planning. Stanford University Libraries. Web. 24 Oct. 2016.
What form should that ‘exposure' to nature take? One approach is ‘forest bathing', a Japanese concept that simply means attempting to find a calm and tranquil space in a forest setting surrounded by dense tree cover, albeit with a modicum of extra mindfulness and purpose to it all, rather than merely wandering by chance into a nearby park and hoping for the best.
The proven health benefits of forest bathing include primary disease prevention - by boosting the immune system with Natural Killer (NK) cells that combat other cells infected by a tumor or virus - and secondly reduced blood pressure that lowers stress and anxiety levels.
Li Q, Morimoto K et al. “Forest bathing enhances human natural killer activity and expression of anti-cancer proteins.” Int J Immunopathol Pharmacol. 2007 Apr-Jun;20(2 Suppl 2):3-8. doi: 10.1177/03946320070200S202. PMID: 17903349. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17903349/
How do the scientific community explain this phenomenon? A couple of leading theories exist that we will mention here.
The first is Attention Restoration Theory (ART), that states that time spent in nature, or even simply experiencing a space that features Biophilic design such as this one, helps us ‘refresh' our mental state, overcome short-term fatigue and better focus on a specific task requiring concentration.
ART was first put forward by Environmental Psychology Professors Rachel and Stephen Kaplan in their book entitled The experience of nature: A psychological perspective that investigates the impact of restorative natural environments on our psyches.
A second theory, known as the Stress Reduction Theory (SRT), states that high stress levels are lowered in natural environments due to our natural affinity and comfort with the natural world. This theory is from another key name in the field of Biophilic design and applied biophilia, Dr Roger Ulrich.
What type fo natural environments are we talking about here? Famously in one of Ulrich's studies (1984) he showed that a view out of a hospital bedroom onto a natural landscape as opposed to a solid brick wall improved patient recovery times. In another study (1979) it was enough to show research respondents a slideshow of natural landscapes to elicit similar, stress-reducing response.
Jimenez, Marcia P. et al. “Associations Between Nature Exposure and Health: A Review of the Evidence.” International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 18.9 (2021): 4790. Crossref. Web.
What is the scientific evidence for green exercise?
Nothing new here but for clarity, beyond the obvious physical benefits, exercise also helps maintain healthy sleep patterns, enhance mood, improve executive function and cognitive performance, in particular in the post-exercise phase.
When we add in nature exposure, we see more psychological benefits such as self-esteem, vitality and a reduction in “frustration, worry, confusion, depression and tiredness”. Equally, running outdoors as opposed to indoors on a treadmill, is associated with “less anxiety, depression, anger and hostility”.
Finally, and perhaps most tellingly, due to the number of buttons that nature switches on in our psychological make-up, we instinctively look crave the next hit of goodness, encouraging future exercise - suggesting that green exercise and indeed indoor green exercise may be the key to increasing exercise levels amongst those population groups who do not partake in regular exercise.
Green Exercise - Linking Nature, Health & Wellbeing, Edited by Barton, Bragg, Wood and Pretty.
Why are some gyms unhealthy or unnatural, from the green exercise perspective?
Often there is poor air quality in heavily used, lower-ground gyms with no natural light, inadequate ventilation systems and high equipment density meaning any cleaning regime is always going to be limited in its effectiveness, dust accumulates over time and the air ends up with high levels of CO2 (due to the number of gym users respiring heavily in an enclosed space). This can in turn lead to increased fatigue, ironically.
In response to this situation, we have long proposed biophilic design and nature-based, healthy design strategies for gyms, health clubs and fitness studios to bring the health benefits of nature indoors.
This can be achieved the incorporation of wood and other natural materials for equipment, the use of natural light, use of natural analogs such as images of nature (wallpaper, framed prints), a natural color palette, the use of greenery such as plant walls and hanging plants around the ceiling, pine forest aromatherapy for some of those healthy phytoncides forest bathing leverages, enhanced HVAC filters and natural ventilation strategies to provide purified indoor air as close as possible in quality to that we might hope to breathe when outside in nature, and finally an eco-friendly, non-toxic cleaning protocol to ensure no chemicals are inadvertently introduced into the indoor environment by the maintenance team.
Other references on biophilia, green exercise and nature exercise benefits:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5663018/pdf/BJPI-14-79a.pdf
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/308099577_Green_Exercise_Health_and_Well-Being
Introduction to Biophilia and Green Exercise
Biophilia, a term coined by biologist E.O. Wilson, refers to the innate human tendency to seek connections with nature. This concept is closely tied to the idea of green exercise, which involves engaging in physical activity in natural environments. Green exercise has been shown to have numerous benefits for both physical and mental health, including reduced stress levels, improved mood, and increased feelings of well-being. By incorporating green exercise into our daily lives, we can tap into our biophilic tendencies and reap the rewards of a healthier, more balanced lifestyle.
The Benefits of Green Exercise for Physical and Mental Health
Green exercise has been extensively researched, and the findings are clear: engaging in physical activity in natural environments has a profound impact on both physical and mental health. Studies have shown that green exercise can lower blood pressure, reduce symptoms of anxiety and depression, and even improve cognitive function. Additionally, green exercise has been linked to improved sleep quality, increased energy levels, and a stronger immune system. By incorporating green exercise into our daily routine, we can experience these benefits firsthand and improve our overall health and well-being.
The Science Behind Green Exercise
So, what exactly happens when we engage in green exercise? Research suggests that exposure to natural environments triggers a range of physiological responses, including reduced cortisol levels, increased parasympathetic activity, and improved mood. Theories such as the biophilia hypothesis and the attention restoration theory provide a framework for understanding the mechanisms behind these responses. By understanding the science behind green exercise, we can better appreciate the importance of incorporating natural environments into our physical activity routines.
Overcoming Barriers to Green Exercise
Despite the numerous benefits of green exercise, many of us face barriers to incorporating it into our daily lives. Common obstacles include lack of access to natural environments, limited time, and inclement weather. However, with a little creativity and planning, these barriers can be overcome. Strategies such as finding local parks or green spaces, scheduling green exercise into our daily routine, and investing in waterproof gear can help us stay on track and make green exercise a sustainable part of our lifestyle.
Green Exercise in Different Environments
Green exercise can take many forms, from walking in urban parks to hiking in wilderness areas. Each environment offers unique benefits and challenges, and understanding these differences can help us tailor our green exercise routine to our individual needs and preferences. For example, urban green spaces may offer more opportunities for social interaction, while wilderness areas may provide a greater sense of solitude and connection with nature. By exploring different environments and finding what works best for us, we can maximize the benefits of green exercise and make it a sustainable part of our lifestyle.
Designing Wellness Spaces for Green Exercise
As the importance of green exercise becomes increasingly recognized, there is a growing need for wellness spaces that incorporate natural environments and promote physical activity. Designing these spaces requires a deep understanding of the principles of green exercise and the needs of users. Strategies such as incorporating natural materials, providing access to natural light and ventilation, and creating opportunities for social interaction can help create wellness spaces that promote physical and mental well-being. By prioritizing green exercise in our wellness spaces, we can create environments that support our overall health and well-being.
Returning Nature To The City with Barri Studio
A conversation with Jordi Barri of Barri Studio in Barcelona for the Green & Healthy Places podcast episode 038 on sustainability and wellbeing in real estate and interiors.A conversation with Jordi Barri of Barri Studio in Barcelona for the Green & Healthy Places podcast episode 038 on sustainability and wellbeing in real estate and interiors.
Conversation highlights:
Everything is interconnected. So at the end, the relationships between plants, insects, and even humans, are crucial for our work, especially in an urban surrounding.
We created a garden of pollinators that allows insects to gather and colonize.
When we see butterflies in the neighborhood it means that we are recovering, and those vegetation communities are working well. It's like a biodiversity parameter for a healthy environment.
In response to climate change, landscape architects have to design with nature, not against it.
We did a study of the bird species of the area and their migration behavior then designed a rooftop with plant communities suitable for those nesting birds.
Nature is complex, vivid, random, diverse...
With our designs we want to bring back wild, uncontrolled nature into our cities - it’s much better for the soul.
Matt Morley
Jordi - Great to have you on the podcast. You grew up surrounded by plants, it's obviously in your DNA, your family had a plant nursery in Catalonia. I wondered how you think now about that experience, how it's influenced you, and the knowledge that was handed down to you from the previous generation generation?
Jordi Barri
Well, yeah, I grew up in a plant nursery, it was from my grandfather, and my father and now is run also by my brother. The botanical names, usually that's something very funny, even with my friends, because they were are always joking about how I know all the right plant names, it is just like a lexicon that has always been there for me.
I remember when I was a kid, my father, not forced me but let’s say ‘obliged me’ in the summer to work with him, since I was about 10, so every summer for one month, we had to be in the nursery working! At the end, it has been very much influential in in me, even, I remember those winters where we went to the nursery, with the Christmas trees, and we had to deliver them around the neighborhood. All of that helped me now to understand much more about how those plants evolved, how they behave, and so on.
Matt Morley
It's interesting, hearing your response, it occurs to me that there's a tangible difference between having parents with their own business versus someone who may be running a company, but it's not their company. For the kids, it’s a completely different result in may ways.
So clearly, that knowledge of landscaping and biophilia (connection to nature) is built into your heritage but how have you built upon it to create your own particular style today?
There is a lot of thinking behind the plant strategies that you put forward. In addition to aesthetics, there's this functional side, clear ecologically inspired concepts and strategies in fact. Can you talk to us a bit about that, about how you try to promote biodiversity, for example, via specific combinations of plants to almost giving your projects a higher purpose beyond just sort of decorative landscaping?
Jordi Barri
Yeah, well, at the end, we are very much interested in our landscape designs not being static , we like to go deep in understanding the relationships between those plans and within the plant community we design to see how they can all work together.
So in order to solve problems for example, when you have trees that are attacked by aphids, we can create a plant community that captures the attention of ladybugs that also serve to attack those aphids.
It's a kind of symbiosis that we’re trying to achieve here, in order to bring something more than aesthetics, for example, to understand how certain plants can help sequester carbon, capturing CO2. It's trying to work a beyond the aesthetics, and going more into an ecological approach based around functionality.
Biophilia
When we bring that into the city, we don’t just bring natural beauty but additional ecological benefits too. Everything is interconnected. So at the end, the relationships between plants, insects, and even humans, are crucial for our work, especially in an urban surrounding.
Matt Morley
Rewilding
Sounds quite similar to some of the rewilding projects that are going on in the UK, for example, where people, landowners often are looking to reintroduce certain species that have become extinct, as a way to promote greater diversity in the animal world around them and find that balance that perhaps has been lost due to the impact of industrialization and basically humans on the planet.
Landscapes in placemaking
So let's dig into one of your projects as an example, because I think designing a garden or creating private spaces is one thing, and we can cover that later. But I’m really interested in the role that landscape designers can play in, let's call it like placemaking. Public squares, places that make up the urban fabric of a city, that in a sense, you're designing and creating these green spaces, right, so you're bringing some greenery back into urban lives that way.
I was looking at the town square project you did in in Santa Eulalia. I think you're starting that one next year. Can you describe the different components that go into that type of project?
Jordi Barri
Designing urban green spaces
Well, yeah, well, it's a kind of a probably Plaza divided in different areas. And also, what is characteristic about these are its organic forms that it's more rounded. What we also wanted to recreate was much more about the sensation of the memory that the people of the town have when they go to the river, and how we can try to bring that sensation into that urban Plaza.
So, at the end, it was like, divided in like if we call like three different areas, that one is called like a dense wood. So where we plant a dense wood that recreates a little bit the the woods and the trees that we have in those areas surrounding that town.
Playgrounds for kids
Then there is a flexible, performative surface, where those different activities can happen. And also, there is a kids area - almost a must when you do a public park or plaza, because at the on the end, they are the main users and so we have to bring in the functionality of the playgrounds, but also a more didactic angle for them, so that they start to understand how to deal with with nature they're so we usually those games that we plan the plan for them are in that case, are made from robinia wood instead of plastic.
Matt Morley
Nature in urban design projects
Then you have other projects, such as the one in in Blanes also starting in 2022. What sort of techniques or strategies can you use to create a small hub, like a nature-oriented meeting place for the local community? How does that how does landscaping connect with that bigger strategic concept of creating a meeting place for locals and promoting a sense of community for the people who live in that area?
Jordi Barri
Well, it's true that in that case, in that park, there was a strong Neighborhood Association, and it was already like a kind of a meeting point for them, but it was totally disrupted and not very pleasant. So, our strategy there, obviously, because we are focused on ecological aspects was to create a topographical movement. And with that, a little slope, we collect all that rain water, towards what we call a bio swale.
And that bio swale acts like a spine, at the end becomes like the place where you can walk, and the different zones of that parks are attached to that spine.
Biodiversity
So in another aspect, in terms of our ecological approach - we created a garden of pollinators that allows insects to gather and colonize.
We have all seen in the pandemic how parks have become like a very important place, even for healing minds and for the healthy health of the people. So I think that by combining these two aspects, like the beauty and the ecological as we always try to do, people will will be pleased to gather there and enjoy the park.
Matt Morley
Biophilic design
I think that's where what you do starts to overlap with what I do in terms of creating green indoor spaces, but really a lot of the same design concepts - giving people access to nature, even in an indoor environment, if there's no Barri Studio designed park around the corner for example!
Bringing nature back - “butterflies in the neighborhood”
You've written about the concept of butterflies in the neighborhood, what are signs of progress in terms of nature slowly being invited back in to cohabit with us in city centers? How is your concept of butterflies in the neighborhood? How does it relate to that?
Jordi Barri
Well, when we see butterflies in the neighborhood it means that we are recovering, and those vegetation communities are working well. It's like a biodiversity parameter for a healthy environment.
Obviously, at the end is like trying to recover on those lost areas that we have in the city, that can be like a place where this nature is brought back. So and that can happen very much into the roofs here in Barcelona, there are many projects now that that are concerned with the green roofs, but not just as, as it was before, maybe there was just like a green roof in order to, to claim it or an insulation aspect, but much more like to bring nature back.
