Biophilic office design enhances wellbeing

 
At the most basic level biophilic office layouts are designed to incorporate as much of the natural world into the workplace as possible and blur the boundary between the outside world and interiors. More employers are learning about the very real benefits of natural light and bringing the outdoors into the workplace.

This could include incorporating wood, stone, slate and other natural materials into the office layout, and even adding water features. Studies have shown that employees in office layouts which have a more natural design are more productive, healthier, and also happier. Indeed, research from the University of Exeter shows that adding plants to offices can increase worker productivity by 38% and creativity by 45%.

Wellness benefits of biophilic office layouts

 
Some of the benefits of biophilia contributing to greater employee wellbeing include:

– Better air quality, plants and trees oxygenate the surrounding air, creating purer office environments which can be particularly beneficial for workers in polluted city environments. Adding plants or small indoor or tropical trees to the office means excess carbon dioxide is absorbed along with minute particles in the air, while oxygen is created via photosynthesis. Incorporating water features into any biophilic layout gives the added benefit of increasing positive ions in the atmosphere.

– Alleviation of stress and assistance with mental health are common benefits of natural, outdoor environments and bring the outdoors into the workplace helps induce a calmer, more restorative office. It’s not just green plants or living walls that can add natural looks to offices, using wood and other natural materials, such as stone or slate, for bespoke office furniture, reception desks, or for the creation of internal workplace features, all tend to bring the outdoors inside.

– Plants are the natural way to balance acoustics in noisy offices as they decrease and absorb sound reverberations.

And, finally, numerous studies have shown that plants and the colour green is linked strongly to levels of creativity, so bringing plants into your office can help spark innovation and boost creativity and levels of productivity.