Is Biophilic Design always relevant?

Biophilia. It’s now one of the most influential elements in today’s design trends. And it’s having an increasing influence on interior design and architecture decisions across almost every sector. Biophilic Design integrates nature and natural elements, materials and forms into the architecture and interiors of the buildings we occupy day in and day out.

“Biophilic Design is fast becoming one of the most

important design considerations of this century”

If you were asked to picture a scene where you felt most calm and relaxed, you would most probably imagine a place in nature. Researchers have found that more than 90% of us imagine a natural setting.

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We feel good in nature. But even more than this, our physical and mental well-being depends on continued interaction with our natural environment. It affects our personal well-being, productivity and creativity. In the last few decades studies into Biophilic Design have been conducted by the scientific and design communities. These have reported convincing evidence of the positive benefits of interaction with nature. 

Plants and greenery have been proved to be a great way to introduce a biophilic element which can have a very positive contribution to wellness in the workplace.  They are minimal in cost compared to a refurbishment, make a huge visual impact and can be installed extremely quickly.

Interface conducted a global study of 7,600 employees across 16 countries into the impact of biophilic design on office workers and has revealed that those who worked in spaces with natural elements such as greenery and daylight reported:

·      15% higher level of wellbeing

·      6% more productive

·      15% more creative

Interestingly, 33% of respondents said office design would affect their decision whether or not to accept a job offer

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The study also identified the 5 most wanted elements in office space:

1.     Natural light (44%)

2.     Indoor plants (20%)

3.     Quiet working space (19%)

4.     A view of the sea (17%)

5.     Bright colour (15%)

Note regarding Point 4: This was a global survey so a view of the sea could be interpreted as a nice outlook or if this is impossible, it has been found, perhaps surprisingly that even looking at pictures of scenes of nature has the ability to lift our spirits and make us feel more relaxed.

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And it's not just office environments enjoying the benefits, another recent study showed that the hospitality industry sees guests spending 25% more in spaces incorporating biophilic design. Whilst rooms with a view attract a premium of 23%.  More research can be found here: https://www.benholm.com/biophilic-design-planting

Hospitals with an abundance of nature see patients recuperate faster too. Dr Charles R. Hall of Texas A&M University reports:

“Shrubs, trees, and flowers have a practical application in hospitals: the presence of plants in patient recovery rooms greatly reduces the time necessary to heal. The soothing effects of ornamental flowers and plants are so great that simply having daily views of flowers and other ornamental plants in landscaped areas outside patient recovery room significantly speed up recovery time.”

Benefits of plants aren’t just felt by patients; their calming effect can also be particularly useful for staff that are working in this type of high-stress environment.

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Retail outlets with plants and flowers benefit from shoppers spending more. With customers enjoying a real shopping experience they perceive the products sold by stores filled with nature to be of better quality and value the brands more highly.

Natural elements such as plants and greenery can be combined with Argenta’s range of beautiful scenic images to create realistic three-dimensional scenes in any of these spaces for increased impact. By collaborating with Argenta we are opening up a host of new visual display opportunities for our customers to transform their interior environment.  Take this forest scene for example; we are confident it would take a keen eye to tell the difference between this created indoor space and a true stroll in the countryside!

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So, in answer to the question: Is Biophilic Design always relevant, we can conclude that yes, it is.  This design principle can be applied to almost any interior situation in almost any market sector and the positive benefits can be seen and felt.

Adrian Byne, Marketing Manager, Benholm Group

At the Benholm Group we use plants creatively to enrich people, places and spaces.

Please don’t hesitate to get in touch with us if you'd like to explore some ideas for a biophilic makeover in your premises. Call Freephone 08000 724723

Podcast Credits: with thanks to George Harvey Audio Production for the awesome intro and outro creation (“Footsteps, dry leaves” and “Concrete” sound samples included courtesy of InspectorJ).

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Biophilic Design for the Workplace

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Biophilic Design for the Workplace

The benefits of biophilia are increasingly being accepted by workplace designers and managers as not only adding to the visual attractiveness of a workspace, but also by enhancing the wellbeing and happiness of its staff and visitors. We all know that this in turn results in increased productivity, creativity, attendance rates, stress levels and fatigue, and ultimately increased workplace performance. Read more…

Steel City shows Value of Gentler Side

Steel City shows Value of Gentler Side

Scientific support (1) for the underlying principles of biophilia continues to grow.

