Story at a glance:
- Biophilic design aims to reconnect building occupants with the natural world and is key to creating healthy workplaces.
- Incorporating plants and vegetation into office interiors can help reduce feelings of stress and improve mood.
- Daylighting helps synchronize the body’s circadian rhythms, increase alertness, and improve productivity.
Following the Covid pandemic employees’ expectations for their work environment shifted drastically. No longer content with cubicle farms and cramped desks, many workers began prioritizing workspaces that actively contributed to their mental and physical wellness through the inclusion of biophilic design strategies—and employers began to realize it’s not just their employees who benefit from these features.
“Some of the effects of incorporating it [biophilic design] into the workplace include reduced absenteeism and mental fatigue, improved emotional satisfaction, and increased productivity, all of which directly contribute to the company’s bottom line,” Michelle Beganskas, senior manager of workplace strategy at Ted Moudis Associates, previously wrote for gb&d. “In essence the benefits of investing in smart biophilic design helps boost employee wellness and financially aids the corporation.”
In this article we explore eight biophilic design principles or strategies that businesses can employ to help improve workplace wellness.
1. Indoor Plants & Vegetation
A ground level café connects the existing outdoor patio, extending the café and seating area, allowing staff to enjoy fresh air during the day. Photo by Kat Alves
According to research conducted by experts at the Texas A&M Department of Horticultural Sciences, looking at plants and other biophilic stimuli can help to lower the body’s cortisol (the hormone that regulates stress) levels. Because they are capable of reducing stress, interior plants have the potential to combat anxiety, depression, and other mood disorders, leading to improved mood, greater life satisfaction, and higher productivity levels.
Bringing vegetation into the workplace can be as simple as incorporating potted plants throughout or—for those looking to go the extra mile—as complex as a living wall. “When you see a green wall, you’re immediately drawn to it,” Matt Hills, a vertical garden and green wall expert at Ambius, previously wrote for gb&d. “It’s alive, it’s interesting, and it fulfills our biophilic needs.”
Stantec’s redesign of the UC Davis Health Administrative Services Building incorporates plants in a truly innovative—if albeit unexpected—way. Due to being a hospital focused entity, the university forbids live plants in all its buildings, even those that aren’t dedicated exclusively to providing health services. The design team found a creative workaround, however, by incorporating preserved moss and lichen in the form of Greenmood Rings and Circles; the no-maintenance products bring an element of greenery into the space and double as decorative art pieces.
2. Provide Views of Nature
Inside The Jack, designed by Olson Kundig. Photo by Nic Lehoux
Being in the same room as plants is an incredibly impactful biophilic experience—but as we’ve already established, even just the sight of vegetation and natural environments is enough to positively affect the brain. This means nature viewed through a window is just as capable of improving employee wellness as actually being out in nature itself.
Maximizing access to views was an integral component in Olson Kundig’s design of The Jack, a creative office space located along Seattle’s waterfront. “The building core was intentionally pushed back toward the alley to provide a big, flexible floor plate that can accommodate numerous functions,” Tom Kundig, principal, owner, and founder at Olson Kundig, told gb&d in a previous article. “Because the building’s alley-side is typically less preferred, this strategy also shifts the building toward the water to really maximize those views.”
During construction, the Alaskan Way Viaduct—located adjacent to The Jack—was demolished, offering unobstructed views of nearby Elliott Bay. “It was important for us to maximize the panoramic views, pulling back the roof elements to really prioritize those sight lines from the terrace. Inside we incorporated a lot of transparent warehouse windows and floor-to-ceiling windows to continue the visual connection to the larger landscape outside.”
3. Include Nature Photography & Art
Salesforce Tower Chicago’s lobby features a revolving art installation that cycles through nature photography and nature-inspired art. Photo by Jason O’Rear
In the same vein simply viewing representations of nature—like high-quality photographic prints of natural landscapes or nature-inspired artwork—is enough to garner a positive biophilic response. This is great news for offices that may not have the privilege of overlooking green spaces, as even viewing natural scenery through photographs can reduce feelings of stress and anxiety, lower cortisol levels, improve concentration, and increase parasympathetic nervous system activity.
Salesforce Tower Chicago, for example, boasts a digital, rotating art installation in its lobby that continuously cycles through different scenes—ranging from woodland landscapes from Salesforce’s headquarters in California to abstract biophilic-inspired artworks—throughout the day.
4. Select Natural Materials
Natural materials like wood help establish a connection to the outdoors at HMTX’s World Headquarters. Photo courtesy of HMTX Industries
Building with natural materials—such as wood, bamboo, and stone—and leaving those materials exposed can help foster a deeper connection to nature on a subliminal level. “The use of a natural material stimulates an innate and positive biophilic response in building occupants,” Scott Mooney, senior assistant at SRG Partnership, wrote in a previous gb&d article.
A recent study conducted by researchers at the National Resources Institute Finland and Tampere University in Finland adds weight to this after it found that participants showed lower levels of anxiety and fewer negative emotions when asked to perform a task in a wooden room than when asked to perform the same task in a control room without exposed timber. By reducing stress and improving mood, natural materials like wood can help increase productivity and problem-solving capabilities.