So if we bring all those insects back, all those plants back, at the end it’s like trying to have a better balance between human beings and nature, animals, and insects.
Everything is related. When you have in the city street plantings that are planted with one species, that doesn't bring diversity. So at the end, if you plant a diversity of species, then it brings other communities there. And that brings lag, so at the end, we have to force or we have to lay the substract in order that that these magic of those communities happens there. And I think that is all what we are trying to do here in the studio.
When we say butterflies into the neighborhood, that’s what we would like to see when we open the doors of our houses - butterflies and birds.
Matt Morley
I know you're interested in what's been done in Asia as well, in that sense. So if we take a step back and look at the regions, and how different regions deal with this in a different way, obviously we're talking from effectively a Mediterranean location, a Mediterranean climate, but in terms of Asia, Singapore, obviously being sort of the leading example, but I'm sure there are many others… Are there lessons that can be learned from what's been done in Asia? Or are there no universal principles? Is it very specific to each region according to whether it's tropical or or dry, hot or cold?
Singapore - a biophilic case study
Jordi Barri
Yeah, well, obviously every region has their own their own problems and their own different strategies , instead of using the way to plan the cities, in a more engineering way, that it was okay, everything should be channelized, you know, like concrete channels in order to avoid the water flood from one place. So, landscape architects can bring another vision. And that is why it's so important in terms of a major role in transforming the cities, because the way to approach to those problems are totally different than the engineers. And now we see, for example, and not in Asia, but in Los Angeles, the Los Angeles River, there was totally channelized. with concrete.
Now, there are many projects that are dealing or how to get rid of that concrete, and how to bring the stream of the river back. So at the end is like an obvious concept is like, in that case, in Asia, what they're doing is like they are planning huge parks, that they become Sponge Parks, when they have floods, they can retain they can hold these water, and then they can bring it back to the to the river in a control way.
In terms of the Mediterranean climate is probably totally different. Because at the end of what we bought, it works the same boat in a different rain parameter. So here, what we want is to hold that water as much as we can, because we have a lack of water. So we have to retain that water somehow. And then to apply to try to irrigate with the water that we collect in order to not to abuse and not to, let's say like the aquifer that we have tried to not to stress it. So it's better if we can use the water that we collect from the rainfall. In response to climate change, landscape architects have to design with nature, not against it.
Matt Morley
Sustainable design principles
It's almost as if you're having that relationship with nature. The last thing you'd want to do is to harm it, or in fact, what you want to do is great work. And great work requires now that you also protect and do whatever you can to, to help and reduce the damage that's being inflicted on nature.
And again, similar principles behind biophilic design. It's not just about creating green spaces, it's no good if it's green and looks natural, but it's having a negative impact on the environment. That just makes no sense. It's not a coherent approach. And I can really see that in the way you talk about designing spaces or outdoor green spaces that are respectful of nature, that bring nature in and that do whatever they can to help it, to stop the negative impact that humans are having.
Nature in residential architecture
You have an interesting perspective because you work across industries, in a sense both from architecture , right the way through to outdoor landscaping projects and your project in Mallorca in particular, which is a residential project. It seems to be a really interesting example of how you can use buildings And in this case, architectural design, to attract nature back into the city. So rather than it being an outdoor green space, you're effectively designing a residential building. What techniques have you used to connect the future residents of that building with the nature around them?
Jordi Barri
Well, we wanted to do research of how a building can be much more than just a building, from an ecological perspective, so we did a study of the bird species of the area and their migration behavior then designed a rooftop with plant communities suitable for those nesting birds. An external staircase can then become a lookout for those birds nesting on the rooftop.
Imagine if rooftops could become stepping stones around the city for birds to make their nests in - that was our goal. Kids living in the building can watch and learn how the birds nest so it takes on a learning function as well over time. Nature is complex, vivid, random, diverse...
Those perfect French gardens were so manicured and controlled. That was a way to show man’s dominance over nature. With our designs we want to bring back wild, uncontrolled nature into our cities - it’s much better for the soul.
Q&A with a Biophilic Design Consultant: Healthy Building and Wellness Interiors — Biofilico
An interview with Matt Morley about his career path in real estate and hospitality to becoming a biophilic design and healthy building consultant specialising in wellbeing interiors for offices, residences and gyms.
How did you enter the field of wellbeing interiors, healthy buildings and biophilic design?
Biofilico’s Founder, Matt Morley at the creative workspace ‘Montoya’ in Barcelona, Spain
Biofilico’s Founder, Matt Morley at the creative workspace ‘Montoya’ in Barcelona, Spain
I spent 10 years with a mixed-use real estate developer and operator in what eventually became a Creative Director role delivering new business concepts. I’d work with the construction and development teams, as well as finance, marketing and operations, taking a sports bar, coworking space, business club, beach club or concept store from idea to reality.
It was an amazing learning experience for what would come later - effectively doing a similar thing but a boutique consultancy business and focusing specifically on green and healthy spaces, incorporating biophilic design principles.
Where did your interest in health, fitness, and mental health come from?
So in parallel with that 10-year process I’ve just describe my 7-10 hours per week of training starting to take on ever more importance in my life, especially as I was doing so much of it outdoors, immersed in nature, with minimal equipment.
I was also experimenting with standing desks, going barefoot, a low-carb Paleo diet and bringing the outside world in to my office and home. I aimed to bring nature into my living and working spaces to enhance wellbeing and productivity. Incorporating these elements into my living and working spaces helped to reduce stress and improve overall wellbeing. In other words, my life became a testing ground for these new ideas around workplace wellbeing, ancestral health and wellbeing interiors.
Do you remember the exact moment you first discovered biophilic design?
It was a very organic, intuitive process for me. This is so important to reiterate as a biophilic design expert - I got there by myself, using my own instinct and listening to my body, testing things out on myself and eventually coming to the conclusion that most indoor spaces devoid of the natural world were simply not happy, uplifting places for me to be. I realized that integrating biophilic principles, such as the use of natural elements and patterns, was essential to creating environments that promote wellbeing and productivity.
At that point, I knew I had to quit my job and make my own rules from then on. I needed to go to an extreme to understand what was out there, what was possible and what my body could feel if I went all-in on this approach for a while. I don’t think my then-girlfriend knew what on earth was going on by that point!
In other words, biophilic design was not something I studied, it was as if it came from inside of me first and all I had to do was recognize what was happening.
Of course, it helped to be immersed in real estate and interiors for my work at the same time, that was the magic mix that made it possible to become a wellbeing champion and biophilic design consultant later on.
What experts influenced you on the path to becoming a biophilic design consultant for real estate and hospitality?
Over time I worked out that there was a whole school of thought largely led by the US around how to actually do what I was talking about in a clear, structured way. Terrapin’s 14 Patterns of Biophilic Design and Stephen Kellert’s The Practice of Biophilic Design were fundamental reference points. Their work highlights the proven benefits of biophilic design in promoting wellbeing, productivity, and creativity in living and working spaces.
How did you become a consultant in healthy interiors and biophilic design?
I set up my first company, Biofit, back in 2015 specializing in creating sustainable gyms and wellness concepts through biophilic interior design. Over time that evolved into a fitness advisory business working with hotel groups and corporates around Europe to create innovative wellness concepts, gym facilities and fitness programs. This work also emphasized the importance of the built environment in promoting overall wellbeing.
Originally I thought I was setting up my own natural fitness studio in London but several successful pivots led me to where I am today!
In 2018 I set-up my second business, Biofilico focusing on a wider market of wellbeing interiors and healthy building services. This is much more closely aligned with the work I was doing for the mixed-use developer / operator before becoming an entrepreneur.
What advice would you give to someone hoping to become a biophilic designer or wellbeing interiors expert?
My path is not the only path clearly, other people may be coming from an engineering background, architecture or sustainability but to do this you really need to have a solid understanding of real estate, construction and how buildings are made.
Otherwise you’re going to struggle to put yourself in the shoes of your clients, to understand what their objectives are and how best to help them get there.
If you intend to be an independent consultant in biophilic design, wellbeing interiors, or indeed healthy buildings, you’ll need some certifications to show for it to, so studying for at least one if not several certification systems is a really good place to start. Certifications like WELL, LEED, and Living Future are essential for demonstrating expertise in biophilic design. Interior designers play a crucial role in integrating biophilic design concepts into interior spaces, significantly impacting mental health.
Additionally, biophilic design consultants often work alongside architects, engineers, lighting designers, acoustics consultants, and client representatives, emphasizing the collaborative nature of these projects.
Biophilic design research study for The Wardian - an EcoWorld Ballymore residential development in London’s Canary Wharf
What prompted you to do your own research studies into biophilic design and natural elements in London?
We were commissioned by a real estate developer called EcoWorld Ballymore to take over a space of theirs by the river in Canary Wharf, London’s business district for a 4-week residency.
We created a mini biophilic workspace in small glass building, turning it into a creative meeting room right by the water full of air-purifying plants to improve indoor air quality. We also integrated natural elements such as natural light, plants, and water to enhance the connection between the built and natural environments, creating a healthier built environment. A team from the University of Essex then created a scientific research questionnaire for us as a ‘before and after’ questionnaire for office workers during their visit to our ‘recharge room’ full of Vitamin Nature. (see the full report here)
In total 108 people spent about an hour in that biophilic green space designed for mental wellbeing, and we saw very positive results for key indicators such as productivity, creativity, nature-connectedness, stress and anxiety levels, even concentration.
So, a ‘recharge room’ or office ‘quiet space’ can become especially interesting when we layer in biophilic design as a way to give purpose and meaning to for example an unused office.
Maybe there is room for a little yoga and stretching in there too, or maybe not but let’s be clear - mental health in the workplace has never been more important than it is today.
This type of nurturing space in an office environment may seem a mismatch but in fact it can be a tangible help for HR departments looking to recruit and retain top talent by ensuring they have a happy and healthy workforce.
talking wellbeing interiors with design well studios
In this episode of Green & Healthy Places, we’re in Portland, Oregon in the US with Michelle Ifversen of Design Well Studios - optimizing built environments for wellbeing. We discuss ‘building biology’, biophilic design concepts, indoor landscaping, healthy home design, air quality testing, the risks of EMFs at home and more.
The ‘Green & Healthy Places’ podcast series takes a deep-dive into the role of sustainability, wellbeing and community in real estate and hospitality.
In this episode we’re in Portland, Oregon in the US with Michelle Ifversen of Design Well Studios - optimizing built environments for wellbeing.
We discuss a term that is more common in the US than in Europe, namely ‘building biology’ - a combination of healthy building strategies and Biophilia or nature-connectedness.
Her in-person and virtual assessments of residential environments address issues affecting the health of occupiers, the risks of off-gassing from flooring and wall paint, how to mitigate the risk of Electro-Magnetic Fields (EMFs) in homes and how to safely manage your smart home technology.
Michelle has a lot of strings to her bow, having co-developed a lab test for indoor air quality, launched her own collection of biophilic nature-inspired artworks and delivering landscape design services for clients as well to bring the outside world indoors.
She’s devoted to all things natural and healthy in the home environment, so we had lots to talk about!
EPISODE NOTES
GUEST / MICHELLE IFVERSEN / DESIGN WELL STUDIOS
Botaniculture artworks
FULL TRANSCRIPT FOLLOWS COURTESY OF OTTER.AI - EXCUSE TYPOS
Matt Morley
Welcome, Michelle, thanks for joining us. Really nice to have you on board all the way from Portland, Oregon. I wanted to kick things off just with an overview from your side onwhat you do with design well studios and how you got to where you are today.
michelle ifversen
Thanks for having me, Matt. I've been inspired by biophilic design and healthy living spaces for quite some time now. I grew up in Santa Barbara, California, beautiful place, but everything grew there. And we lived in an area where it was a little bit more damp. And so I developed a lot of allergies and suffered with that. And everybody's like, oh, you're allergic to mold? Well, mold is an allergy, but it's not supposed to be inside of you...
michelle ifversen
I love science, I grew up watching surgeries, believe it or not. But My mother is a renowned landscape architect. And my father was a builder. My birth father was a sculptor. So I love art and design as well. So the the science part and the design part, really, you know, I love I've always loved that. I wanted to become a doctor. And I was taking my anatomy classes. And long story short, I walked in to do my cadaver labs and the formaldehyde was so overwhelming that I couldn't complete it. So I went to art school in Europe.
Matt Morley
It sounds like an interesting combination between art and science and an element of medicine and perhaps some influences from landscaping. And some point that leads you towards biophilic design and wellbeing design then?
michelle ifversen
Exactly, it was infused in my environment. And whether I liked it or not, it was happening, when I was designing my son's room 20 years ago, it was very difficult to find healthy building materials or healthy material furnishings. And so I researched heavily, and took a while to find one place in Oregon, actually Pacific Rim furniture with no toxins, no, no adhesives that were, you know, bad for you. And so I started that path while I was a designer and doing information architecture for high tech companies.
michelle ifversen
I moved back to Santa Barbara after living in a couple of different places on the west coast. And met a naturopathic doctor. And so we got to chatting. And she had a house call and noticed how gnarly their environment was, how it was damp, it was off gassing. And we got together and we created a company that that did these house calls these environmental assessments and then later on, I got into building biology and studied all about building science healthy building and remodeling and electromagnetic field testing EMF and really dove deeper into VOC is an indoor air quality. Okay,
Matt Morley
so there's lots in that. So we're let's loop back around to the building biology piece because I think that's it's really valuable information. But you mentioned the scene in Portland, Oregon 20 years ago. And if you like struggling to find anywhere that was delivering on this concept of sort of healthy materials and healthy furniture, how are things today and how does it compare, for example, with what you see, for example, down in California, in terms of the rest of the US, there are certain parts of the world that seem to be really pushing ahead and with availability Now for these things or leading from the path, or leading the market, how is your local scene?
michelle ifversen
Well, I'm not shopping for cribs anymore. But for healthy fabrics and furnishings, it's not fabulous. I mean, you definitely still have to source and a lot of this stuff comes from Europe. And it comes from California. So we do have a mattress manufacturer here that gets natural latex material and he makes beds and so I source a lot of those for my clients. You know, I do a lot of used furniture have you and repre upholstery, it. There's a real upholstery company here that does all sustainable upholstery, and natural latex and wool and things like that, too. It's there are some places, but especially furnishings. Really, really tough. really tough. There are some places that do I work with a lot of artists that will create furniture for me, right, so we'll design furniture together and for jobs, and so will source you know, really nice sustainable wood and I, I coached them on healthy finishings and adhesives and things like that to, to make that. So it's still in that creative stage. But it's not readily available, where you just go walk down the street, and here's an eco store, like in London, you know, they have a lot more to offer.
