Biophilic Design in Offices: Everything You Need to Know
By Bruntwood
When it comes to office interior design, it’s important that it’s functional and practical, as well as providing an inspiring place for people to work. Biophilic design is becoming increasingly popular in urban areas, with more people trying to increase their connection to nature to improve their health and wellbeing.
But what exactly is biophilic design and what are the benefits?
What is Biophilic Design?
Biophilia means ‘an innate human love for nature’, which is a concept that has been adopted by architects and interior designers to bring people closer to nature.
From living walls and rooftop gardens, to desk plants and water features - there are a number of different elements of biophilic design that can be incorporated into an office environment to allow employees to reap the benefits.
What are the Benefits of Biophilic Design?
With the world becoming more and more urbanised, people are quickly losing their connections to nature, which may lead to an increase in stress and anxiety.
To combat this, many designers are looking to utilise the benefits of biophilic design, which include:
Improved air quality
Quieter offices, as plants can absorb, deflect and refract sound
Potential energy-saving opportunities
In fact, one study demonstrated how beneficial it can be to bring the outdoors in, as it found that when students learn in rooms with natural timber walls, their heart rates could be reduced by up to 8,600 beats per day. This shows that the students felt more relaxed, comfortable and were therefore more adept at learning.
Once people discover the benefits of bringing the outdoors in, they’re often keen to learn just how this concept can be incorporated into the office environment to allow their staff to make the most of them.
How to Incorporate Biophilic Design into an Office
Whether you’re hot desking, renting an office or completely redesigning your office space, biophilic design can be incorporated into your office environment in a number of different ways, including:
Desk and office plants
Outside views or natural light
Natural elements such as wood and stone
Earthy colours
Water features
Living walls
Astroturf
Natural light is one of the most powerful elements of biophilic design. Responsible for regulating our circadian rhythms, natural light can affect our moods, behaviour and hormones. In fact, studies have shown that natural light is the most desired element within the workplace, with a staggering 47% of workers reporting that they have no access to natural light within their work environment.
With this in mind, the more people spend time indoors - especially during the working week - the more they increase their exposure to blue light and artificial lighting, which can have a huge impact on health. Therefore it’s incredibly important to make the most of natural lighting within the office to minimise both the physical and mental impact.
Even if you simply start off by adding a small plant to your desk, slowly incorporating biophilic elements to your workspace may just help to improve your wellbeing. Explore our spaces today to see how we’ve incorporated biophilic elements into our offices to allow our customers to reap all of the benefits.