“Biophilia – The innate human attraction to nature and natural processes.” Earlier this month, I was delighted to be invited by Habitat to learn more about biophilic design…
This new interior design movement (and my feeling it is a movement rather than a passing trend!) in interior design focusses on bringing the outside in, so we can all benefit from the positive physiological & psychological impact that nature has upon us.
On an intuitive level we all know how good green living things make us feel and research now backs this all up: during our talk by biophilic designer & TV presenter Oliver Heath – in the quite fabulous new Conservatory Archives plant emporium in Clapton – we learnt that office workers were found to perform 10% to 25% better on tests of mental function and memory recall when they had the best possible view versus those with no view; when natural features have been applied a 15% reduction in absenteeism has been reported; hospitals with views see a reduction of duration of stays by 8.5% and post-operative pain medication reduced by 22%; and students in the solid wood classrooms had a heart rate of average 8,600 beats per day less than in the normal classroom.
This is the jungle terrarium I made, it was a wonderfully therapeutic and fulfilling process! (Conservatory Archives will offering workshops and fully embodies the philosophy of biophilic design, do visit if you get a chance!)
At home, our kitchen table looks out onto our garden – little wonder that this is my favourite place to work! – and I always keep a collection of plants and flowers at the end closest to the window. I love looking at it and being near it!
As our kitchen dining area fills with so much lovely light, I use our piano top as another little plant space as well as the old shelf above our sofa (see top pic!). I also keep fresh flowers on the kitchen island and have the odd plant dotted around the rest of the house – I just signed up to Freddies Flowers!
I buy my plants from Geo-Fleur, Botanique and E5 Botany and am planning a return visit to Conservatory Archives soon to pick up something bigger! And you can also see and shop Habitat’s biophilic design here.
*The workshop & talk was a press event hosted by Habitat.