Matt Morley
Yeah, I think I think probably the reality is that, in most even major cities, still, there's a sense that it's a it's a niche market, but it's it's then about availability. And you're right that the European market is now pretty strong on that. But that, yeah, it doesn't necessarily mean we have direct access at retail, but we can get to things pretty quickly within the European market. And there's some, there's someone out there doing everything that we need. And I think that's, that's a real sign of the times. And I think it'll just carry on, we don't know how far it'll go in terms of becoming mainstream, but I think it'll become increasingly accepted. So let's look back round then. Because you mentioned building biology. And I think, you know, those are perhaps two words that don't necessarily go together or that Oh, yeah, for sure. Give us the give us a 32nd intro into building biology from your perspective.
michelle ifversen
Building Biology is about building science and and creating built environments that simulate nature. So breathable walls, you know, healthy indoor air space, air quality. You know, you know, great flooring without adhesives, and it really trying to mimic outdoors to indoors. And you know, I love technology but we have to put a limit on it, there's a right way to use it safely. And we can talk more about EMF later. But building biology is just that it's breathable, livable spaces that support humans. So I call it human code, rather than building code.
Matt Morley
That's an interesting take on things. And then so when you do your environmental wellness assessments, then I'm guessing 99% of the time you're going into spaces that are not built along those principles. So they're not buildings that have a builder nology concept behind them. So in fact, probably the opposite, right, you're going in, there's some kind of a problem that's been identified, whether it's visually something that's appearing on the walls, or there's a health issue for residents of the home, would that be correct?
michelle ifversen
Absolutely. Yeah. Most people get to me from their wellness providers, that they recommend having them check out their home, or they are they're like, I've gone down all this health, these, this this road to you know, having their health being compromised, and they think that there's something is cut stemming from their environment, right? So they're, it's kind of a detective work, they want to figure out where the source is coming from. And that's a lot of our business. It's, it's not as sexy as his biophilic design. But it is a supportive work, and I really enjoy it. And I've helped a lot of people over the years determine what's going on in their environment, because it's so they're so used to their environment. They're so used to their home and they're, they're not objective, right. They're like they think that's normal things are normal that off gassing of the paint of the of the flooring is normal.
michelle ifversen
You know, I've got so many cases where people will build brand new homes or their remodel and they'll put luxury vinyl tile. I don't know if you have that in Europe, but it's Yeah, yep. It looks great. It's beautiful, easy to clean, whatnot. But it a lot of them have adhesives in it that with formaldehyde, formaldehyde and metal off gas up to 15 years, especially if they don't have a system, an air system that will purify it and filter that out. So I do on site assessments here locally in Portland. And then now since pandemic, I've had to there's to do more virtual assessments. So I've been doing virtual assessments for people all over the country, and I work together, don't assume they work together. But I've connected with a toxicologist and immunologist that works with people all over the world. There. There are situations where they test their blood for mycotoxins, mold, and they want to know what to do about their environment. And so I come in and consult with them and do a virtual assessment through, you know, laptop or FaceTime, and take a look at their environment. And we have a really lengthy questionnaire to determine. And I've been able to help a lot of people that way, this feels really good.
Matt Morley
And so if you were to do an in person assessment, which presumably in a local context, post COVID, will become the norm again, for you or the preference.
michelle ifversen
I found myself getting exposed to mold and to chemicals. And so I know how to, I know how to what supplements to take, I know I sauna, and I know how to do that. And we're the gear, but it's not something that I, I want to do so much anymore. comes with a health risk rate.
Matt Morley
Right. And he mentioned EMF stem. So for those that perhaps aren't aware of what it involves, why you would need to test for it, and how you identify it, what's your process there.
michelle ifversen
So a lot of people come to me when they are looking to purchase a property, right? Like yesterday, I just did a property that was right next to a corridor where it's people run up and down it and above it, there's transmission power lines. So they wanted to know there, this person is very active, they're very healthy, they want to know what's going on. And so they think that, hey, there might be a connection, I want to check it out. So I go and I do an assessment where I check first gives me electric and magnetic fields. And we adhere to the precautionary principle, from building biology standards between you know, what's, what's low to high, and the health risks that could be coming from that now. There are a lot of studies, studies are still happening. But like with 5g, it's so very new. So there's not a lot of studies out there. There's studies with 2g and 3g. But 5g is completely a different animal, a different beast, it's small cell microwave radiation, and it has to be close not for the way. But when you're close to it, it's definitely it's definitely more harmful. I shouldn't say I don't want to go down that road too much.
michelle ifversen
When it comes to EMF, like I have a cell phone, but I use a case that has that shields it I'm hardwired with Ethernet and my computer, we don't have Wi Fi here, we have our Roku, which is a television. It's kind of like a Apple TV. And it's hardwired. So we still have the benefit. We have a outdoor speaker auto stereo, we plug our, our stereo into it. So it's all connected and it still sounds fabulous. So there's ways to do it. You know, I've been doing a lot of these smart homes and they're very savvy. They're very cool. I mean, you can talk to your your or not talk to you but find out how many eggs are in your frigerator I love the site. I love technology. I love it. But is it necessary and how much do we need? Right? And so
Matt Morley
It's a fascinating moment in history with two things going on in parallel - a return to nature on the one hand and a massive technological explosion on the other. Reconnecting with nature via biophilia isn’t about going backwards but nor do we want to neglect our evolutionary history completely, that’s the risk. So we end up with this dichotomy between the two tendencies, it can be hard to bridge the two sometimes I feel.
michelle ifversen
Just around air quality, then because I am conscious that that's going to be one of these think like hot hot topics for a few years to come for obvious reasons. So yeah, how do you work with indoor air quality? And what sort of techniques are you thinking about in terms of measuring and also improving indoor air quality?
michelle ifversen
So I was thinking of what you're saying about technology, they have the, the white the apps on your phone that can check your air and things like that. So that's that dichotomy you were talking about, like, yes, it's great that you're checking your vo C's and your your air and whatnot and your health of your home. But then you're using Wi Fi, right all over to us that purpose. So we don't do that.
michelle ifversen
We have a developed a kit with, with the lab here in the US, that tests for over 500 different voc volatile organic compounds, or chemicals. And it's a tube that you put on the test to the pump. And it's about an hour and a half test, and it just takes in the data, holds it in the tube, and then we send it off to the lab, and then we get a very professional lab report back that I go over with my clients. And it goes to the source where the where it's coming from. And so it's very, it's a great tool to analyze your air what's going on, if you did sit or remodel, if there's something going on in your environment, you think you don't know what that odor is or what's happening, we were able to determine what you know, where the source is coming from, and then to help to consult with them to remediate it.
Matt Morley
So it's like a deep dive analysis of the indoor air quality at a specific point in time,
michelle ifversen
right is a blood test. Yes, like a blood test for your body, right. And so it's a, it's a great way to know what's going on there. And we test for mold, vo C's as well. So if there's something going on that way, and then we have a isolated formaldehyde test, which is fantastic, because you don't have to strip away the other chemicals to get to that particular chemical. It just is a pure appear to us. So we can ship these. And people can buy these pumps, and they hope they have them for tool in their home. And they can use them in their office or car, their van build, they're there, they're there, kids dorm, or their, their their parents assisted living place and they can use it in or they can use it again after they remediate. To have that it's it's it's, it's a great tool.
Matt Morley
I think the the the underlying concept there is that there is there are now just a plethora of low grade and not that effective air quality monitors out there. And this Dyson fan in the corner of my home office here would it would be included in that it just can't work it out. If it's not, it's not the standard that we need in order to get a really decent look. And most of what's happening sort of desktop monitors are not going to get there. So I think the idea of having what you're describing as a, like a blood test for your and then perhaps, you know, slightly more slightly more not medical grade better than an upgraded air quality monitor doing a sort of continuous analysis such as that aware and companies like that. And doing that, to me starts to feel pretty comprehensive
michelle ifversen
it's good to have the constant monitoring, it's great to do that. But it's also, you know, important to note that we don't want people living in fear, right? We want them to be able to be go come home to their space to go to their workspace to feel inspired and not worried that there's something in their environment that's going to harm them. So it's really good. I feel like I give people a lot of peace of mind, especially with EMF testing. Like for instance, some people's dishwashers are very hot, right? And so a lot of people prep around their dishwasher. And if you're trying to conceive a baby, that's probably not a good thing. Right? So it's just good to know where, what your what's the pulse of your home, and how to operate and function. And then when you move to a new place, you know, figure that out again and then you're like you know how to navigate and and shield or just know, to not hang out in that particular area like a lot of people put their electrical panels or theirs Aren't leaders, your bedrooms or spaces where you spend a lot of time.
michelle ifversen
So that's that's a constant radio frequency coming at you all the time, preventing a lot of dirty electricity. And like I'm helping a woman on the coast who has a two acre property and she's building a home. She's got a she's got a two year old and she wants I'm consulting with her on placement of where the smart meters should be. And not near his bedroom, not near areas over there. You can opt out and not haven't had the radio frequency on there. She doesn't have any health issues, but it's just a preventative. You know, it's a it's a good, good way to know about that. So a lot of I do a lot of places that, you know, you'd be shocked where they there's no regulation here in the US that I just found now that the the newer homes are going to be more regulated where they put the gas meters, they have regular radio frequency as well. But what about all the existing homes? There's nothing about that there's no education, there's no shielding, there's no they don't try and opt out. So it's, it's, it's a hard fight sometimes to be able to reach a lot of people with this, but I prevail. I keep trying
Matt Morley
that you get into the study more strategically surround healthy interior design as a concept and almost sort of healthy healthy buildings and healthy real estate development or refurbishment projects. Right. Now, it's a term that I think we're seeing more and more of everybody has, I think their own interpretation of but when you talk about healthy interiors and healthy interior design, what do you interpret that to mean?
michelle ifversen
sourcing materials and furnishings and finishes that are non toxic, that are that are not going to off gas that are not going to give them trouble. I've had clients who just purchased a regular mattress and that given them sort of a thought body burden, toxic overload that's created them to be multiple chemical sensitive from one mattress. So it's just it's really good to and who knows their story before Do you not I mean, they could have had other past exposures but just a healthy interior really is about quality air. That's that's more than most important healthy building materials insulation is a huge one. And making sure that your your crawlspace your attic is is clean, and not not too not too damp, not too humid. And just really shoring it up in in, you know, the healthy design too. It's not just about the building material furnishings and things like that. It's it's space planning, right? It's bringing in greenery, it's its views, it's it's where you function and operate in your home.
michelle ifversen
I'm in my office which was a spare bedroom that we created. And there was no window towards the backyard of a lovely backyard with the with with a garden and beautiful vegetation that I had no access to in here when I moved in here. And so my husband built or made a window. So I could see it. And so it just it makes me want to come in here. And since I'm not in the field so much I'm I'm more inspired to be on the computer and have these podcasts and these meetings and work with my clients. They're so having a view of nature is is the landscape design, outside in inside out. So that's that's a really big piece of the way I design and I work with people on their landscape and their yards to their gardens. So they can be where they're sitting have a beautiful view, or there's a fountain there or a special plant that they like or a tree or something like that. So it's not it's sort of Yeah, it's it's a nice way to design and people seem to really appreciate that.
Matt Morley
That then you get into the concepts of biophilic design & biophilia. And I think what you're describing is really sort of direct forms of biophilia where it's it's live plants, but I know you're also so I indoor landscaping or indoor outdoor landscaping. But I know you've also done a project whereby you've co created it seems a collection of biophilic artworks, which to me would look like indirect forms of biophilia a way to connect with nature but through a print so the original artworks How did you go about that? What was the story behind that?
michelle ifversen
Yes, so very cool story. And it's, it's a It feels like the most wonderful project because it's My mother. My mother is a very renowned landscape architect who has done so many projects all throughout California Santa Barbara, Montecito, Napa Valley, the Bay Area. And here in Portland, and she is retired now and a few years ago, I've been I've been trying to, and she went to art school. I mean, she's a she's an amazing artist and painter, but she has not painted since she was in college. And so I was very inspired to, I bought her canvases and, and paints and things like that. And she slowly started getting into it. But then what really took off is that I'm a photographer, I've been a photographer for years, I was I started out when I was in art school in Europe.
michelle ifversen
I love photographing nature. I love photographing wega I hike, I'm very active, and I go and I photograph the macro of a mushroom close of a mushroom open. Just having that perspective, deeper into that that lens. And I would bring my photos, I would send them to her on my phone, and she would just be inspired and just this light bulb hit with her and she started painting them. And then she started painting indoor plants during the pandemic where I wasn't going out so much. So we kind of went in, right. And so she started painting these beautiful monsters and these palms and ferns and I put them all in my my studio here and we put them in the house and it's just really invoked such a positive mood. And so that was that sort of the start of our biophilic prints and we're opening up a store on Etsy and going to be selling them on the on the site as well and and just been just really have fun with it.
