With all the time we are spending in our homes, we are most likely spending our time differently! Eating and exercising correctly (I should practice what I preach...), getting sufficient sleep, finding mechanisms to manage stress and anxiety (one of my indulgences is to zone out and listen to Russell Brand's "Under the Skin" podcast and practicing mindfulness (I have Vex King's Good Vibes, Good Life - How self-love is the key to unlocking your greatness, next to my bed and read a few pages each night. All of the afore-mentioned add up to my longevity (hopefully) and enhanced wellbeing, so how do these relate to design?
Living in South Africa, I am so lucky to have a luscious tropical garden, and to be surrounded by flora and fauna all year around. Earlier this year there was an invasion of white Belenois aurora butterflies; everyone was talking about it, you couldn't miss the swarms of them. Pre-Covid-19 that natural phenomena brought people together - we talked to total strangers every day about the beauty of the butterflies' remarkable migration from South Africa to Madagascar via Mozambique, and this happening brought happiness to so many people. I thought about that and how watching them filled me with a sense of wellness.
The way in which we feel is now hugely relevant, more so than ever before I think, and despite the design world having long been primed to consider wellness, the design community, being the problem-solving professionals that we are, are now pivoting to design with wellness in the forefront, in order to achieve a better, more wholesome lifestyle. The oasis which immediately comes to mind when I talk about wellness-focused design is 1 Hotel Brooklyn Bridge, designed by Marvel Architects and New York-based interiors firm INC - which I was fortunate enough to experience last summer. Click on the link to have a virtual tour and then come back and read below:
The growth in wellness design was already on the increase pre-COVID-19, but now that our world has been turned upside down, and indeed feels so much smaller than ever before, the drivers have also changed. This frightening health pandemic, coupled with the global concern for global warming and the environment at large has really made wellness design a priority for me (and most likely other designers). In the last decade, hospitality design has embraced wellness - not only with creating the most idyllic spa resorts, but also by incorporating living walls, creating long lap pools and many incorporating novel outdoor amenities and activities.
Wellness-focused design is a huge topic and encompasses so many different aspects, but I thought I'd give a general overview below, hope this is helpful:
When we think of light, often natural light is what immediately comes to mind - it has been scientifically proven that natural daylight provides an enormous boost to health and wellness, and can increase productivity and enhance people's general psyche, mood and temperament.
Yesterday, I attended a CEU presented by Sonneman on the importance of layering lighting fixtures, amongst other topics. As design professionals, we recognise that the strategic use of the correct ambient, task and accent lighting helps inject life into a space. Of course combining form and function is paramount, but layering introduces flexibility which the client can be in control of. Using multiple light sources allows for a smooth transition from a brightly-lit room used perhaps as a home office during the day, into a relaxing and sophisticated space for entertaining in the evening, or even a very dim room for bingeing on Netflix or snuggling up on the sofa. When installed professionally, the perfect combination of ambient, task and accent lighting creates a perfectly balanced room (so long as your lighting plan has specified them all being on separate circuits!!! but that's a whole blog post in itself).
The presentation touched on how lighting designers have begun to explore the potential benefits of lighting which follow the natural sleep/wake cycles of the human body, which is known as circadian lighting: these systems appear to have the power to positively affect people’s health, alertness, productivity and other factors. We all feel energised sitting next to a large window, don't we? compared to sitting in a dark windowless room - unless that room has been configured with a transformative lighting system, whereby sunsets can be simulated, or a bright summer day. In commercial properties, these spaces can be used as a haven where people can go and feel safe and be reflective and take a moment to have respite from their routine. I can't help but hope that hospitals could have these kind of refuge places for the brave health professionals working so hard during this pandemic.
Other measures to be mindful of are daylight harvesting systems (which use daylight to offset the amount of electricity used to light a premise in order to reduce energy consumption); and of course the use of LED bulbs, which are indeed the coolest - literally and metaphorically - they emit almost no heat, are at least 75% more efficient than standard incandescent bulbs, and have an average life of more than 25,000 hours, and of course are super practical when used with an LED-compatible dimmer switch/system.
I have long been a devotee of connecting architecture and interiors with nature, and am a huge advocate for bringing the outdoors in and creating interior environments which nod to nature, both in the most obvious and subtle means possible. The idea that humans possess an innate tendency to be connected to flora and fauna and indeed the entire natural world is pretty damned beautiful. Biophilic design harnesses this concept and creates a natural environment which is conducive to both live and work in, and moreover contributing to our overall sense of well-being - plants make us feel happier, allow us to recharge and revitalise and perhaps even be more industrious and creative.
