Well-being

October 24, 2017

What is Sound and Why Does it Matter?

Sound – especially sound in the spaces where we work – affects us far more than you might think. When it comes to designing interior spaces, acoustic considerations are often put aside or completely ignored in favor of purely visual aesthetics. However, condemning office workers, hospital staff, students and teachers, guests in hotels and even…

September 29, 2017

The True Cost of Noise

Dead silence can be an intimidating working environment. Some sound in any workplace is generally desirable: pleasing background sounds like the gentle, indecipherable babble of colleagues speaking, one’s own choice of music or perhaps the sounds of nature coming through an open window. However, much of the sound in typical workplaces is undesirable: ringing phones,…

September 22, 2017

Using the BRE Biophilic Office Project to Study the Benefits of Biophilic Design

Biophilic Design as a key aspect of health and wellbeing is moving up the built environment agenda fast – and for good reason. With high rates of urbanisation, a rise in stress related illness and an increasing level of technological proliferation – it seems that we are moving ever further from the natural elements that…

September 8, 2017

Singapore’s Khoo Teck Puat Hospital: Biophilic Design in Action

Singapore’s Khoo Teck Puat Hospital (KTPH) might well be the most biophilic hospital in Asia. In no other healthcare institution of this scale are elements of form, space and landscape so explicitly tied to the goal of human well-being—the very definition of biophilic design. The KTPH competition brief, from the onset, asked that the new…

December 15, 2016

Attracting New Talent and Maintaining a Happy Workforce

The era of nomadic working is shifting. Recent studies, including Peldon Rose’s Summer 2016 Happy Office survey, have found that working remotely can leave employees feeling increasing disconnected from colleagues and community. 66% of people found that their productivity decreased outside the connectivity of the workplace. With the return of an office-based culture; how can…

October 3, 2016

Feeling Good, Working Well: Meridian Credit Union’s Biophilic Office

In the relocation of its Toronto corporate office, Meridian Credit Union’s transition team worked closely with designers Bullock + Wood and Interface to craft new offices that emphasize and support the well-being of its employees. As Ontario’s largest credit union, Meridian knows well what it takes to help its members grow. And in the process…

March 9, 2016

14 Patterns of Biophilic Design: Presence of Water

Water – from crashing waves to trickling streams, wading pools, and water fountains – enhances the experience of a place. Pattern 5: Presence of Water The Presence of Water biophilic design pattern has evolved from research on the health and wellbeing benefits associated with access to water, including reduced stress, lower heart rate and blood…