Matt Morley
Like it your husband making windows out into the back garden for you got your mom making up works. Seeing things now as we're looking ahead as we're sort of, I think there's this feeling of cautious optimism for the next six months. But how are you seeing things I know, it's been a tough hustle over the last 18 months for most of us working in this game. But it does feel like there's perhaps just this opportunity now, right? When what the themes we've been talking about for a while, uh, suddenly becoming a little bit more understood and appreciated. Are you picking up on that? Are you feeling optimistic for the next six months? How do you see it,
michelle ifversen
definitely, definitely, I feel like this is that it's a breath of fresh air and people are tired, they're hungry for it. You know, they are they've also spent a lot of time in their home environment, right, they've been like, and they realize that they can do better, and they want to do better, and they're still working, they're still working from home, they so they have income, a lot of people and so they want to dial in their homes, and then a lot of people have gone out into their gardens and gardening. So they really are taking pride and ownership into their own environment, which is feels really good. So it's for me as a environmental designer, I feel like it's just opened up this avenue of, of awareness and also desire to dial things in a little bit deeper and to and to realize that that's good money well spent, rather than, you know, an option of kind of a luxury, I should say it's looking more like they want to take care of their health, they want to take care of their their place. And they want to they want to source better materials. So it's the residential piece that I that we've talked about you and I is that, you know, having people you know, showing them how to do that and offering that service to be able to dive in deeper. So they're actually applying these things on a purchase just
Matt Morley
to give someone like a really top line in a few a few tips. Just the sort of the basics. We're talking someone who's perhaps not necessarily thinking today about creating a healthy home but right they have, as you say, over the last 18 months become more aware that actually yeah, it's important to think about that and perhaps they're not doing enough and therefore Okay, what are the what are the first few things that everyone should be thinking about?
michelle ifversen
indoor air quality, obviously, number one, test your air first. Find out what's really going on in your environment just to get a baseline, and then work with us on on going over the report and and really that's just like if you want to start somewhere and then if you know dial it in with an air purifier, you know and to reduce those vo C's and then figure out where the sources coming in, bring in more plants, definitely bringing more plants, you know put in a little humidor. It's called a monitor humidity monitor, and and check to see you know, how's your house functioning, you know, if you're living in Florida, it's going to be very high. So stick a dehumidifier in there. So just really kind of be one with your space. And then also notice where you spend your most of your time
michelle ifversen
For example, in your bedroom. When you wake up. What do you look at first thing I say it's a fantastic trick or tip I should say is put a photograph or put something inspiring are a beautiful plant or your you know your meditation station or something inspiring to look at when you wake up every morning. also pay attention to where you put your electronics. Try not to have them next to your bed. Turn your plate or your phone and your wireless router off at night. That's a good that's a good easy tip. Nice.
Matt Morley
Yeah. And the route is found the best way at least with that was finding these multi plug multi plugs with timers on so I set the timer so that just goes off at midnight. Totally goes back on if you do have Wi Fi Yeah, for sure. Like lots of great tips and information in there. Really cool. We'll link to everything on the show notes. And thank you so much again for your time. It's been awesome.
michelle ifversen
Thank you Matt. Really appreciate it. Love chatting with you. Thank you so much.
what are Biophilia and Biophilic Design?
There is a tendency to over-simplify biophilia as meaning plants or greenery but in fact it is a way to bring the outside world in to re-establish our connection to nature even in buildings and interiors.
definitions of biophilia and biophilic design for hotels aand residences
The Wardian biophilic design residences in London’s Canary Wharf, a development by EcoWorld Ballymore
Biophilic design concept - the key principles
There is a tendency to over-simplify biophilia as meaning plants or greenery in general and therefore biophilic design as simply bringing plants into an interior space, effectively as decorative objects.
There is a grain of truth in that but I’d classify biophilic design a little more precisely as a way to bring the outside world in to re-establish our connection to nature even when enclosed in a built environment.
The biophilia hypothesis
That concept of a connection to nature starts to outline the logic behind biophilic design, essentially the biophilia hypothesis that states we are inherently connected to mother nature, the elements, animals and the plant kingdom due to our shared evolutionary history.
Lest it needs reiterating, Homo Sapiens has really only had a bit part role in nature’s billions of years of history, we have to keep that in perspective as the world does not, despite appearances, actually revolve around us.
We do not have any ownership rights over the planet, quite the opposite in fact. We may currently be the dominant species but this, like everything from a meta historical perspective, is likely to be temporal. Our time will come, eventually.
Once we have established that nature ultimately runs the show, the biophilia hypothesis can be seen from an entirely different perspective. The further we disconnect ourselves from the natural world the greater the risk for our health and the future as a species. On this basis, a couple of plants on your desk at work is not the solution.
health benefits of biophilia
When I talk about the health benefits of biophilic design I typically divide the answer into mental and physical wellbeing.
how can hotels use biophilic design?
There are some interesting studies that address the potential role of biophilic design in hotels such as the one done by Bill Browning entitled Human Spaces 2.0 - Biophilic Design in Hospitality. That is very much a reference point.
In that study Terrapinn Bright Green did a fine job of putting some hard data to biophilia’s claims of adding value to the guest experience, driving room rates higher and increasing ‘linger time’ in hotel lobbies, all tangible deliverables in terms of a design strategy.
The biophilic design Sky Lounge at The Wardian residences in London UK, a development by EcoWorld Ballymore
biophilic design in real estate
That research team took some of what we know from the world of biophilic design in residential real estate development around how access to nature increases property values, whether it be proximity or views of green nature (parks, gardens) or blue nature (ponds, lakes and seas).
Dwell time in a lobby increases when there are views of nature (direct biophilia) but also when there are representations of nature such as landscape murals, dense indoor landscaping and so on (indirect biophilia).
A prime example of this is the lobby area of The Wardian Residences in London’s Canary Wharf, a veritable bonanza of biophilic design for a luxury residential target market. Yes there are many plants in the mix but this development also uses natural stone such as marble to great effect, as well as nature motifs on carpets, wallpapers and murals.
Does biophilic design help heal hospital patients quicker?
This is the research study that so many people refer to, delivered by Roger Ulrich. did patients recover quicker when they had a view of nature than when they were looking out onto a brick wall from their hospital bed? YEs.
I think there are so many different variables within that, perhaps it is worth taking it with a pinch of salt and corroborating it with other studies that draw similar conclusions. No t to discount the work of Ulrich, far from it but we need more such data to build up a truly bullet-proof case for biophilia’s impact on healing and recovery times.
Direct biophilia vs indirect biophilia
It is also important to define the difference between direct and indirect forms of biophilia - direct forms of biophilia would be a view out onto a park, or in this case, a living green wall.
Indirect biophilia can be a representation of natural forms through patterns, textures, colour, images and so on, often with nearly as much impact on our mental wellbeing as direct forms of nature in fact, which opens the door to a far wider range of biophilic design solutions for an interior space.
Biophilia and community
A vertical garden wall that produces edible salad leaves can have a far larger role to play than merely decorating a hotel or office building’s lobby. because you're effectively creating a design feature with community benefits as the leaves can be contributed to a local charity for example, or used in the hotel kitchen for guests as a 0km herb garden.
It can also be a way to build local community ties for a corporation by inviting kids in to learn about the vertical farming process, whilst still all the time delivering a great biophilic feature. This type of solution with multiple benefits has a very bright future ahead in our opinion as it gives biophilia a wider purpose than pure aesthetics.
Restorative nature
Garden walls can be a great way to create a calming, restorative space, be it in a health clinic, hotel lobby or workspace. It's been shown to help with concentration levels as well. . The study that I did in London showed that it helped with reducing anxiety and creative brainstorming sessions, people just felt me it was a conducive environment to that sort of work.
biophilia and indoor air quality
Living plants have another purpose, for example, helping in some small way in terms of indoor air quality, improving the quality of the indoor air that we're all breathing.
Usually here we refer to the famous NASA study where they tested 10 different species and worked out that a number of them were able to take out the bad stuff, take out the co2 and pump oxygen back into the air, even in a spaceship. So if you focus on those, you’ll need lots of them to have a really tangible impact but again if you're dealing with scale, then the solution is to go big on your biophilia for maximum health benefits, no better way to do that than with a vertical garden wall!
In addition to ventilation filters, this can really make a difference, as do natural fibres and fabrics in an interior space that do not contain VOCs for further improvements to the indoor air. See more on that here.
The 1 Hotels example of sustainable luxury
The 1 Hotels brand has redefined the sustainable luxury hotel segment from our perspective. They really went big on sustainability by integrating biophilia and biophilic design into the DNA of their hotel concept from day one, combined with a health and wellness angle. This gave them a People and Planet approach that aligns perfectly with our value system, it’s more than skin deep too, this goes all the way through their operations policies to help shape the guest experience form the ground up.
biophilia and sustainability
If we go back to where we started, with biophilia being a love of and innate connection to nature, it follows that if we do not respect nature in our work as biophilic designers, real estate developers or hoteliers, we are effectively shooting ourselves in the foot. If you’re not doing things in a sustainable way, using sustainable design and construction practices for example, then anything you do that has a negative impact on nature is to avoided at all costs, otherwise we are merely greenwashing.
biophilic design and moss walls
In spaces that have no natural light, how do we work with biophilic design? Can we ever use plants in this context? Often, the solution here lies with preserved moss, possibly combined with a wall panel such as cork bark. We can also use patterns and textures that reflect nature here, organic fabrics, wabi sabi finishes, anything that fits into an organic design approach that does not require natural light. By layering detail upon detail in this way, we can create great results even in a lower ground space, when needed, proving that biophilic design comes in many different guises!
Is Biophilic Design about Sustainability or Wellbeing?
How does biophilic design connect with wellbeing interiors, healthy buildings and sustainable design principles? Nature has all the answers, combining elements of both, balancing People and Planet, human wellness and the environment.
Can Ikigai home office by Biofilico wellbeing interiors
What is biophilic design?
The concept biophilic design can be a confusing name but actually it's very simple. In fact I'd argue there's perhaps nothing simpler because it's effectively our innate connection to the natural world.
So 'biophilia' = love of or connection to nature. If nature has been our partner in evolutionary history over the last, wherever you want to start from 200,000 years or a billion years, depending on how you look at it, we should just pause there for a second.
We're now in 2021, industrialization began a couple of hundred years ago, that marked a profound change on our evolutionary path that has meant we're increasingly disconnected from our partner in evolutionary history, Mother Nature. It's hard to underestimate the impact of this diversion in our respective paths.
My argument is that the further we move away from the natural path the more at risk we put both our own physical and mental wellbeing and also it turns out, that of our host planet as well.
What role do green buildings / healthy buildings have in biophilic design?
This is where biophilic design connects with sustainability and environmentally-friendly thinking.
If we accept the premise that we're endangering our relationship with the planet, biophilic design is a way to rectify in some small way, that disconnect between our living environments that previously were just natural spaces, and the reality of living, working and playing in a dense urban environment.
Our home or office may well be in a high-rise, city centre building, yet how can we still maintain that connection to nature, that has been proven to be so fundamental to our mental and physical wellbeing?
Biophilic design in a workplace for example, is not just about sustainability, a green building strategy to give something back to the planet; by bringing the outside world in biophilic interiors are also about wellbeing design for the office. Healthy buildings are all about making our real estate as positive as possible for our own health.
Healthy interior design and nature
Our work and home environments can and should be healthy places to spend 8-12 hours a day, it's that simple, anything less simply isn't good enough any more.
The closer you can get to a natural indoor environment, be it in a workplace or residential context, the healthier that space is going to be for you mentally and physically.
Think of biophilic design as as a hybrid solution that combines elements of healthy building or wellness interior principles, with green building concepts.
Whereas we've had 25 years of green buildings and sustainable real estate development, over the last 10 years there's been a shift towards wellness real estate and workplace wellness design that connects to the environment. It's a subtle but important shift in perspective.
Biophilia is interesting, indeed biophilic design is interesting because as an expert consultant I straddle those two worlds. You often get people who are specialists in green buildings or healthy buildings, my approach combines elements of the two.
Organic design in biophilia
The first key concept then is 'organic design', finding ways to integrate natural elements back into our offices and homes. That can be real life nature but it can also be representations of nature, artworks, sculptures, natural materials or other ways to give you a visual connection that isn't actually a living photosynthesising plant!
Wellbeing interiors in biophilia
Secondly, it's about using nature to create wellbeing interiors for offices and homes, which involves for example, focusing on ways to bring the indoor air quality in line with what one would find in a forest, beach or mountain setting - as pure as it can get in other words. Definitely not what it's like in downtown London, LA or Shanghai on a busy. Monday morning.
A Wellbeing Champion for healthy materials
As a Wellbeing Champion on a project, we also consider the selection of sustainably sourced natural materials as a central part of wellbeing interiors and biophilic design.Healthy materials like these don't off-gas or contain any nasty chemicals, that in turn will damage the air quality and pose a low-level health risk for building occupants. Typically the more natural and organic matter a fabric or material contains, the cleaner and healthier it will be.
Movement and fitness in biophilic design
We were born to move, that's part of our evolutionary history so how can biophilic design prompt small amounts of almost unconscious movement into our workspaces into our daily life?
Whilst we are in the office there's some clever things we can do there that don’t necessarily involve designing a gym, ‘active design’ involves strategies to help prompt people to be just that little bit more active in their workspace. For example standing desks, walking meetings, engaging stairwell design to create a viable alternative to the lift, a mix of work areas that might even include a room for stretching and yoga or meditation, if not a few weights and a barbell!
Nourishment in biophilic design in the office
This can be as simple as using displays of fresh fruit and vegetables as prompts, as a way to encourage people to think, eat, drink, healthy. Consider how to encourage water consumption, low-sugar fresh fruit juices and eve vegetable juices as a way to maintain energy levels throughout the day rather than reaching for a chocolate bar or Diet Coke.
Wellness lighting in a healthy office design
A lighting system it can be a smart system that is in tune with our circadian rhythms which is basically our 24 hour cycle. So, for example things like in winter after dark, it’s best not to use glaring white, blue or gree lights ss you might find in say a hospital emergency room.
