Biophilic Design in Workplaces

All those plants you see around your workplace are not there by chance.  Research consistently shows that being able to see a couple of plants (not more) as you work boost your cognitive performance, they’re mentally refreshing—and our heads get very tired at work what with all are needing to actually think and to get along with other people.  Seeing a couple of plants also makes it more likely you’ll think creatively.  The best sorts of office plants, brain-wise, are green and leafy, with gently curving stems, spike-y plants should be banished.  We’re also refreshed and de-stressed by looking at nature scenes outside our offices in fields and courtyards (which justifies, maybe, all the money your firm spends on landscape architecture) and in nature images (still or moving, photographs or paintings)—which may explain a lot of the art you see around as you work.

If you see an aquarium (live or virtual) where you work, don’t be surprised.  Research indicates that looking at an aquarium mentally refreshes us in the same way that seeing a few potted plants in our workplace does.

Similarly, if your firm has a museum-like gallery-sort of space, don’t be surprised.  Studies have made it clear that being in a museum-like space is psychologically restorative and taking a walk boosts your creativity, even after you sit down.

Natural materials, such as wood with visible grain (warm finishes have the most positive effects) and stone flooring, are also good at reducing stress levels and boosting performance according to the research, so it’s not surprising that you see them wherever you look in most newer workplaces.

There is loads of natural light in every newly developed workplace in which you might find yourself because one of the strongest set of relationships researchers have identified is between natural light and not only good moods but also elevated professional performance.  Designers are driven to make sure that all the windows letting in that natural light have some sort of blind because noting blows all the good being done by natural light as fast as the stress we feel when we see glare.  You often see windows with clear glass high on the walls of rooms away from the exterior walls of your workplace so that that magical natural light can get as far into your workplace as possible.

In alignment with lots of research, you’re likelier to find warmer slightly dimmer light in break areas where you need to relax and refresh along with relatively more curving lines in upholstery, carpets, and floor coverings, for example in 2-dimensions and curvier forms in furniture (like sofa backs or legs or table shapes) in 3-dimensions.  The reverse is true for areas where concentration-requiring professional work is the goal; we do our more creative thinking in the sorts of lighting and aesthetic conditions where we’re apt to be more relaxed and we’re likely to collaborate better with others in the same lighting conditions.   Studies show, for example, that our brains process seeing curving lines and straight lines differently and that has consequences for how those same brains preform later.

Another thing that aware workplace designers and managers have been focusing on for a long, long time is the ventilation in the workplaces they’re responsible for.  When air is fresh our brains work much better, our cognitive performance climbs, we do a better job putting together strategies and making all sorts of decisions, for example.  There are lots of technical reports on how to ventilate offices online, for example at the website of Harvard’s School of Public Health.  It seems that a ventilation rate of 30 cfm/person is particularly desirable.