Inspired design
Biophilic interior design is the growing adoption of nature-inspired design in interiors and architecture. It is about much more than simple aesthetics. It can also have a significant positive impact on people’s health and well-being.
A space with a good visual connection to nature can be calming for occupants, improve their well-being and productivity. We think not only about visual clues, but engage other senses need to too. For instance, you can choose wooden furniture, play recordings of running water or bird songs. This can help to bring the sounds and textures of the natural world to the inside. It also provides a multi-sensory experience that can ensure a strong connection between people and nature.
We spend a lot of our lives inside buildings
We spend 90% of our time inside buildings of various types and much of this is inside our homes. This provides us with a place to recover from our busy and stressful lives. We should connect to nature in our homes. I am sure you know that clients are happy to pay more for homes that have a view or are next to the water or a park.
But even without the view or waterfront, we design homes to connect us with nature in simple and subtle ways. Especially if we pay attention to how we, as humans, interact with nature over the thousands of years. For example, did you know that our brains are mapped to react like the hunter-gatherer species we have been for most of our existence on earth?
This means that we like to have a prospect and refuge. This is the ability to be protected, while we see what is coming ahead. We see this play out subconsciously in a restaurant. There the booths are all full first and the tables in the middle are filled last – generally, we don’t like to have our backs to a room.
A great article on this topic is on Interface’s website and their great Pinterest board. Also, this website shows an absolutely amazing summary of what biophilic design stands for.
Good practice
We use natural materials to harness the power of biophilic design. We can use natural analogues – manmade furniture and materials inspired by nature to achieve the same effect. Our joiners prefer to make furniture up of biomorphic forms. These could be curved desktops or shelving units. It can also reflect the asymmetrical shapes of trees and plant life, while modular timber floor, wallpaper or carpet patterns can mimic the randomness and complexity of a leaf-strewn forest floor. We recommend that you can paint some walls in greens, blues and other shades. This recalls the hues found in nature.
You can have a look at our Pinterest board on biophilic design for ideas.
Biophilic interior design
A key part of good biophilic design is striking a balance between emphasising the openness of a space. It highlights its prospect of the view of the room from one’s perspective. This also creates safe areas, or refuges/recesses, where people can read or work alone, quietly.
Its also important to bring in lots of light into the home, which we will encourage you to do in any case.
We regularly suggest adding natural elements around frequently used spaces. This could be your dining area, living spaces or any spaces where you could stay longer.
You can also look at it more scientifically :
WWR Chart (Source: Patterns of Biophilic Design: Improving Health and Well-being in the built environment by William Browning)
This is another great website on this topic from Terramai – if you like to learn more about it. This article on Houzz is also helpful.
We can help you to achieve a great balance of design and quality of materials. We can do this entirely within your budget and the overall project programme. Please read more about our other services, such as colour interior analysis and Feng Shui consultation.
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