Instead we’re trying to find ways to smooth that path to complete rest with softer more amber tones to improve your sleep quality at night, and certainly not disrupt your sleep while still giving you enough light to be energized and deliver on your work i the latter half of the day, or if working late i the office.
So just really taking inspiration from the natural world, and finding ways to integrate that into the workplace experience.
What is the role of a biophilic design in real estate?
Biofilico creates environments that are promote productivity while reducing low levels of stress and anxiety during the work day, primarily that's done through the workplace environment interventions described above but what I'm seeing is, if you take a slightly more health oriented approach it can also be applied to other sectors.
At the moment we’re looking at later life residential concepts for example, so almost like upscale retirement homes where actually it's all about health and living well. Private health clinics, I'm looking at now, as well, and definitely residential, where I'm able to apply the same principles are the same. We all want to live well, feel good and be healthy, right?
So where do we spend most of our time? In our residences, workplaces and for some of us more than others, quite a bit of time in the gym as well! Those are my three sectors of interest.
CONTACT US TO DISCUSS YOUR WORKPLACE WELLBEING INTERIOR PROJECT
Biophilia in healthy buildings
Biophilic design in the context of green building and healthy building standards. How does biophilia relate to and combine elements of wellbeing and sustainability?
The role of biophilic design in healthy interiors
The real estate industry has increasingly shifted away from thinking exclusively about 'green buildings' and 'sustainable real estate', this has been a quiet revolution over the last 10-15 years towards building occupant wellbeing and human health as well, not replacing but rather extending the concept further. This then gives you a mix of Planet (green buildings) and People (healthy buildings).
Healthy, green and smart buildings
Aligned with that, we are increasingly looking at smart buildings too, so 'healthy, green and smart' are becoming the holy trinity of high performance real estate today in other words. Thinking about a workplace or a home or a building, or an entire community that is healthy, green and smart.
Benefits of Biophilia in real estate
For me at least, within that space of sustainability and wellbeing in buildings and interiors, there's been this massive shift towards integrating nature into an indoor environment, typically referred to as biophilia, which is really just our innate connection to to the natural world and how increasingly urban environments, come with their own risks because we end up disconnected from nature, so biophilia or biophilic design brings the outside world back into our urban, indoor environments.
Biofilico started doing gyms and then branched out into co working spaces and business clubs and offices and now entire buildings, but really the focus there is combining elements of the eco friendly and sustainable, a consciousness about the impact we’re having on the planet, from the materials to the types of fabrics that we're bringing in, and how many plants are in there, and so on.
Nature = healthy interiors
What’s fascinating is that the natural is often the healthy too, so if you think about diet for example, the more natural and organic your ingredients the better the nutritional value. The same concept can be applied, in an abstract way, to our office and home environments.
You're seeing all of these Silicon Valley startups going big on biophilic design in their workplace wellness and employee engagement strategies for that same reason.
A lot of it's about giving something back to staff, not just doing less harm to the environment but actually giving something back to the people, to your employees who are spending time in the workplace every day by making it generally more pleasant and by implication a more productive for them to work in.
This approach helps with concentration levels too, it's been shown that if you can reconnect a little with nature during your work day rather than sitting in a white box all day long, then it actually helps to restore energy levels, it gives feelings of vitality.
Biophilic design research - health benefits
There's a lot of research out there around the positivity that a biophilic interior in your home or office can engender and so now we're seeing this happy balance in interiors today.
We’re looking for the science and the data to back all this up. That's where tech comes back into the discussion as we need to deliver functional benefits, so not just form and aesthetics but functional mental and physical health benefits.
Like any good interior design it all needs to look good whilst having minimal impact on the environment, plus we are aiming for tangible improvements in emotional and physical wellbeing for the occupiers of the space in question, be it an office, a home or even a gym.
Well building certifications
In the same way that you have your star ratings for hotels, when you're dealing with a workplace, there hasn't really been any standardized system in terms of ensuring that there is adequate consideration taken for workplace wellbeing, or generally creating a healthy environment for workers.
The green building movement did that to an extent, via certifications like LEED and BREEAM and various others all around the world. Then came the wellness certification rating systems such as WELL, FITWEL and RESET. More recently we've seen the emergence of smart building certifications, the one I use is WIRED SCORE.
They really go in and just make sure that everything within that building or workplaces is set up so that it is future proofed so that can you can effectively integrate tech into your facilities management system, a lot of it then goes into the FM facilities management, and you're then looking for efficiencies in terms of how a building is operated so that you're reducing energy expenditure at lower times of usage, when there's less occupancy in a space, whether it's an office or hotel or, or an entire building and creating a more touchless environment so that most things can be done and delivered via an app or via technology instead of old school manual options.
What is indoor air quality in the context of a healthy building?
Indoor air quality data comes down to your air quality monitors, Biofilico is certified in RESET AIR - a protocol for installing certain types of high-grade monitors in certain locations around a building or interior space, ensuring the data is delivered to the RESET cloud for ongoing analysis, you then have a lot of alarms that go off if anything looks unusual, you can overlay that data with occupancy data and start to see if there's something happening in this meeting room because they've been in there for four hours without a window open and there’s a problem with the ventilation, for example.
Wellness tech is now allowing us a real time view of the healthy credentials of a space. Yes it requires a modest investment upfront on behalf of the building owner or the tenant, but really once you're set up you provide support for your guests, customers, occupants or residents, giving them reassurance that you're taking their health to heart and that it's a priority.
When you look at the costs of staffing and rent, a minor increase in healthy interior enhancements can really make a tangible difference, especially to productivity rates. People are breathing fresher air, they're more likely to be do quality creative work. It's no longer about putting hours in at your desk in a specific, dedicated corner of the office, it's about how much can you produce and what quality work can you produce around the building, , moving between areas as needed to adapt to the type of work you are doing at any one time during the work day.
Biophilic design in building certification standards
Biophilic design is less an alternative than an integral component of the green building and healthy building movements. So if you're looking at LEED or BREEAM, there are components within them both that give credit or recognition for integrating elements of biophilic design, such as landscaping, gardens, views of nature, plant walls, and so on.
Biophilic design is a strategy that we use to not just tick boxes but to deliver value and enhancements to a space and what's interesting about it that is straddles both worlds, the green and the healthy, wellbeing design and sustainable design. So that same strategy can be applied to both of those two different types of certification standards and you gain credits for both.
Lighting strategies in healthy buildings
There's been some real revolution in lighting systems over the last few years. How can we, first of all, reduce energy expenditure with the lighting? That's the easy part, we've been doing that for a little while, then you say okay how can we enhance wellbeing through smart lighting systems and really you get into color therapy, there, playing with the light spectrums on offer at different times of day to connect with our innate circadian rhythm.
So thinking about, say, a brighter blue white light. In the mornings, which is when the sun is high as we're getting up to the middle of the day and then towards the end of the day, a softer, more Amber yellow or orange hue, and removing all the blue white lights later at the end of the day so we're not disrupting sleep patterns.
How many of us have spent days in offices with these intense blue white halogen lights above us from nine o'clock in the morning until nine o'clock at night, then you go home and it's hard to switch off! A different type is more appropriate after dark, especially in winter.
How does Biofilico apply these concepts to a home setting?
A typical project might be an 8-story mixed use real estate development in London or the health and fitness offer for entire hotel. At a larger scale, I'm part of a team and there's mechanical engineer consultants, architect studios and interior design teams involved as well..
Recently though, we’ve applied this thinking to Can Ikigai in Barcelona, Biofilico’s home base, with a home gym set-up, a biophilic home office and a wabi-sabi organic interior concept design. This has meant applying some of the knowledge that we have from healthy buildings and wellness in the workplace to a residential context.
Contact us for help with your office, home, hotel or gym project
future of Workplace wellbeing interview with matt morley
Our thoughts on the future of workplace wellbeing, from biophilia, active design, lighting strategies and indoor air quality as part of an enhanced indoor environmental quality plan.
We recently participated in a webinar on the future of workplace wellbeing alongside The Yoga Agency and Yinshi Meditation as well as the Founder of Planet Organic / Beluga Bean, Renee Elliott.
Here is an extract from that webinar with Matt’s thoughts on workplace wellness, biophilic design and active design in healthy buildings.
For those of us working in the wellbeing space we have seen that Covid-19 has bought wellbeing into the spotlight for many businesses. Why do you think this is?
MM: From my perspective at least, COVID has merely accelerated a process that was already underway, in what was admittedly a rather patchy, yet undeniable ‘quiet revolution’ towards healthier, greener workplaces that respect the Triple Bottom Line of people, planet & profit.
In the broadest of terms, the US, Australia, Canada, Singapore and to some extent the UK were seen as world leaders in this. Like I say, these things start as a niche and slowly become more mainstream, we just leapt forward by several years basically.
Indoor Environmental Quality - or IEQ - is a fundamental part of the healthy workplace concept, those of us engaged in this field have all studied it in-depth and more importantly implemented strategies to create, maintain and monitor purified, high quality indoor air with adequate ventilation rates long before the world switched on to the risks of getting it wrong, airborne virus transmission is one example but high levels of CO2, particulate matter or Volatile Organic Compounds all have their own detrimental impact on our health.
Essentially then, at least in terms of creating a baseline for IEQ, it’s about three fundamentals:
the mechanical system or HVAC
the building and fit-out materials present in a space that can off-gas harmful chemicals that reduce IEQ
a facilities management policy around enhanced, eco-friendly cleaning schedules
Have you noticed any trends in terms of what different industries are doing to prepare the workspace for peoples return
MM: Innovative tech companies were already way out in front on this as they are often cash-rich and place such priority on their knowledge workers no matter where they are in the world - an example would be the green, leafy and cutting edge Amazon offices all over the world
Where they led, others followed, so more generally now a lot of small-medium size start-ups looking to attract and retain top talent into their workforce in a highly competitive job market recognize that having an uplifting, positive space can make a real difference.
Then we have companies with an inherent connection to nature, perhaps via their mission statement or product line, an example there would be HERO organic foods in Switzerland for example, basically the natural version of Danone, they are now doing biophilic nature-inspired offices that reflect their company values on one level but also are designed to help raise productivity, concentration and happiness levels amongst their staff, whilst keeping them safe.
The current phase that I’m seeing is akin to a trickle-down effect that has been 10 Xd by COVID to a far wider spectrum of companies who now see an urgent need to upgrade their offices in light of recent events.
What do you think are some of the longer lasting impacts of covid 19 in terms of the way we work?
For those businesses looking for a standardized process backed by scientific rigor , there are a number of well regarded certification programs out there now, from Virus Response, to Air Quality specific, to those such as the WELL Certification that cover not just a workplace’s Air quality but also its Water, Nourishment and nutrition, the quality of Light within the offices, Fitness and movement, thermal and physical Comfort, as well as Mental Wellbeing
So just as sustainable building certifications tell us when a building has eco-friendly credentials, increasingly the leading workplaces are talking about their wellbeing standards as well.
Before it was a nice to have but Covid changed that.
What can businesses do to improve their physical environment/office space and why is it important.
First and foremost, again, it has to be indoor air quality, please please please let’s get that right! You may need some outside help to implement a solid plan in larger organizations but your staff will thank you for it and now is the time!
Additionally, I’ve been talking about biophilia and biophilic design for 5-6 years now but it feels like this concept is finally ‘having a moment’ as more and more workplaces are catching on post-pandemic.
Essentially it’s about bringing the outside world into our built environment to harness nature’s mental and physical health benefits, for example a plant wall can do amazing things in terms of air purification.
No matter how modest a space, a nature themed recharge room for having a quiet moment alone, doing some deep thinking, or a little light stretching can make the world of difference to the workday, especially in offices with limited natural light and no outdoor green spaces nearby.
For me, biophilic design combines elements of sustainability and wellbeing via its nature-first approach to materials, colours, sounds, textures and even scent.
It’s not just putting plants on desks, the deeper you go into the principles behind this idea the more it gives back and the greater the impact can be on that Triple Bottom Line I mentioned earlier.
In the end, we’re looking to boost productivity and concentration while reducing anxiety and stress amongst employees and, just as importantly, respecting the environment in the process. It’s a win-win.
What advice do you have for those in the audience in HR of Office management roles who have the responsibility of caring for other peoples health and wellbeing ?
I’ve touched on Indoor Environmental Quality, specifically the importance of establishing high quality indoor air and then monitoring it on an ongoing basis - data is key otherwise you’re operating blind!
We then have the wonders of biophilic design, whether on a small or large sale, whether promoting access to nearby nature via walking meetings outdoors, or by bringing more nature indoors, it’s all good.
I’d add to that a real focus on physical and mental activity opportunities facilitated by the organization, even if only a discount or voucher system for nearby fitness studios or meditation centres if there Isn’t space or budget to host something in-house every week.
It’s the thought that counts and ultimately, if budget allows, having it there under-utilized (“my employer cares”) is still better than not having it at all (“my employer doesn’t care”).
Also, consider boosting your community-oriented CSR practices that help staff and the organization itself give back - they have been shown to foster immense feelings of purpose and satisfaction in the giver, not just the receiver.
Additionally, consider the lighting in an office, uplighters / standing lamps and desk lamps with warmer, amber hues can be especially helpful in the darker winter months as an alternative to those harsh overhead blue-white lights that are detrimental to sleep quality, which in turn impacts worker performance the next day.
What can employees/individuals do to stay healthy during this transition back to normal?
In terms of personal agency, taking matters into your own hands rather than relying on organizational level change, it would have to be Active Design also known as ‘incidental movement’ during the day - it’s about being active at work, which is different to working out at work!
So mindfully choosing the stairs not the lift
Perhaps using a standing desk rather than a chair for at least part of the day
moving between deep work spaces and more collaborative zones in the office, or going to a colleague to chat instead of sending an email
using a bike to get to and from the office
consciously making yourself walk outside at lunchtime for a bite to eat
proposing a walking meeting with another colleague instead of opting to sit together in a small enclosed office, and so on….
