The Impact of Biophilic Design on Work Environemnts
Posted by Jessica Duran on 13th Mar 2020
It is not shocking that almost 90 percent of our lives are spent inside built environments and one third of this time is spent within our workspace. The design of these built environments can have a significant impact on our physical and emotional well-being. The biophilia hypothesis refers to humans’ innate biological attraction to nature. Biophilic design is derived from this concept and focuses on integrating natural elements like plants in our living environments in order to meet our need to connect with nature. Research has shown that biophilic design in workspaces can improve employee productivity and fulfillment.
The Impact of Biophilic Design
Think back to a moment where you were immersed in nature — swimming in the ocean while on vacation, admiring the views from a mountaintop during a hike, running through a park with your friends when you were a child. Regardless of which memory you chose to travel back to, it is highly likely that these moments inspired feelings of joy, peace, and freedom. Biophilic design aims to inspire similar feelings within us, even when we are indoors. Connecting with these feelings can help bring you mental clarity and allow you to connect with your true inner self. These positive emotions can help improve your quality of life.
For interior designers, architects, and developers, successfully implementing biophilic design involves a thoughtful co-creative design process. Through open communication with key stakeholders, we can reach a full understanding of a spaces’ essence, utility, and goals, and how this can be successfully achieved within the framework of biophilic design.
Return of Investment for Companies
The possible benefits of biophilic design extend beyond improving general well-being, as it also includes a positive financial impact for organizations. Businesses tend to spend a large majority of their operating costs on its most valuable resource—people. In built environments with strong biophilic design attributes, impacts such as reduced illness and absenteeism, improvement in staff retention and even faster healing rates can be seen, resulting in reduced company costs. Understanding potential return on investment is an inspiring opportunity to integrate the deeper essence of biophilic design into projects.
Our Biophilic Design Studio
At Plant the Future, we collaborate with architects, interior designers, and developers to integrate biophilic design into both commercial and residential spaces. Although our design studio is based in Miami, we have made nature the focal point of spaces across the globe including hotels, corporate offices, restaurants, and retail stores. We aim to bring people closer to nature through design and art in order to improve well-being and inner peace. View our biophilic design portfolio here.