Biophilic design is not just about adding a pot plant or two, it is about living walls, the quality of the air we breath and the overall feeling of wellness it brings us. During one webinar I attended this week presented by Renwil, they reiterated that Biophilic design is not just about nature itself, it is as much about technology and how technology recreates the bucolic experience of nature, ie an interactive projection of organic materials can be wildly innovative - think of the high-tech Super Trees Observatory in Singapore. Biophilic design is not just about building a living wall - it is an embodiment to a magical and fantastical immersive side of reality. Amazon's HQ in Seattle created amazing spheres which are a phenomenal example of creating magical experiences, among the many creations they have replicated birds nests for people to sit in for break-out meetings. I get so excited by this element of wellness design ;)
We are all becoming more and more aware of our environments - and the built environment where we spend all our time, be it for work, leisure, sleep, is so important. Having done LEED-certified courses in the US, you learn so much about material selection, cleaner methods of heating and cooling houses, using sustainable materials (and no these are not always more expensive). Educating our clients on healthier options and alternatives is also so important for the way forward.
I also attended a very interesting CEU on transparency disclosures, EPDs (Environmental Product Declaration) and HPD (Health Product Declarations. These measures enable us to make educated decisions on materials and to make much less impact on the environment using materials which aren't sustainable. We are experiencing climate change at a frightening rate. Just asking producers of materials whether they have a social equity programme is a step, we are designers, not climate scientists, but by having a more sustainable procurement process we can assess its impact on the environment and furthermore how the manufacture is helping to restore the climate.
There is no doubt a correlation between our health and other factors, such as light, using colours which promote mental well-being, but establishing an overall harmony is the goal. When you consider all the sensory experiences our bodies go through each and every day, the brain collects information and interprets what it finds, as my dog-eared copy of Material Matters states "When touching a material, the dominant factors that we use to identify it are roughness, warmth and hardness. If we touch something that feels hard and cold, we expect it to be something like metal, glass or stone". Nowadays, this is no longer the case with all the new innovative materials being created - such as paper made from stone (which is more durable than paper made from tree pulp); rice cement, engineered cork polymer composites, insulating seaweed and the list goes on, and on and on...
Think about mushrooms - as a design feature, as a building material, the hallucinogenic qualities are relevant to Biophilic design - they symbolise the notion of embracing ideas, not dominating ideas and we are seeing these reflected in interior design and fashion design also. Mushrooms are definitely on the increase and aesthetically it is so pleasing to the eye and feels so transformative and natural.
To keep it simple, think natural stone; organic fabrics - cotton, hemp, linen; unfinished wood (bamboo, oak, Douglas fir and mahogany), ensure they are sustainably farmed. Avoid ebony, murbau,
sapelee, Wenge, Burmese Teak and Brazilian mahogany.
We all know what a huge difference it makes having a Herman Miller office chair (be it the Aeron, Embody or Say - the latter is my personal preference and comes in a great selection of hues), and most people know that ergonomic is the technical term for comfortable - but it is more, comfort in terms of psychology, physiology and more.
Green is nature's hallmark colour which signifies life, freshness and harmony. It evokes renewal and restoration and creates a perfect uplifting colour for many settings.
Living in South Africa, I am so lucky to have a luscious tropical garden, and to be surrounded by flora and fauna all year around. Earlier this year there was an invasion of white Belenois aurora butterflies; everyone was talking about it, you couldn't miss the swarms of them. Pre-Covid-19 that natural phenomena brought people together - we talked to total strangers every day about the beauty of the butterflies' remarkable migration from South Africa to Madagascar via Mozambique, and this happening brought happiness to so many people. I thought about that and how watching them filled me with a sense of wellness.
The way in which we feel is now hugely relevant, more so than ever before I think, and despite the design world having long been primed to consider wellness, the design community, being the problem-solving professionals that we are, are now pivoting to design with wellness in the forefront, in order to achieve a better, more wholesome lifestyle. The oasis which immediately comes to mind when I talk about wellness-focused design is 1 Hotel Brooklyn Bridge, designed by Marvel Architects and New York-based interiors firm INC - which I was fortunate enough to experience last summer. Click on the link to have a virtual tour and then come back and read below:
The growth in wellness design was already on the increase pre-COVID-19, but now that our world has been turned upside down, and indeed feels so much smaller than ever before, the drivers have also changed. This frightening health pandemic, coupled with the global concern for global warming and the environment at large has really made wellness design a priority for me (and most likely other designers). In the last decade, hospitality design has embraced wellness - not only with creating the most idyllic spa resorts, but also by incorporating living walls, creating long lap pools and many incorporating novel outdoor amenities and activities.
Wellness-focused design is a huge topic and encompasses so many different aspects, but I thought I'd give a general overview below, hope this is helpful:
Lighting
When we think of light, often natural light is what immediately comes to mind - it has been scientifically proven that natural daylight provides an enormous boost to health and wellness, and can increase productivity and enhance people's general psyche, mood and temperament.