Interview for 'Future of Workplace Wellbeing' webinar
Interview for 'Future of Workplace Wellbeing' seminar between Matt Morley and Leigh Chapman
Matt Morley on the Future of Workplace Wellbeing
FREE webinar registration link: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/7716129787897/WN_AHVNM-q-SKCVoJzk5mfi6A
Matt, can you describe what you do in regards to workplace wellness in a sentence?
I can try! It took me a long time to get there but basically I’m about creating green and healthy spaces, so I combine design and operational strategies to help make offices geared for wellbeing and sustainability.
What will you be discussing at the upcoming Future of Workplace Wellbeing seminar?
It’s already shaping up to be a really promising line-up and I’m delighted to be contributing my thoughts to the panel. I’ll likely focus on tangible improvements that can be made to the work environment itself, in order to offer practical inspiration to HR teams, Brand Managers and Office Managers concerned about the now imminent return to work.
One thing’s for sure, there has never been a more pertinent time to make office upgrades of this kind, employees are quite frankly looking for signs of understanding from their employers now that we have all grasped the risks associated with spending so much time in close contact with colleagues.
The benefits still far outweigh the risks in my view but every office needs to adapt to the new reality. Debate about how to create a safe and healthy workplace is here to stay.
Which workplace wellbeing trend gets you the most excited at the moment?
I’ve been talking about biophilia and biophilic design for 5-6 years now but it feels like this concept is finally ‘having a moment’ as more and more workplaces are catching on post-pandemic.
Essentially it’s about bringing the outside world into our built environment to harness nature’s mental and physical health benefits; so while I may be known for creating the world’s first biophilic gym back in 2017 those same principles can be applied to any type of indoor space, and ultimately we spend most of our time in our homes and in the office, so it is there that we’er seeing the most innovation at the moment.
How does biophilic design connect with the future of workplace wellbeing in your view?
For me, biophilic design combines elements of sustainability and wellbeing via its nature-first approach to materials, colours, sounds, textures and scent. It’s not just landscaping or putting plants on desks, as some might think, the deeper you go into the principles behind this design philosophy the more it gives back and the greater the impact can be. Recently i’ve been geeking out on innovative bio-materials from fruit skins and algae for example!
So why is this important? We’re looking to boost productivity and concentration while reducing anxiety and stress amongst employees and, just as importantly, respecting the environment in the process. It’s a lot to think about, I recognise that but it is absolutely within reach for most offices.
What are the intended outputs of this particular workplace wellbeing strategy?
Pretty quickly I realised that data illustrating the benefits of biophilic design was going to be key when pitching this concept to a CFO or CPO so in 2018 I carried out a research study with the University of Essex and EcoWorld Ballymore, a real estate developer with a biophilic residential building in Canary Wharf.
We created a ‘Vitamin Nature space’, or recharge room, and invited local professionals in during their lunch hour, or for a team meeting or workshop and the results were so encouraging!
There is this innate connection in all of us to natural spaces, it’s an evolutionary thing, just think of the hundreds of thousands of years of history in which our ancestors’ survival depended entirely on their understanding of edible plants, wild animals, dangerous insects, the seasons, weather cycles and more.
Arguably there is nowhere better to bring some of this biophilia back into our lives than in soulless office interiors in a dense urban environment.
What workplace wellbeing project has had the biggest impact on you recently?
I have an ongoing advisory role with Black Mountain Partners in London, a real estate development fund currently re-launching a Grade A heritage building overlooking London Bridge with a gym, restaurant, rooftop bar and, crucially, eight floors of offices.
For this long-term client I manage their Placemaking & ESG, so i’m working very much at a strategic level with the CEO to align the fund’s activities with ESG, both at corporate and building level.
ESG fundamentally influences not just how the business is run and the team is managed but also impacts the work being done by architects, engineers, interior designers and facilities management.
On smaller scale consultancy projects I’m often alone, doing both the strategy and the creative implementation at office-level, or I’m working in partnership alongside a local interiors team (as was the case for the Hero natural foods office project in Switzerland).
For Black Mountain Partners though, I don’t touch any of that directly but I do get to work with the biggest names in the business; it’s a high stakes game!
What’s your workplace wellbeing practice of choice?
It would have to be Active Design - it’s about being active at work, not so much working out at work (although that certainly does no harm if the opportunity is there!) instead it’s about using the stairs not the lift, adapting to a standing desk rather than a chair, moving between deep work spaces and more collaborative zones in the office according to the task in hand rather than being locked in a private office, using a bike to get to and from the office, walking outside at lunchtime for a bite to eat, and so on.
Contact us here to discuss your workplace wellbeing project
vertical farming for the workplace
The ‘Green & Healthy Places’ podcast series takes a deep-dive into the role of sustainability, wellbeing and community in real estate, offices, hotels and educational facilities. This episode is with Square Mile Farms - vertical farming for the workplace.
The ‘Green & Healthy Places’ podcast series takes a deep-dive into the role of sustainability, wellbeing and community in real estate, offices, hotels and educational facilities.
This episode is with Square Mile Farms - providing biophilia in the shape of vertical farming for the workplace.
Biophilia with vertical farming
In this episode we talk to Johnathan Ransom, Co-Founder and CEO of Square Mile Farms, a business bringing vertical farming to the home and workplace with the aim of promoting healthier, more sustainable lifestyles. I first came across them a couple of years ago and have kept an eye on their steady progress.
These mini vertical gardens are about more than just quirky wall decor, they represent a tangible connection with nature in urban environments, have a practical function in terms of producing a respectable quantity of edible leaves each month and go one better than a largely passive garden wall in a corporate office reception.
An indoor office garden, or vertical farm, like these help promote engagement amongst staff, adding intrigue and even a little fun into the office experience, right when it needs it most post-Covid.
GUEST: JOHNATHAN RANSOM, SQUARE MILE FARMS
FULL Transcript follows courtesy of Otter.ai
Matt Morley 0:14
Welcome to Episode 12 of the Green and Healthy Places podcast, in which we take a deep dive into the world of sustainability, wellness and community in the real estate and hospitality sectors. I'm your host, Matt Morley, founder of BioBlu yacht sustainability, Biofilico wellness interiors, and Biofit nature gyms. If you see value in this type of content, please hit LIKE, SHARE, or consider subscribing.
In this episode, we talk to Jonathan Ransom, Co-founder and CEO of Square Mile Farms in London, UK, a business that's bringing vertical farming to the home and workplace with the aim of promoting healthier, more sustainable lifestyles.
Healthy Buildings and ESG
I first came across Jonathan and square mile farms a couple of years ago, and I've kept an eye on their steady progress since then, as I look after the ESG and placemaking for a commercial real estate development fund in London, I'm aware that their product aligns neatly with both LEED, BREEAM green building certifications on one side, and WELL + FITWEL healthy building certifications on the other, which in turn has the knock on effect of helping with the property funds annual ESG assessment score means you get two or even three hits for the price of one.
Beyond the box ticking though these mini vertical gardens are genuinely about more than just quirky wall decorations. They represent a tangible connection with nature in urban environments, they have a practical function in terms of producing a respectable quantity of edible leaves and hubs each month, and frankly, just go one better than what is often a largely passive, vertical plant wall in a corporate office reception. A garden like this helps promote engagement among staff. It adds intrigue, and even why not a little fun into the office experience. Right when offices need it most in the post COVID era….
Jonathan, thanks for joining us. Great to have you here on the green and Healthy Places podcast. Perhaps you could give a quick introduction to who you are and what you do as co founder and CEO of square mile farms in London.
Jonathan Ransom 2:40
Yeah, okay. So my professional backgrounds in in property. I'm a chartered surveyor by training. I spent a lot of my career working in financial services, though, but with a with a property slant to it most recently was the CIO or the FinTech business in the UK called lend invest. And I think, what what what got me into doing what I'm doing today, and we'll come on to perhaps a bit more description of what that is, but is that I got a little bit disenfranchised by the world of finance, and I guess, you know, you you, there's an obvious career route in in financial services. But ultimately, it can be a little bit unsatisfying, and I was looking for a career in in a sector that is more personally rewarding and fulfilling. And my now business partner, Patrick, and I got talking about this prospect of growing fresh, healthy vegetables in the built environment, which played nicely to my professional experience with the built environment. And I guess the backdrop to all of that is a both of us having a pretty, you know, they say be being a little bit conscious or even worried about the state of our agri food sector and the impact that that has on our on the environment, but also on our personal health.
Matt Morley 4:13
And so the name square mile farms for anyone who's not familiar with it, square mile is London's financial district of CBD. And so essentially you're you're proposing or you're proposing you deliver urban vertical farms specifically to London but what's your geographic focus now?
Jonathan Ransom 4:36
Yeah, at the moment with we're focused on London and the the genesis of that that name was really that the original business model was to look at putting controlled environment farms within a square mile of the end consumer which naturally then cuts down on food miles but also re engages the, the consumer with the with the food system and the food they eat also has benefits on the nutritional content of Food as well, because food tends to lose some of its nutritional qualities, the further it travels. So that was really the genesis of square mile farms, obviously also because we're based in London and it was going to be a very urban model. So you know, that's that's why that name came about
Matt Morley 5:20
and the business model then focusing specifically on homes and offices, you're not in the game as yet of, of sort of agriculture itself a growing food for for sale and distribution. It's more about a provision of the this piece of, of hardware effectively, that produces greenery in a home or in an office environment.
Jonathan Ransom 5:42
Yeah, well, maybe I'll just take a quick moment to take you back over some of the history of the business. So we've been around for a couple of years now. And the original model was a grow to sell model. And we set up our first self built control environment farm in in Bermondsey back in towards the beginning, beginning of 2019. And we tested that market, you know, growing within the built environment to sell to local restaurants, and local chefs and local consumers ultimately, as well. And so we build what we call a flat pack farm, which and the idea was that it's something that can easily be easily assembled or disassembled within tight urban spaces. And it became quite apparent quite quickly that that model of growing to sell is very hard to make work economically, particularly if you're not doing it at large scale. And most of the controller work environment farms that you see are doing it on massive scale, but even even they I think, would be struggling to kind of turn a profit based on their operational overheads as of today. But what that meant was the we we quickly turned to what we knew a bit more and that what we knew was more about corporate big corporates and, and the built environment and go talking to big property company called British land over here in the UK, and they invited us to build one of our flatpak Farms on the roof of their a building in Paddington Central, and actually just so happens that Microsoft occupy the building that that we have that farm and the roof off. But whilst we were there, we were then able to, you know, talk to a lot of the big local occupiers such as Vodafone, these, you know, Microsoft Richland, and it became quite apparent that what they really wanted was something that helped them engage with their employees to create an experience for their employees, but also help to address some of their kind of sustainability and, and, say, community responsibilities. And so we came up with this idea of office farming. And the idea with Office farming is that we put a hydroponic farm up inside the office and run, basically an engagement model around it. So we get the employees involved in the running of the farms, they get to take home the fresh produce, but we also educate them on sustainability and, and personal health, both physical and mental health with a focus on the food you eat, where it's coming from, how it's been produced, how you consume it, what it does to body, those sorts of things. So it's going beyond the kind of this the sustainability of the building that we're located on has some benefits for that also, but also helps a company say educate their workforce and how they can live healthier, low impact lifestyles.
Matt Morley 8:58
So I was going to ask you for a clarification on the or distinction between what's commonly referred to as say, like a vertical garden wall, or a green, a green wall, which obviously in one sense plays to biophilia, a place to reconnect with nature in an urban environment, possibly it can play into productivity and potentially an air purifying benefit. But clearly, once you open the door to this being in a consumable natural leaves you open a whole discussion around the food system and relationship to food and urban farming, which is clearly where you sort of make a big right turn away from just being a decorative object right?
Jonathan Ransom 9:45
Yeah, exactly. Yeah. I mean, there's there's a lot of benefits of having plants in buildings as he touched on and and there's this this phrase or word by failures is bandied around quite a lot of them. But ultimately, what it boils down to two things, one is, how does it improve the environment in which you are. So whether that's within the Office or at home, and that environment is both about, you know, air quality. Air Quality can be around acoustics, it can be around, you know, just having greenery in the office as an on may benefit to the office. But it but on the on the flip side, this is biophilia benefit, which is that that kind of goodness that humanity gets from being with nature and interacting with nature, and that's a very, can be can be a psychological thing, but it's also a physiological thing. So it's, you feel better for reason for, for reasons of, you know, 1000s of years of evolution alongside nature, the benefit of having edible plants in the office is that that interaction becomes enhanced. So if you've just got a green wall, that looks great, you know, there's a novelty there, it does look great. And it does have some benefits in terms of the quality of the air etc, in the office, but you're not interacting with it, you don't, you don't have that same interaction that naturally we might have with with nature. Whereas if it's an edible farm wall, you do interact with it, you're you're harvesting it, you're eating the produce from it, you're you're helping to plant it up. So every time you walk past it, you see the fruits of your labour, and you get some satisfaction from that. So it goes further than just sort of urban greening that say it brings in that element of engagement and an experience and, you know, it's a physical activity as well. So it does, it has some fiscal benefits as well.
Matt Morley 11:49
So when you think about the problem that you're solving, or the the unmet need that you were trying to address when you when you got started on this, what what if you like would be your competitors in that sense, or what else is in is typically in an office or a corporate office environment, such as a Microsoft or wherever it may be that is doing something similar? Because, you know, obviously, the walls have more of a passive element, whereas you're talking much more about an experiential piece, right?
