Biophilic Design

It’s not a new thing to have some form of plant life at your office desk but up until recently the subconscious reasons why we do this and the extent to which bringing the natural world into the office can help a workplace have not been incorporated into workspace design.

Step forward: Biophilia.

Biophilia, or biophilic design, is defined as an innate and genetically determined affinity of human beings with the natural world. The idea is that by bringing us human beings closer to the outside world whilst we’re in the office we can improve both our personal well-being and our work output.

Human Spaces produced a report in 2015 which looked at the global impact of biophilic design in the workplace, and came up with some rather eye-opening figures. The main highlights were that across the 16 global countries studies, there was a 15% increase in well-being, a 6% increase in productivity and a 15% increase in creativity in employees.

The most important factors which contributed to these increases were access to natural light and views of greenery, water and wildlife. Even in this day and age there are many employees who don’t even have access to a window and perhaps obviously given what we’ve already mentioned, their creativity and productivity levels see a drop.

It makes sense that human beings are most happy and productive in environments where plants can also thrive – we are a part of nature after all and by default we’re more connected to it than to man-made office buildings.

There are plenty of things companies can do to increase levels of Biophilia in the workplace even if their access to large windows, natural light and green views is restricted. Water features with free flowing water, natural plants, proper ventilation and the use of natural textures (like wood and stone) are all easy wins.

To introduce this biophilic way of design thinking into your spaces. A versatile grid frame system can play host to many accessories which are made from wood and can also encompass planter shelves and moss panels – putting greenery right in the centre of your office.