A smartphone app trialled in Sheffield has brought further confirmation of the beneficial effects of a connection to nature. Researchers at the University of Derby asked 582 adults, some with mental health difficulties, to interact with the app when they saw something they liked in nature in the South Yorkshire city.

Changing the World? Don't Forget Nature

Changing the World? Don't Forget Nature

What happens if you try to change the world and you’re successful?” asked William Keyes Rudolph, introducing a touring exhibition entitled Victorian Radicals*.

The answer, where interiors are concerned, illustrates the Law of Unintended Consequences. It arises from nothing more complicated than the geometry of walls….

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Even mainstream media is saying how nature is good for you

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Even mainstream media is saying how nature is good for you

How many times have I written, “it’s not rocket science…nature is good for you?” Well for the umpteenth time, I’m saying it again, and so is NBC. A recent NBC article discusses why natural scenery improves your mood and makes you more productive. They quote the results of an article published in the Journal of Environmental Psychology which outlines the benefits of having just 40 second green views can have on sustaining attention, less errors and more consistency. This is because it boosts sub-cortical arousal and cortical attention control.

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Noise at Work - how to improve results

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Noise at Work - how to improve results

Croner-i published an article announcing the launch of the new UK Association formed to promote hearing conservation in the UK. The UK Hearing Conservation Association (HCA) claims that current noise risk at work management programmes are not working, and that improvements are needed in several key areas.

We are particularly interested in that their focus will be on preventable causes of hearing loss and hearing health impact “through common sense, cost effective, evidenced solutions”.

Preventing the £100 billion loss to the British Economy

Preventing the £100 billion loss to the British Economy

70 million working days are lost each year due to mental ill-health, costing Britain £70-£100 billion, according to the Mental Health Foundation, with a 24% increase to the number of working days lost in the past 6 years the number of working days due to stress, depression and anxiety. How do we improve this? The solution is closer and cheaper than you think…

ICU - Intensive Care Units and Nature

ICU - Intensive Care Units and Nature

“Rethinking the intensive care environment: considering nature in nursing practice” is an excellent paper by Claire Minton, MN, RN, Lesley Batten, PhD, RN, it “explores evidence related to the negative impacts of the intensive care unit environment on patient outcomes and explores the potential counteracting benefits of ‘nature-based’ nursing interventions as a way to improve care outcomes.”…

Nature Stimulus enhancing the Birth Experience

Nature Stimulus enhancing the Birth Experience

A fascinating report in HERD: Health Environments Research and Design Journal, reports results of research studying the influence of nature stimulus in enhancing the birth experience.

“These findings support the study hypothesis which states that the nature images would influence the labor experience positively. In addition, the findings emphasize the importance of incorporating non-pharmacological techniques in the labor and delivery room (LDR) units to soothe the pain. Adding nature imagery to the LDR environment can be one of these techniques.”

Faster Recovery

Faster Recovery

What would you rather stare at, flappy A4 photocopies, manky laminated words, nothing visually attractive. Would you create your home like this? Making an environment pleasant for all of us, whether Doctors or Patients should be important. Psychology and positive feelings engender healing and recovery. That’s not rocket science and is generally accepted. So what if there is an affordable solution that would help accelerate healing and bed space? Interesting, no?

Patient Recovery

Patient Recovery

We developed our biophilic range of fine art so it can support the wellness movement and help improve the lives of workers, patients and families. Our Hyper-Real print range is water-proof and fire-retardant and can go anywhere from surgery to recovery room, board-room to nursery, wet-room to a living wall.

While ideally one would install natural light, plants, waterfalls within a hospital environment, of course it is not practical in buildings already designed and built. Often there are no windows in rooms, or recovery rooms are soulless places, missing something natural. Hospitals and healthcare spaces are sterile environments for health reasons and so they should be, one advantage of installing Argenta-Wellness imagery into any recovery room, surgery, waiting rooms, A and E, Isolation rooms is that they can be cleaned with detergent (they are waterproof and fireproof). You can even install them in wet rooms to create a feeling of wellness as patients are washing, bringing a spa feeling to an otherwise unlikely environment. So also there are no concerns for an increase in maintenance costs, as they can be cleaned and wiped as part of the usual clean-up procedures.

Bringing the outdoors in can enhance the wellbeing of staff and patients alike, encouraging staff retention and happiness, and recovery for patients freeing up beds.

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