Jonathan Ransom 12:17
Yeah. So I guess, what might be worth just just dwelling quickly on who the buyers of the service that services are so so one of the buyers would be someone that's responsible for fitting out the office space and making it look good and making it work well, for the employees, the other buyer is, and sort of competitors and might fall into that space might be your typical kind of office, or interior, landscaping companies. On the on the other side, the buyers are the, you know, the HR team is responsible for employee wellbeing and engagement and even recruitment and retention. And they're more interested in the kind of engagement and the experience element of it. So on that side, the people that that I guess we might come across in terms of competition for budgets that say spoil it down to that would be your people like, you know, Nuffield health, for instance, the thing about the the, and they're providing a well being service around this focused on, let's say, fitness and exercise. The thing about someone like Nuffield health is, of course, they're taking you out of the office. to to to get that experience, what we're doing is keeping you in the office, which really plays to the kind of the future of the future vision of the people have or the office post COVID. We're keeping you in the office and creating an experience for you in the office, which can get you away from your desk, create some physical activity, create some mental activity takes you away from the kind of day to day thinking about, you know, what's on your computer screen. But then alongside that we do also provide other services, such as workshops might be, you know, nutritional consultations, and we do supper clubs and things like that, which is, again, some of those things you'd expect enough field health type business to offer alongside the gym membership. So there is some similarities that say, but but we feel that our model combined so many different of the different, let's say needs of a of a big corporate.
Matt Morley 14:28
I think the activation pieces is really strong component to what you're doing to the sort of overall service offer. You mentioned. COVID and how have things been? I'm guessing budgets are being reduced, offices are being closed, therefore it's had a direct impact on perhaps new orders, or perhaps, yeah, your your pipeline of potential clients, but how are you seeing the next 12 to 24 months in a in a post COVID world and how do you think you're Duck will, will emerge from the ashes of this current crisis that the workplace is going through.
Jonathan Ransom 15:08
So, I think that the world is looking for the type of services that we offer, fortunately, admittedly, the last say nine months have been challenging, mainly because the types of the people that hold the budgets for this, this type of service are really need to have some visibility on when people come back to the office. But they're also going through, you know, a pretty involved process of trying to think about what they want that office to be for in the future. And I think even before COVID, there was a shift towards, you know, more experiential office, places that are less about places where people come and sit behind the computer screen, like a battery and, and churn out work, because you can do that at home. Frankly, it's more about engaging and say, growing your workforce, and about experiences and about interactions. And so consequently, you know, the office, the Office of tomorrow will be full of things that help foster those type of activities. They won't they won't be crammed full of desks where people perch with their laptop cell belt, they'll be more loungy in, in, in appearance. And so, you know, one thing we've been working on with Vodafone in Paddington is this idea of a Zen Garden, which is, you know, their, their idea where they create create a kind of area for people to relax and chill out. And what better kind of place to put a allotment wall, then in a, in a Zen Garden, within when the off within the Office. So it's, you know, it's very, it's very topical. And a lot of a lot of companies that we talk to now have task forces put together that are tasked with making the office suitable for the post COVID world. And so so it seems that there's there's quite a lot of activity going on in terms of reconfiguring refitting spaces to make to make it appropriate for that post COVID world, and that's where we fit in, because they want something normal, you know, lots of offices of the past might have ping pong tables, or table football or computer consoles, or whatever. But you know, an office farming model brings both the experience but also the educational side. And, and, and it takes a lot of boxes from a kind of office sustainability perspective as well. Yep,
Matt Morley 17:59
I get it. I mean, it's fun, it's engaging, it's a talking point, it's, it's a water cooler moment, in a way. So just to dig into to that process, then the idea of, you might have HR on one side, perhaps sort of brand director or marketing guys on the other, perhaps the facilities manager, or management team, around the table, who else is is involved in that process, when you go from identifying a suitable location, and perhaps you might be able to comment on what would would make up a suitable location within an office environment. And and describe that process of going from initial introduction through to actually opening one of your, your vertical farms, presumably, a few months later.
Jonathan Ransom 18:45
Yeah, I mean, it varies depending on where the kind of entry point was to the conversation, but just take one, one example. So that say, the offices, the company is looking to refurbish their space, and in light of changes that are needed post COVID. They might they, the likelihood is, then we're talking to the person responsible for the fit out, so maybe a, you know, workplace strategy person or, you know, the, in the old world, we call them kind of corporate real estate managers or something along those lines. So they then obviously, we'll be engaging with their interior designers. And at some point, they, you know, once they've got an idea of the sorts of things that they can get from us, they then introduce us to the interior designers, and we have a chat about where it can go, whether whether we, we sort of integrate it into the building services such as the plumbing or whether we have it as a standalone unit that has its own water source. We find the location and we then talk to the contractor about, you know, what services, we do need and And, you know, often if it's a wall hung unit, then we might need a some reinforcing on the wall. And then just sort of bet into that project management as the fitout goes along. And normally where they're kind of lost people in and just mounted on the wall at the end. And off it goes planted up, and people can then start engaging with it.
Matt Morley 20:23
So irrigation, the load that goes on to the wall, if it is a wall loaded piece of preferably sort of a structural wall, and some component of light, I'm guessing, or does the vertical farm come with its own lighting system integrated into the hardware?
Jonathan Ransom 20:43
Yeah, so actually, the loading isn't isn't so much of an issue, we've just mounted one in sort of double thickness plaster board. So I it's a consideration, but isn't, often doesn't become a limitation. But what it needs is a either a water source that we can plummet into for the irrigation, or relatively near to a water source so that it's quite easy to get water to the to the wall itself. But it but it's recirculating, so it doesn't need to be continually topped up. And yes, it does need a light source. But because we're talking about edible plants, they require higher intensity light than then some of the kind of conventional office plants would need. Because it you know, the light intensity does affect the growth rate, and also the flavour of the plants as well. The system has a integrate integrated lighting, which needs a little bit of thought because it does come off the face of the wall. We also use what we call hydroponic towers, which are sort of standalone units, which is literally a tower with plants growing out the side of it which have lights integrated again in like a halo effect, which we can put anywhere in the office. It doesn't doesn't need to be mounted on the wall.
Matt Morley 22:15
What are the options that in terms of the actual type of foliage that the farm is producing? And the sort of nuts and bolts of all of this at the end of the day? Is it a bag of lettuce leaves the flowers woody would typically you do? Or would you recommend growing for sort of maximum productivity and limited amount of maintenance required and so on?
Jonathan Ransom 22:38
Yeah, so you touched on a couple of good points. I wanted one. Yep. productivity is important. plants that are the kind of give you the opportunity for engagement are important. But also from an operational perspective. We don't want to be going there too frequently to replant things that you know, in the case of a lettuce, for instance, you read the entire lettuce head, so you end up having to replant the entire plant. So we do focus on leafy greens and Herbes. You can grow fruiting crops, so tomatoes, strawberries, that sort of thing in in these types of systems, but they do require a higher intensity of light. So if for instance, we're putting we have some outside space, we might use outside space to to put up put up a farm wall, an exterior farm wall or one of our hydroponic towers outside and in the summer, you could then grow things like strawberries and tomatoes, but in the office, we're growing things like lettuce, but that also like kale, chard, both of which you cut the leaves and you can leave the plant and they they grow back so you can get multiple harvests of them. And they look great as well. So you know, Rainbow rainbow chard, lots of different colours on your wall so they look fantastic and they're relatively quick growing as well. We also then Basil's as a is a very popular one. And again, you can cut the leaves and come back and it smells fantastic. So particularly when you're harvesting it creates a lovely fragrance around the office, you know, rosemary, thyme, all the all the stuff that you might grow in a English garden, the difference being that you're growing in the office, and you can do it all year round, because the office environments a lot more stable than, you know, the seasonal environment outside in the UK. So yeah, in a in a kind of nutshell. It's leafy greens and Herbes.
Matt Morley 24:38
But then you do also have now a home farm alternative, which would be presumably on a smaller scale that's more manageable. That would be more of a residential product.
Jonathan Ransom 24:50
Yeah, correct. Yeah. And, and it's worth saying that one of the main challenges with growing indoors is the lighting And, and so with with the home farms that there is much about, you know, making the most of limited outdoor space that you have as they are about indoor space. So in some homes where you have a lot of light, you can, you know, put put one indoors, and we have a lighting solution that supplements the light, which means that you're not relying on natural light. But if you're growing outdoors on a terrorist for instance, then, you know, the world's your oyster really, and it doesn't, you know, if you're growing outdoors, you might be just as inclined to grow flowers, flat flowering plants as you are edible plants. And if it's sort of overwinter, then you might put some evergreens in and our systems modular, which means that the plants each have an individual pot that you hang on to a frame that sits behind it, but it means that you can easily take that port out and replant it with different plants, or indeed create patterns on the wall of different colours. So whatever takes your fancy, really, and I think I think just touching on the this concept of a pollinator pod and a productive productive pod and those sort of things. What we're trying to do there is just in simple terms, demonstrate that, you know, each plant plants have different functions. And both in the environment, but also in terms of what you humans get out of them. Some of them are about, they look great, which are the flowering ones, and also they produce flowers. So they're great for insects as well. So the pollinator pods are great for attracting insects into your garden, which has the knock on effect of pollinating other plants that you have in the garden, so you can start creating, you know, fantastic biodiversity. And then the producer pods are, you know, edible plants. So stuff that that you can cut and eat in your kitchen and replant and off you go again. So that's that's the idea really there. We just thought that was quite a fun a fun idea of bringing bringing to life though different sort of plants that you can, you can grow.
Matt Morley 27:17
Yeah, it's exciting. It is really, yeah, sort of makes you want to grab one and get started. And there's no excuses. Once you've sorted the lightest you rent man, one can always complain about how hard it is to grow plants or wants to terrorist. But in a way, this is a different approach. You've also gone through a crowdfunding process recently. So you've raised some capital, what are your What are your plans in terms of rollout expansion or growing over the next few years?
Jonathan Ransom 27:42
So yeah, we did the crowdfunding last year, which was a fantastic success. And I think it was well timed in that a lot of the people that get involved in a lot of the investors or get involved in crowdfunding campaigns were, you know, spending a lot of time at home during lockdown, but also we're reflecting on the sorts of things that are important. And obviously, health and well being. are, you know, they're they're important, increasingly important to people. And I think our model resonated with with the crown. So we we raise half a million pounds through that process and can had nearly 900 in investors contribute, which was a fantastic, fantastic to see. So the idea is that now what we want to do is really focus on getting these farms into offices, but also into we've got a new push recently into getting farms into co living spaces. So working with the operators of the sort of apartment buildings, and putting farms here, sort of communal farms in apartment buildings and helping people then also get some production going within their apartments themselves. So we're the this year is all about kind of rolling that out, and really demonstrating how it can work and then sort of scaling off off the back of that. So I think we'll have you know, we're optimistic about getting about 15 Farms in over the next nine months or so. And you know, that that for us would be a good achievement start with,
Matt Morley 29:20
it does feel like the whole sort of biophilia movement biophilic design, made its name with with office environments, and now does seem to be being adopted, probably, I'd say both at the very, very high end of the residential market, but also with the sort of more millennial focused co living spaces. So I think I think you're onto something there. I think we really interesting to see how you, you get on with the with the CO living new business strategy. One final question, if I may, if you were to send one message out to the real estate hospitality sector in a post COVID world if you could see one change in this industry of ours over the next few years. What would you ask for?
Jonathan Ransom 30:04
I guess I'd encourage them to listen to their customers, particularly in in the sort of residential space because the the sort of types of accommodation that that people have been living in, up to now it can be pretty, you know that the urban world is a pretty cramped world, and in a world where we're spending a lot more time at home, we have to be a little more focused on people's, you know, what they need to live healthy lifestyles. And, you know, it doesn't mean you have to give them huge amounts of space, but it does mean you need to give them amenities. And and those amenities have to be beyond the kind of normal stuff of maybe having a gym in the basement, or, or what have you, it needs to be broader than that. And from from kind of combining those two, you know, the residential space and the office spaces, it shouldn't really be thinking about them independently. Because as we're seeing now, the concept of an office isn't so much about the the kind of physical manifestation of a building that you go and work it's about. It's about where you work and the the kind of immediate amenities that are provided to to be able to work in that environment. So is joining those, the kind of living environment and the working environment together and how we balance those, those two things. So I'd just encourage some kind of novel thinking around that space.
Matt Morley 31:32
Very cool. I think you are uniquely positioned to have to make your contribution to that whole process over the next few years. Good on you. So if people want to connect, what's the best way for them to reach out square mile farms?
Jonathan Ransom 31:46
The numbers on phone numbers on the website, there's an email address on there as well. We're also very active on social so if your thing is his Instagram, then follow us there you can see see what we're doing. We tend to put videos and pictures of what we're up to on there. And by all means, ping us a message. And we'll get back to you ASAP.
Biophilic design for green yachts
Biophilic design combines elements of sustainability and wellness with inspiration from the natural world, making it, in our view, an ideal solution for green yacht interiors and a unique selling point for the next generation of sustainable yachts.
This article first appeared on my BioBlu website
Why use biophilic design on a green yacht?
Wellness, nature & sustainability
Biophilic design combines elements of sustainability and wellness with inspiration from the natural world, making it, in our view, an ideal solution for green yacht interiors and a unique selling point for the next generation of sustainable yachts.
So why has it made so little impact in the industry thus far? Perhaps partly this is due to lack of awareness amongst specialist yacht interior designers, or simply that an owner has a preferred style that differs from this more organic aesthetic. Current eco yacht certifications also do not currently cover materials, focusing instead on a yacht’s engine room carbon footprint.
The real opportunity here then is surely in leveraging biophilic design in the new generation of green yachts and, in future, being awarded by eco yacht certification systems for using the type of natural, sustainably sourced materials that are biophilic design’s trademark.
Another benefit for a green yacht with biophilic interiors is the added wellness benefits for the user, thanks to the healthy interior design strategies that we offer via our yacht consultancy services.
By leveraging the latest insights into healthy interiors, we create indoor spaces optimized for owner wellbeing, from deeper sleep, to greater concentration in a work area, reduced anxiety and improved mood. To achieve this our multi-sensory yacht interior concepts incorporate texture, lighting, sound and a sense of place – in this case inspired by the sea!
