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23 SEP 2022 • WORK
HOW BIOPHILIC OFFICES ARE MAKING SPACE FOR SUSTAINABILITY AND WELLBEING IN THE WORKPLACE
Companies are now prepared to go beyond the addition of a few plants to make truly biophilic workplaces – environments that behave like the living, breathing organisms they host.
Employees are starting to demand workspaces that don’t just hinder their health but actively contribute to it. Some companies may see biophilia as a bonus that can entice their teams back to the office and attract (and retain) talent – as Francesca Brady, CEO and cofounder of AirRated, which provides a certification for indoor air quality, says: ‘Feel-good and high-convenience amenities are key, while the ability to prove the health of an environment is the jewel in the crown.’
PHOTO: KASIA GATKOWSKA
Random Studio sees its new Amsterdam space as a ‘living entity that can behave in its own way, responding to the needs of its inhabitants as well as the ever-changing climate outside’.
But biophilia is also an antidote to one of the downsides of the WFH phenomenon: isolation. ‘Working in home offices over the last few years has had a tremendous impact on our mental health, with many business leaders admitting that it has affected their employees’ ability to function as well as they formerly did,’ says Adrian Wong, cofounder of London-based biophilic design studio Aterre. ‘Biophilia – which is reported to reduce anxiety and stress; increase cognitive function, concentration and memory; and enhance feelings of positivity, wellbeing and motivation – has become a more prominent aspect as businesses recall their employees to the office. They’re contemplating how to create environments where employees feel safe, calm and productive.’
PHOTO: KASIA GATKOWSKA
Random Studio’s X+L-designed Amsterdam office captures its ethos of using technology to enhance the natural world.
Brady’s earlier use of the word ‘prove’ is key. A smattering of plants may look clean and green, but that’s not a given: Brady says that sometimes, although not often, plants can be detrimental to indoor air quality. Going beyond appearances, ‘clients are increasingly interested in quantifying how spaces support human health’, Allison Wilson, sustainability director at interdisciplinary design firm Ayers Saint Gross, told Engineering News-Record late last year. They’re turning to healthy-building certifications like Well and Fitwell that take a holistic approach and address invisible aspects like air quality. In January 2021, International Well Building Institute president and CEO Rachel Hodgdon announced that more than 139 million m2 of real estate is participating in Well offerings. By the time Well released its 2021 Annual Report, that figure had doubled.
PHOTO: KASIA GATKOWSKA
A ‘tech theatre’ was installed throughout the studio to control light, temperature, sound, smell and other elements, while a light installation by artist Arnout Meijer responds to the sun’s arc and real-time weather patterns to give each day a different tone.
Technological advancements are helping companies with real-time quantification, particularly for those aforementioned invisible aspects. ‘Without technology, we wouldn’t have the deep understanding of indoor air quality that we have today,’ says Brady, whose company uses state-of-the-art sensor technology to monitor the air in a space and report on different parameters. ‘Indoor building health and air monitoring can now be presented via continuous data streams, enabling asset managers to maintain optimal building performance, cutting energy bills and providing peace of mind. AirRated even has a product that can optimize HVAC systems at design stage, meaning there really is no excuse for poorly designed workplaces in the future.’
PHOTO: ERIC LAIGNEL.
Sustainability and health are key drivers in HOK’s New York City office for Accenture. The 27,870-m2 space – which is aiming to achieve Well Platinum certification – prioritizes daylight, circadian lighting, active furnishings, restorative spaces, nontoxic materials and indoor greenery.
Air is one of the most important aspects of a truly healthy office, but of course there are others. While creating a biophilic ecosystem with a symbiotic relationship between nature and people isn’t as simple as checking a series of boxes – Wong says each space must be layered and nuanced specifically to user needs, and constraints such as budget and the existing space have to be considered – there are other key priorities. For new builds, says Wong, these include assessing toxicity and material types, the use of clean and ideally circular systems, spatial layout, access to natural light and viewpoints, and acoustics. ‘Once these are in place, we can start to think about layering up the experiential and aesthetic side of biophilia through the use of direct and indirect biophilic elements, including natural surfaces and organic forms. And then of course introduce the direct experience of nature through planting, skylights, natural sounds, water flow and so on.’
PHOTO: ERIC LAIGNEL
Although unable to incorporate outdoor space in the scheme the designers kept the perimeter open on each floor to offer employees sweeping views of the Manhattan skyline in all directions.
Another way to take biophilia further is by not just surrounding employees with nature but facilitating their direct interaction with it, as evidenced by the rise in the likes of rooftop beehives and edible gardens in workplaces. Where possible, workspaces are even shifting (partly) outdoors. Incorporating office spaces, Kengo Kuma’s under-construction 120,774-m2 Park Habitat in Silicon Valley will have a central giant vertical courtyard called the ‘green lung’. The studio describes how the space will create a 24-hour cycle of ‘architectural inhalation and exhalation’. Over in Austin, Texas, Gensler’s forthcoming wellness-focused Springdale Green office campus is based on the idea of ‘communing with nature’. Renderings of the industrial-site-turned-green-oasis show bodies suspended in hammock-like nets above and amid lush plant life. ‘Outdoor spaces can serve as third spaces for work, whether for collaborating, individual focus time, or simply as a place to reset,’ says Melissa Mizell, principal at Gensler Portland.
PHOTOS (COVER AND ABOVE): TAKUJI SHIMMURA
Cover: RATP Habitat’s Atelier du Pont-designed headquarters in Paris sport outdoor spaces that are as fundamental to the workspace as the interiors. | Above: A treelike sculpture by Atelier YokYok extends upwards through RATP Habitat’s 13-m-tall atrium. Like a mini agora, the seating area beneath is designed for informal meetings or breaks.
But even offices with no exterior space can integrate aspects from natural environments – and in a more abstract way than you might think. ‘We can learn a lot from analysing the aspects of natural environments that feel great to humans,’ says Mizell. ‘Two of my favourite principles of biophilia are prospect and refuge – creating a sense of psychological safety by having your back protected while being able to visually scan the environment and see what’s going on around you.’ This could translate to booths with high backs that face an active social space, she says. Or the joy of serendipitous natural encounters could translate into a non-linear welcome space that recalls the experience of meandering along a curved forest path. What these examples share is a prioritization of people – perhaps the most important factor of all for biophilic design.
This article was first featured in Frame 147. Get your copy here.
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