In this blog, we talk biophilic design, sustainability and how this can help with the challenge of climate change. And it can start with simple office plants.
Biophilia has been included in modern architecture and interior design with a view to improving the productivity and wellbeing of the people working in these indoor spaces. It’s nothing new though. Biophilia was first talked about by Social Psychologist Eric Frome in 1964 and later popularised by Edward Wilson in the 1980’s.
But…it’s not simply supporting the building’s occupants.
Is modern biophilic design sustainable?
We need to be pragmatic so that our work is always moving towards the best outcomes. Plants in the indoor office space is just one small way to start working towards a better future. It’s so much more than just higher productivity and wellbeing for the occupants. It’s giving them a way to support their natural prevalence to move towards a more biophilic future for the world.
The actual word biophilia means to the urge for humans to affiliate with other life. Plants are a key part of biophilic design. It’s not just the nature of plants, but it’s intrinsically connected to science. In the built environment, it’s a matter of allowing ourselves to be part of our natural world. The sound of the rain. The colour of the sky. The feeling of the wind in your hair.
We can’t always be part of these feelings and textures, so we need to mimic nature indoors. The look of real plants in your office is always a happy feeling, rather than seeing a plastic plant. Just like seeing a real dog makes us smile, compared to a stuffed toy dog.
How do we fake biophilia?
We are doing this unconsciously all the time. We use screen savers of palm trees, even though it’s raining outside. We put our desk in an office, rather than in the lunchroom to replicate protection (our cave). We want to feel safe in our surroundings and plants can help us do that.
In a few generations there might be people born into an Artificial Intelligence (AI) world beyond our imagination, so what would be better. Being inside the bubble with plants and nature ‘brought in’, or outside of it where even though it’s natural, has become unsightly and baron. We are heading this way with higher density living, large numbers of refugees, smaller or fewer places to live, and those things all point to the potential that we will have less wild places to share.
The pandemic
People have become aware of the desire to feel something, even if it’s just to feel the rain, or see the plant and notice it growing. Businesses have brought the outside in, and it’s accelerated the awareness that although we have a long way to go, we are more attuned to the environments we have set up.
Sustainability is the bare minimum, so the trajectory of changing climate, water pollution and degrading eco systems all point to the importance of taking steps in the right direction now. The need to regenerate and restore this and biophilic design is the perfect lead into this. We need people to care about their environment, even if it’s just in a small way. Even if it starts with just adding those few plants to your workspace.
Creating a nature-based environment with plants and natural materials is essential to post-pandemic business survival.
Can we do these large buildings in a sustainable way?
There are plenty of ways to do this. Roof Top Gardens, Green Walls both internally and externally. Making every building three or four times greener than their own construction. It can actually be restorative to the natural world.
What is a good biophilic design?
It should feel like your inner forest. And yet has the functions of what you need to do at work. Imagine being in a forest and you can smell the moss on the trees and still log onto the internet. You can sit in direct sunlight or sit in the shade of the trees, you can hear the birds to tell you it’s dawn and dusk, and there are gathering spaces where you can meet and be close up to people, but still see kilometres into the distance. All the while, being able to get your work done. So, the ultimate in biophilic design would be a wild place that has functions of the built world, rather than the other way around.
More and more people are learning the importance of leading a healthy lifestyle through plants. Everyone wants to be safe in their workplace. Using plants not only introduces more oxygen into the air, but it also gives separation and personal space, without hard barriers. Office walls can cut off natural light, where office plants and in particular, vertical gardens, can be the perfect solution for privacy and social distancing.
First steps
All in all, with all the pros and cons factored in, it can be said that if you are committed to living in a green office environment then you should strongly consider plant hire by a professional service provider. They will choose the right office plants and offer the expertise to work with designers and architects on their projects for sustainable, healthy, post pandemic offices.
Contact us for a chat or a free consultation.
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