Blue nature on green yachts
Bringing the outside world in through nature-inspired design strategies that create harmony between onboard living areas and the ‘blue nature’ surrounding the yacht is a unique feature of biophilic design applied to the world of yachting.
Common strategies of biophilic design we might use on a green yacht interior include the use of fractal patterns, organic non-GMO fabrics, what the Japanese call ‘wabi-sabi’ finishes, the patina of age and generally a focus on honest materials in a neutral colour palette designed to create a restorative environment that is at one with the natural world outside.
Other design details integrating blue nature might include the use of marine materials in furniture fit-outs, for example dried seaweed embedded in an all-natural mattress, sustainably sourced seashells in a tabletop or a coral–inspired artwork full of textural detail.
A green yacht needs sustainable interiors
Adopting an environmentally-friendly approach to yacht interiors requires extensive knowledge of materials and their life-cycle. Thus far we have seen less uptake from the industry of this theme with energies focusing on the engine room and how to user cleaner energy forms to take the yacht from A to B.
Clearly this is fundamental and there remains a lot of work to do in this sense to go beyond the current diesel-hybrid engine solution. So as we collectively start to look ahead to what comes next for the yacht industry, the opportunity is to widen our collective scope to include not just the yacht’s engineering systems but also its interior fit-out and onboard operations.
Sustainability is a 360-degree picture, there is nowhere to hide. This can be daunting, even over-whelming for those without expertise in the field as the plethora of product and material certifications on offer, from Cradle to Cradle to the Declare Red List and beyond.
Our priority is to help guide a client to the right combination of form and function, keeping an eye firmly on the organic, natural, chemical-free, and recycled or upcycled materials.
To enquire about our green yacht interior consultancy services and biophilic design expertise, please contact us here to discuss your project. We are always open to collaboration!
Visual connection with nature within our interiors — biofilico wellness interiors
Interior design is a unique mix of creative and precise processes that work in conjunction to enhance the interior of a certain space, be it a building, an office or a home.
Modern-day humans tend to spend more time in the office than ever, that being said, they spend less time outdoors, thus the connection between the people and nature has reached an all time low.
The importance of visual connection with nature is often being taken for granted and is, more often than not, treated as a commodity rather than a necessity which provides significant psycho-somatic benefits to humans.
As luck would have it, architects and designers around the world have found a way to bridge the gap between the ever-growing amount of time humans tend to spend indoors and the importance of having a visual connection with nature in the built environment.
Thus the ground-works for biophilic design have been laid and the trend became an overnight success due to its many benefits.
The importance of connection with nature, it's elements and processes
We believe that the spaces where people spend the majority of their time should not only be functional and well decorated, but also have a positive impact on our well-being. It has been proven by various studies worldwide that the visuals of greenery and animals lowers the stress levels, our blood pressure and awakens the feeling of serenity. The psychological and physiological importance of viewing nature cannot be overstated.
It is true that everyone has a different opinion on what the beauty of nature really is, for some it may be a luscious waterfall, while to others a beautiful sight of nature may reflect the vast and golden savanna. Whatever the case may be, it is of utmost importance for humans to feel connected to nature on a daily basis. This connection often involves engaging with natural systems and understanding natural life cycles, which can heighten our awareness of seasonality and the cycles of life.
There are several ways humans perceive the feeling of being connected with nature such as:
Non-visual connection with Nature
The Presence of Water
Dynamic and Dispersed Lighting
Proximity to Natural processes
The exposure to Thermal and Airflow changes
Visual connection with natural elements
Visual connection with nature has an enormous impact on humans. Creating a visual experience inspired by nature can be both stimulating and calming. For these reasons more people today are incorporating nature inspired designs in both their work spaces and homes as well. Green walls are a common example of bringing the presence of nature into a space.
These connections can be established by a variety of different elements. By using biophilic interior design, the designers are able to successfully narrow the gap between the modern-day humans and nature.
That being said, stimulating views of natural elements, living systems, and plants have an enormous effect on both our mind and our body. The material connection with nature, through the use of natural materials, grains, and textures, also plays a significant role in reflecting the natural environment and enhancing cognitive performance.
Non visual connection with nature and it's elements
Apart from the visual stimulus, the non visual connection with natural elements is highly important to us as well. By simply hearing and/or feeling certain familiar incitements from nature, our mind can be stimulated to relieve stress and work more efficiently. Non rhythmic sensory stimuli, such as the gentle sway of grasses in a breeze, can provide mental breaks and enhance our well-being.
One of the easiest ways to incorporate different elements that simulate the feeling of being out in the wilderness is a mechanically powered water flow with varying water pressure which is one of the most efficient practices when it comes to biophilic design.
Other ways that promote the feeling of non visual connection with nature include the stimulus of other senses through touch and smell. With the main goal of increasing mental health and focus, the sound of water, a crackling fireplace, and the smell of pines are one of many tools that are being used when trying to bring nature closer to us. Incorporating natural analogues, such as organic shapes, materials, and patterns found in nature, into artwork, furniture, and décor can also trigger a biophilic human link to nature and inspire a sense of well-being.
Dynamic and Dispersed Lighting
Various studies have confirmed that people find it soothing when the indoor light is being used to mimic the circadian processes in nature since unpredicted lighting patterns are a natural occurrence that people are exposed to on a daily basis.
However, the effect of dynamic and dispersed lighting can only be pleasant if it's carefully designed and placed in a way that doesn't directly affect anyone. This type of lighting should only be used to enhance the atmosphere, and is in no means meant to illuminate the entire room.
This being said, it is extremely important that the space we're spending the majority of our time in is well exposed to natural light.
Proximity to Natural processes
Proximity to natural processes, such as changing of the seasons and even the weather, is highly important since it affects our visual connection with nature itself and gives humans the feeling of being connected to the events taking place outside. Incorporating natural materials like wood, granite, and leather into design can further enhance this connection and elicit positive cognitive or physiological responses.
Whether the interior design of your work or home space is leaning more to the visual or the non-visual aspect of biophilic design, the certain thing is that it does wonders for our personal sense of peace and our motivation. Implementing space patterns, such as non-rhythmic sensory stimuli and visual and non-visual connections with nature, can optimize the physical environment and strengthen our connection with natural systems.
The summary
One of the biggest goals when it comes to biophilic design is helping to create a space that promotes a multi-sensory experience that provides its inhabitants the feelings of calming and stress-relieving sensations. Mimic natural environments by incorporating subtle changes in air and surface temperature, humidity, and airflow across the skin to enhance thermal and airflow variability.
By providing the visual elements such as views of stunning landscapes, beautiful plants and animals in the wild, or stimulating other senses through fragrances and sounds, biophilic design is helping people increase their productivity, self-confidence and general well-being.
Biophilic design is a complex process and in order to truly experience its real advantages, the entire operation should be handled by an experienced professional.
We hope that you now have a clearer picture when it comes to benefits of being connected to nature. LEED certifiedBiofilico designers offer high quality service when it comes to interior decoration and design, so feel free to contact us for any additional services when it comes to biophilic design.
Best Plants for Office No Windows: A Guide to Plants That Don't Need Sun — Biofilico Wellness Interiors
Find out which plants that don’t need sun to thrive.
Have you ever wanted to make a radical change and decorate your living or office space, especially an office with no windows, using biophilic design?
Some of the most important principles biophilic design is based on introducing as much natural lighting as possible, but that is virtually impossible in cases when you can’t open windows due to various building regulations or simply because the room does have windows but they not in the right position for flowering plants due to low natural light levels?
If you are wondering about what plants for windowless office, in other words, plants that dont need sun directly on their leaves, read on to learn more.
What then?
Well, circadian lighting that imitates natural one is the way to go in case of no or low light conditions, but what about plants?
Well, that can be covered too, by opting for houseplants that don’t need sun, and if you want to find out what are the best plants that don’t need sun to thrive - keep up with us.
Plethora of indoor plants for low light conditions
It’s very well established that plants need some sunshine at least, but there are some low maintenance plants that need less than most, or none at all, in order to survive, as they can thrive in artificial lighting as well.
Here are some of the best plants that grow without sunlight and can add a much needed touch of greenery to your home or office.
Chinese evergreen plant
Among the office plants that need no sunlight, or next to none, is the Chinese Evergreen. To many people, this low-maintenance plant is a great kind to start with if you are new to houseplants in general.
The older Chinese Evergreens produce flowers that are similar to calla lilies, and look the best on the floor next to furniture, while the younger version is compact enough to fit on your desk, tabletop, or shelf.
Speaking about their sun preferences, this plant's needs depend on the color of its leaves. Therefore, if they have darker leaves, they thrive in low light, while the varieties with pink or orange leaves prefer medium light. Either way, they shouldn’t be placed in direct sunlight.
Chinese Evergreen made its way to NASA’s list of air-filtering houseplants, which should say enough about the benefits of owning one!
Snake plant & spider plant love the gloomy corners
Snake plants and spider plants are incredibly indulgent, and can thrive in those gloomy corners of your house or office, that barely any sun touches. They are not even that demanding when it comes to watering as they need to be watered only when the top layer of the soil is completely dry.
Snake plants have pointed leaves, motley coloured that can look equally beautiful, whether in a small pot or in a larger planter. They are adaptable to various light conditions, including low light, and are known for their air-purifying qualities, making them suitable for office spaces and busy households. They need to be watered only when the top layer of the soil is completely dry, and that usually takes about two to three weeks.
Spider plant is usually used as a hanging plant, and it grows like weed, so it needs to be trimmed regularly. As they are prone to rotting, you have to keep the saucer and a pot with drainage underneath, in order to avoid that.
Vibrant Bromeliad
Bromeliads are tropical plants, and can also be enlisted among the houseplants that don’t need sun, or not a lot of it at least.
Bromeliads are unique looking, and resemble some tropical plants with vigorous pops of colour, which makes them a perfect option for a houseplant that will look good wherever you put it - on the shelf, tabletop, or even on the floor, depending on the species.
Most Bromeliad species prefer indirect sunlight, which means that it’s not directly hitting the plant. If you do happen to position it under the direct sunlight, the extended exposure will damage its’ leaves, so it’s best to keep near a window for example, not in front of it. Another great thing about bromeliads is that they can thrive on fluorescent lighting if the natural is not available.
Maidenhair Fern - beautiful but complicated
Maidenhair Ferns are one of those beautiful plants that don't need sunlight, but are a bit complex when it comes to the watering part. Ferns must not be over or under watered, they have to stay humid at best.
They thrive better if they are planted in a clay pot, and instead of being watered from the top, you have to put small stones in the saucer beneath the pot, and put water directly in the saucer. This is how you create a humidity dome around the plant, but another safe option is to keep it in the bathroom.
Semi - dangerous Dumb Canes
These beautiful plants are a common ornament both in homes and office spaces, and are called dumb canes because of the parts of the plant that are poisonous, which is why
it's advisable to keep them away from children and pets.
Dumb Canes can thrive anywhere between low and high filtered lighting (the sunlight that shines through a curtain or a covered window), depending on the species. Most of theme can survive really well in the low light, but some of the probably won't grow anymore.
The cascading Ivy
The Ivy varieties might some of the most popular plants that don't need sun out there. Some of them are green, while others can have white or green diversification.
Ivys are quite tolerant of any form of neglect, so you can only water them when they've completely dried out, cause you don't want them to feel soggy. When it comes to their appearance, you can always trim them if you want to keep them looking sumptuous.
The English Ivy variety is the to turn any gloomy wall or corner into a piece of art, but it's also great for fences and other places you can decorate with vines, but keep in mind that vines take a longer period of time to grow.
The English Ivy prefers bright indirect light, but can survive in the low lighting conditions as well. The thing is - the more light it gets, the brighter green it becomes, however, it shouldn't be exposed to it too much.
The extravagant Staghorn Ferns
Staghorn ferns are one of those unique, excessive plants that can be very picky when it comes to their living conditions, which also applies to lighting.
The Staghorns prefer bright indirect or filtered lighting, but never direct sunlight. It should also be noted that the plant can not survive in the artificial light, and it can be a bit high-maintenance in terms of watering - like Maidenhair Fern, the soil has to be damp, but never wet.
Pothos for beginners
If you are new to plant care, the plants that don’t need sun (or not a lot of it) are a great start, but how to choose when wanting to cultivate plants without sunlight, is whole other dimension.
We believe Pothos is a great beginners plant - it prefers bright, indirect light, and can even tolerate low light conditions. It is commonly known for its’ oval leaves and pinkish veins, thanks to which it looks great in hanging baskets. Pothos can also thrive under fluorescent light, making it a versatile choice for various indoor settings.
However, even though Pothos is considered to be quite the low maintenance, if it doesn’t get enough light during the day - it will close its’ leaves over night and won’t reopen them anymore, or the leaves will start to fade, so make sure not to put it in the shade.
The vibrant Bird of Paradise
The tropical looking Bird of Paradise is not only the future replacement for all of your other plants, it’s is also enlisted among the lower maintenance plants that can live without sunlight. Another great option for windowless offices is the cast iron plant, known for its hardiness and minimal care requirements.
This vibrantly coloured plant has a unique look, but doesn’t require a ton of care at the same time, which makes it a perfect household plant. You should always make sure the soil is damp though, so your Bird of Paradise would thrive.
The bottom line now that you know what kind of plants that don’t need sun, or not much of it, are, than you are ready to start decorating your home, or your office, with the right green touches of some air purifying, mid-maintenance plants that make any space instantly brighter.
Further Reading
An introduction to biophilic design in sustainable buildings
Connecting People, Places And Plants: Biophilia With Junglefy, Australia
Biophilic Design And Wellbeing Interiors- An Evolutionary Perspective
How To Know If Your Workplace Fits The Wellness Office Concept
Coworking Space Design - A Secret To Productive Coworking Space
Examples Of Biophilic Design Interiors Cannabis Retail Stores
Wellbeing Gardens And Biophilia With Dr. Lauriane Chalmin-Pui
Mental Health Benefits Of Biophilic Indoor Environment In Virtual Reality - Harvard Research Study