When designing a residential space, it is important for designers to put the wants and needs of the client first, making it a space that makes them healthy and happy. A great way of doing this is to look at biophilia.
Biophilia is the practice of incorporating nature and natural elements into the built environment. Biophilic design has been found to support cognitive function, physical health, and psychological well-being. Since the average American spends 90% of their life indoors, with most of that time most likely being spent in their home, increasing biophilia in the built environment would have significant results.
Biophilic design has fourteen patterns that can be organized into three categories: Nature in the Space, Natural Analogues, and Nature of the Space. The most successful biophilic spaces tend to employ more than one pattern for maximum impact. The patterns in the category Nature in the Space involve the incorporation of elements from nature into the design to the point where the space almost imitates the living environment itself. The Natural Analogues category consists of patterns that reflect the natural environment rather than completely imitate it. Finally, the patterns that make up the Nature of the Space category involve the built environment of the space itself as opposed to the interior. Utilizing these biophilic design patterns are only just a few of the ways to incorporate nature into the design.
Nature in the Space
Visual Connection with Nature
A view to elements of nature, living systems and natural processes.
Design Ideas for Implementation:
Water feature
Green wall
Artwork depicting nature scenes
Large windows
Non-Visual Connection with Nature
Stimuli that engender a deliberate and positive reference to nature, living systems or natural processes through a person's sense of hearing, touch, smell, and taste.
Design Ideas for Implementation:
Fragrant herbs and flowers
Natural ventilation (operable windows, breezeways)
Textured materials (stone, wood, fur)
Crackling fire/fireplace
Digital simulations of nature sounds
Mechanically released natural plant oils
Highly textured fabrics/textiles that mimic natural material textures
Domesticated animals/pets
Non-Rhythmic Sensory Stimuli
Randomly determined and momentary connections with nature that may be analyzed statistically but may not be predicted precisely.
Design Ideas for Implementation:
Billowy fabric or screen materials that move or glisten with light or breezes
Nature sounds broadcasted at unpredictable intervals
Thermal & Airflow Variability
Subtle changes in air temperature, relative humidity, airflow across the skin, and surface temperatures that mimic natural environments.
Design Ideas for Implementation:
Solar heat gain
Radiant surface materials
Space orientation
Systems controls
Window glazing and window treatment
Window operability and cross ventilation
Presence of Water
A condition that enhances the experience of a place through the seeing, hearing or touching of water.
Design Ideas for Implementation:
Visual access to rainfall and flows
Water wall
Aquarium/fish tank
Reflections of water (real or simulated) on another surface
Imagery with water in the composition
Dynamic & Diffuse Light
Leveraging varying intensities of light and shadow that change over time to create conditions that occur in nature.
Design Ideas for Implementation:
Daylight from multiple angles
Firelight
Multiple low glare electric light sources
Ambient diffuse lighting on walls and ceiling
Daylight preserving window treatments
Task and personal lighting
Accent lighting
Personal user dimming controls
Circadian color reference (white light during the day and lack of blue light at night)/Color tuning lighting that produces white light during the day, and minimizes blue light at night
Connection with Natural Systems
Awareness of natural processes, especially seasonal and temporal changes characteristic of a healthy ecosystem.
Design Ideas for Implementation:
Wildlife habitats (e.g., birdhouse, honey bee apiary; hedges, flowering vegetation)
Exposure of water infrastructure
Natural patina of materials (leather, stone, copper, bronze, wood)
Natural Analogues
Biomorphic Forms & Patterns
Symbolic references to contoured, patterned, textured or numerical arrangements that persist in nature.
Design Ideas for Implementation:
Window details: trim and moldings, glass color, texture, mullion design, window reveal detail
Installations and free-standing sculptures
Furniture details
Arrangement of the structural system (e.g., columns shaped like trees)
Acoustic paneling (wall or ceiling)
Railings, banisters, fencing, gates
Furniture form
Window details: frit, light shelves, fins
Pathway and hallway form
Material Connection with Nature
Material and elements from nature that, through minimal processing, reflect the local ecology or geology to create a distinct sense of place.
Design Ideas for Implementation:
Accent details (natural wood grains; leather; stone, fossil textures; bamboo, rattan, dried grasses)
Interior surfaces (veneer, countertops)
Woodwork, stonework
Natural color palette, particularly greens
Complexity & Order
Rich sensory information that adheres to a spatial hierarchy similar to those encountered in nature.
Design Ideas for Implementation:
Wallpaper and carpet design
Material texture and contour
Window details: trim and moldings, glass color, texture, mullion design, window reveal detail
Plant selection variety and placement
Auditory stimuli
Exposed structure/exoskeleton and mechanical systems
Nature of the Space
Prospect
An unimpeded view over a distance for surveillance and planning.
Design Ideas for Implementation:
Partition heights ≤ 42 inches (hedges; opaque workplace partitions)
Transparent materials
Balconies, catwalks, staircase landings
Open floor plans
Elevated planes
Refuge
A place for withdrawal, from environmental conditions or the main flow of activity, in which the individual is protected from behind and overhead.
Design Ideas for Implementation:
Spaces with weather/climate protection, or speech and visual privacy
Spaces reserved for reflection, meditation, rest, relaxation, reading, or complex cognitive tasks
Operable, adjustable or translucent (or semi-opaque) shades, blinds, screens or partitions
Drop or lowered ceiling or soffit, overhang or canopy
Lowered or varied light color, temperature or brightness
Mystery
The promise of more information achieved through partially obscured views or other sensory devices that entice the individual to travel deeper into the environment.
Design Ideas for Implementation:
Auditory stimulation from an imperceptible source
Peek-a-boo windows that partially reveal
Curving edges
Winding paths
Risk
An identifiable threat coupled with a reliable protection.
Design Ideas for Implementation:
Infinity edges
Façade with floor-to-ceiling transparency
Transparent railing or floor plane
While the scale of the COVID-19 pandemic is new, the need for designers to prioritize human health is not. Incorporating biophilic design into the home is not only a great way to promote mental health of the people inhabiting the space, but maintain and even improve their physical health. This is especially important when thinking about the COVID-19 pandemic. COVID-19 was not the first disease to spread in a global pandemic, and it unfortunately won’t be the last. If biophilic design starts in the home, then so does healthy living, which will be beneficial to everyone, living in a pandemic or not.
Research
Browning, W., Ryan, C., & Clancy, J. (2014, September 12). 14 Patterns of Biophilic Design. Retrieved April 10, 2020, from https://www.terrapinbrightgreen.com/reports/14-patterns/