Exposed timber, for example, can be found in abundance throughout HMTX’s World Headquarters—designed by McLennan Design to achieve Living Building Challenge certification—and contributes significantly to the office’s grounded, nature-inspired design.
Choosing furnishings that utilize natural fabrics, fibers, and textures also connects employees to the outdoors and may help to reduce feelings of stress and anxiety thanks to the pleasant tactile experience they provide. Materials like flax, linen, jute, sheep’s wool, and cotton all imbue spaces with an organic rawness when used to fashion furniture upholstery, rugs, and tapestries.
5. Maximize Daylighting
Access to daylight and outdoor views has been ranked as the top office perk among employees, above cafeterias or fitness centers. By incorporating glass office fronts throughout a space, employees will have access to the views they so desire, thereby increasing employee satisfaction and engagement. Photo courtesy of Transwall
Regular exposure to natural sunlight is crucial to keeping our bodies and minds functioning properly, as daylight is the single most important factor when it comes to regulating circadian rhythms. “The human circadian rhythms are the body’s natural clock. When your brain detects daylight and the changing spectral content over the course of the day, it tells your body to wake you up, and when darkness hits, it triggers your body to fall asleep,” Neall Digert, vice president of innovation and market development at Kingspan Light + Air, previously wrote for gb&dPRO.
Offices and commercial workplaces can promote a healthy circadian rhythm by prioritizing daylighting strategies over artificial electric lighting wherever possible. Large windows and window walls, for example, can be installed to illuminate spaces along a building’s perimeter, while features like light wells, skylights, and light shelves may be used to draw sunlight deeper into a building’s interior.
By positively affecting the body’s circadian rhythm, daylighting also helps increase productivity by keeping the brain alert, reducing eye strain, and combating feelings of fatigue—indeed, workplaces with sufficient daylighting may see anywhere from a 5 to 40% uplift in productivity according to research conducted by Eco Business. Studies also show that regular exposure to natural sunlight helps the brain produce serotonin, a hormone that improves mood by alleviating stress and anxiety.
6. Utilize Organic Shapes & Geometries
The soft, undulating waves of Atmosphera Analog 3D finished in Arktura’s premium wood texture are seen here at Mead Johnson in Chicago, designed by Partners By Design. Photo by Tom Harris Architectural Photography
Like the inclusion of natural materials, incorporating organic shapes, patterns, and geometries into workplace design helps create calm, welcoming environments. Organic shapes and patterns are typically characterized by curved lines as well as soft and uneven edges—qualities that tend to communicate comfort, familiarity, and approachability—but also include more perfect geometries like complex fractals and hexagonal honeycomb patterns.
“Now you’re seeing these shapes and forms be extracted from nature and applied in innovative ways to things like flooring to truly have an impactful psychological effect on how you experience the space,” Ariel Lumry, interior project designer at Perkins&Will, previously told gb&d. “It’s the softness and the curves and repetition of patterns that are natural in origin. We automatically relate to it without even realizing it.”
7. Incorporate Water Features
In one of the common outdoor areas, Fifth + Tillery features a water runnel to collect rainwater for irrigation. Photo by Matthew Niemann
Water also has incredible potential for facilitating wellness from both a visual and auditory standpoint. Researchers have found that the very sight and sound of water induces a flood of neurochemicals and stimulates the parasympathetic nervous system, leading to increased blood flow to the heart and brain and inducing feelings of calm and relaxation.
“Adding water features, the sounds of running or splashing water, views of exterior water features, and pictures of waterbodies can add calm and connect people with nature,” Kelly Walowski, global account consultant for Ambius, previously wrote for gb&d.
8. Access to Outdoor Spaces
Today’s workplace is turned inside out with Fifth + Tillery, designed by Gensler. Its palette was kept intentionally utilitarian and natural, with a hybrid timber structural system. Photo by Ryan Conway
Everything we’ve covered thus far does an admirable job of fostering innate connections to the natural world—but few things beat having access to the real thing. Features like green roofs, vegetated terraces, and landscaped courtyards all provide employees with the opportunity to physically go outside, get some sun, enjoy the fresh air, and truly immerse themselves in the natural world.
Having ready access to these spaces throughout the day allows occupants to clear their heads, re-center themselves, and experience moments of respite—putting them in a better headspace to focus and perform their daily tasks.
The Gensler-designed Fifth + Tillery multi-tenant workspace is one such office that prioritizes access to the outdoors. “We started with designing a workplace that featured ample daylighting and access to nature and fresh air, which are proven strategies for supporting employee mental health and well-being,” Michael Waddell, a design director in Gensler’s Austin office, wrote in a previous gb&d article. “After studying skylights, lightwells, and atriums we posed a question to the client: What if we just turn the building inside out?”
Instead of a traditional office lobby, Fifth + Tillery boasts a large entry plaza—shaded by a grove of trees and oriented towards the south to facilitate passive ventilation—and social stair that links the plaza to the building’s upper levels, each of which possesses its own unique outdoor space. Exterior stairs and walkways replace the conventional office core, shifting circulation routes outside and encouraging interaction with the landscape.
