Journal of Biophilic Design

How do we reduce distraction at work? How do we entice our staff back into the office? Why do they need to come in? How can zoning help? What are non-rhythmic sensory stimuli? How can biomorphic shapes help us do our best work? What is the business case for Biophilic Design? These and many other questions are answered in this podcast with Oliver Heath and Tanja Künstler. Oliver is founder of Oliver Heath design, and co-author of a new seminal guide from Interface “Creating Positive Spaces”. Tanja is concept designer for Interface. Between them they share some essential insights from the guide and how, by employing a Biophilic Design and human-centred approach to refreshing our office, we can create a workplace where we we will do our best work.We have an opportunity right now to rethink how we design the workplace as we bring people back to the office. How we cater for different sensory thresholds of our workforce is a key element in designing better. There are essentially two different kinds of work activities: focus and collaboration. We need to design zones or spaces which allow people to carry out these tasks to the best of their ability. Did you know it takes 23 minutes to get back to the task in hand once we’ve had a distraction? The more distractions we have the harder it is to focus to get the work done, our cortisol stress hormones, we get tense. In fact businesses lose $588 billion due to distraction in the workplace. So how can we design better?Have a listen to how the Allegro offices in Warsaw were designed using colours, contrasts, calm spaces and how the Linkedin offices in Paris included local place-making design elements to bring an holistic human-centred approach to these incredibly compelling office spaces.The concepts and theories underlying Biophilic Design, from natural light to patterns, all inform an improved way of designing. Considering our 7 senses, which are the 5 we know plus 2 more: vestibular and proprioception. You’ll have to read the guide and listen to the podcast to explore these in greater detail, but essentially by designing for these two senses we link our design to our early evolution, walking through forests, over rocks and down rivers and streams. Putting soundscapes in at different levels, making zones, creating restorative blue spaces, etc. On pages 42ff you will see an excellent table to help design of different sensory thresholds. Be sure to check it out. To read a copy download the link here: https://info.interface.com/whitepapers-en_GB#Sensory_Wellbeing or here https://blog.interface.com/en-uk/designing-for-cognitive-sensory-wellbeing/ For more about Interface and what they do, plus links to more essential Design Guides, have a wander through their main website https://www.interface.com/EU/en-GB/homepage?r=1 To find out more about Oliver Heath Design visit their website https://www.oliverheath.com To register for their Biophilic Design course, visit his site here https://oliverheathdesignschool.thinkific.com/courses/biophilic-design-in-the-home?ref=e64a07

What is psychoacoustics and why should we care about it? Paige Hodsman, concept developer for Saint-Gobain Ecophon explains how the psychology of how we perceive sound is essential for our health and wellbeing. She explains how humans react to sound stimulus directly relates to our performance at work for instance. This helps us understand how people respond to their environment and how we can design better spaces. Did you know that biophilic improvements to a space has a positive impact on our brains through our hearing too? The vast experience of humans have been outside, in fact we are particularly suited to being in a natural environment, in fact neuronal activity is greater when we hear natural sounds.Paige looks at how our physical world produces responses in our bodies, how the materials used in our environment affect how sound waves behave. When these sound waves enter our ears, what next? The pitch, quality and type of sound makes a difference to our brains. By using research conducted by pscyho-acousticians we can learn how different sounds are processed, what happens inside the ear, how the mechanical sound wave becomes an electrical impulses that then feed through the nervous system and therefore affect our brains.At 14.10 Paige describes just HOW the sound waves enters our eardrum and how it then is translated into perception. If we soften the environment it is better for our brains. Lots of reflective surfaces, for instance in hospitals, some environments in schools, offices and homes, disorient us, which triggers responses in our brains saying something might be wrong. If you think about it, our early lives on the plains, we were constantly listening out for predators, attacks, thunderstorms, danger, threats, as well as where food is. Anything which is cacophonous triggers that perception of threat, and therefore also triggers our fight or flight mode. So being in a constantly noisy environment keeps our adrenalin levels high and our hormones racing, putting pressure on our nervous system, bodies and overall health. At 34.38 Paige looks closer at good biophilic acoustics after having discussed the bre office project, which is a case study lead by Oliver Heath on how we can design a better office using human-centric design bringing nature, textures, materials, temperature control and more into an office environment. Essentially how we can bring “home” to the office. (We covered this here if you would like to watch the video - or search ‘bre biophilic office project’ on our ‘podcast’ page on our website www.journalofbiophilicdesign.com or on YouTube). How we can mimic nature in our built environment by bringing the best of an outdoor environment inside. Did you know that opening a window is one of the best natural sound absorbers? But if you can’t open a window or door how do you recreate that “sound” absorption. You need the right levels of absorption in a space, and companies like Ecophon who produce sound-baffling panels (which we print images and virtual nature windows on) are excellent methods of creating better acoustics environments. Also you can introduce water sounds, bird song, wind in the trees. Paige makes an important point, you also need to think about where the sound is pumped out from. For instance you don’t want water coming from above your head, you want it emanating from a believable height (otherwise you might think you’ve got a leak in the building!), also from a psychological perspective, having a visual to enhance the sound is excellent (so images of what the sound comes from, e.g. a waterfall, or fountain, stream, seascape, etc) or a real water feature is excellent.Let us know what kinds of acoustic environments work best for you, email us on [email protected] or message our Linkedin page, or engage with us on Instagram or FB.

One of my favourite things is picking fresh herbs from my windowsill. My erratic cooking skills are much improved by the addition of a fancy sprig of basil popped on the top of a pile of scatty spaghetti. While this might not be urban farming at scale, it certainly makes me feel good. This is one of the reasons I was excited to interview Square Mile Farms. They bring vertical hydroponic farms to the workplace. I spoke with Ben Dean, Chief Operating Officer at Square Mile Farms about the idea behind the company and what they are doing. Being able to grow more food locally has to be an essential key to help improve food security and sustainability. One of the best ways to help reconnect us with food is to help us get closer to it, by encouraging us all to harvest our own. How do we do that? That is where Urban Farming comes in. It is literally just that, growing produce in a city or built-up environment, whether that’s a roof top, vacant walls, basements, indoors even. You can grow produce on any piece of land which is currently not serving a purpose. Ben shares with us in the podcast how Square Mile Farms are helping more people take part in urban farming even inside our buildings. He tells us how, by providing a simple facility, for instance in existing corporate environments, this can encourage community, fun and even provide mini moments of meditation and zen in a busy office, school, healthcare or any indoor space.One of the advantages of a hydroponic system is that you can grow them up the wall, and the range of herbs and vegetables you can grow is amazing. From kale to parsley, basil to coriander and sage. Imagine picking the leaves for your own mint tea, of course you might fancy then branching out to farm bees on your office roof for the honey to accompany it! They take about 3 to 4 weeks from seedlings to a proper mature plant, which, when you cut some of the plant off for your salad, they grow back!This is a lovely Biophilic Design solution, and one which for instance in an end-of-life care facility, seeing life growing around you is positive. Even in offices, where for decades we have had lead grey offices which might seem ridiculous now, but bringing Biophilic design into your office can also entice your staff back in. Square Mile Farms have been rushed off their feet recently, where office designers are looking for something different, and with COP26 echoing in our ears, the discussions of food sustainability, a hydroponic solution is a brilliant way of doing that. If you take a look at the images that accompany this podcast, you’ll see the beauty you can create with the lighting as well.