Yesterday, I attended a CEU presented by Sonneman on the importance of layering lighting fixtures, amongst other topics. As design professionals, we recognise that the strategic use of the correct ambient, task and accent lighting helps inject life into a space. Of course combining form and function is paramount, but layering introduces flexibility which the client can be in control of. Using multiple light sources allows for a smooth transition from a brightly-lit room used perhaps as a home office during the day, into a relaxing and sophisticated space for entertaining in the evening, or even a very dim room for bingeing on Netflix or snuggling up on the sofa. When installed professionally, the perfect combination of ambient, task and accent lighting creates a perfectly balanced room (so long as your lighting plan has specified them all being on separate circuits!!! but that's a whole blog post in itself).
 |
| Sonneman's Chaos linear LED suspension fixture, I love the name and chaotic nature of this |
The presentation touched on how lighting designers have begun to explore the potential benefits of lighting which follow the natural sleep/wake cycles of the human body, which is known as circadian lighting: these systems appear to have the power to positively affect people’s health, alertness, productivity and other factors. We all feel energised sitting next to a large window, don't we? compared to sitting in a dark windowless room - unless that room has been configured with a transformative lighting system, whereby sunsets can be simulated, or a bright summer day. In commercial properties, these spaces can be used as a haven where people can go and feel safe and be reflective and take a moment to have respite from their routine. I can't help but hope that hospitals could have these kind of refuge places for the brave health professionals working so hard during this pandemic.
Other measures to be mindful of are daylight harvesting systems (which use daylight to offset the amount of electricity used to light a premise in order to reduce energy consumption); and of course the use of LED bulbs, which are indeed the coolest - literally and metaphorically - they emit almost no heat, are at least 75% more efficient than standard incandescent bulbs, and have an average life of more than 25,000 hours, and of course are super practical when used with an LED-compatible dimmer switch/system.
Biophilic Design
I have long been a devotee of connecting architecture and interiors with nature, and am a huge advocate for bringing the outdoors in and creating interior environments which nod to nature, both in the most obvious and subtle means possible. The idea that humans possess an innate tendency to be connected to flora and fauna and indeed the entire natural world is pretty damned beautiful. Biophilic design harnesses this concept and creates a natural environment which is conducive to both live and work in, and moreover contributing to our overall sense of well-being - plants make us feel happier, allow us to recharge and revitalise and perhaps even be more industrious and creative.
 |
| Here I am outside the Pierre Frey showroom on Rue du Mail in Paris - despite not being plants, the botanical tropical design makes people happy and creates a whimsical feeling of magical immersion |
Biophilic design is not just about adding a pot plant or two, it is about living walls, the quality of the air we breath and the overall feeling of wellness it brings us. During one webinar I attended this week presented by Renwil, they reiterated that Biophilic design is not just about nature itself, it is as much about technology and how technology recreates the bucolic experience of nature, ie an interactive projection of organic materials can be wildly innovative - think of the high-tech Super Trees Observatory in Singapore. Biophilic design is not just about building a living wall - it is an embodiment to a magical and fantastical immersive side of reality. Amazon's HQ in Seattle created amazing spheres which are a phenomenal example of creating magical experiences, among the many creations they have replicated birds nests for people to sit in for break-out meetings. I get so excited by this element of wellness design ;)
 |
| Incredible shots featured in ArchDaily of the Amazon Spheres in Seattle |
Materials
We are all becoming more and more aware of our environments - and the built environment where we spend all our time, be it for work, leisure, sleep, is so important. Having done LEED-certified courses in the US, you learn so much about material selection, cleaner methods of heating and cooling houses, using sustainable materials (and no these are not always more expensive). Educating our clients on healthier options and alternatives is also so important for the way forward.
I also attended a very interesting CEU on transparency disclosures, EPDs (Environmental Product Declaration) and HPD (Health Product Declarations. These measures enable us to make educated decisions on materials and to make much less impact on the environment using materials which aren't sustainable. We are experiencing climate change at a frightening rate. Just asking producers of materials whether they have a social equity programme is a step, we are designers, not climate scientists, but by having a more sustainable procurement process we can assess its impact on the environment and furthermore how the manufacture is helping to restore the climate.
There is no doubt a correlation between our health and other factors, such as light, using colours which promote mental well-being, but establishing an overall harmony is the goal. When you consider all the sensory experiences our bodies go through each and every day, the brain collects information and interprets what it finds, as my dog-eared copy of Material Matters states "When touching a material, the dominant factors that we use to identify it are roughness, warmth and hardness. If we touch something that feels hard and cold, we expect it to be something like metal, glass or stone". Nowadays, this is no longer the case with all the new innovative materials being created - such as paper made from stone (which is more durable than paper made from tree pulp); rice cement, engineered cork polymer composites, insulating seaweed and the list goes on, and on and on...
 |
| Sensitile's Lumina range is a flexible resin cladding which holds single, energy efficient LED sources, appearing as floating, dreamlike surfaces - imagine the projects these could be used in |
Think about mushrooms - as a design feature, as a building material, the hallucinogenic qualities are relevant to Biophilic design - they symbolise the notion of embracing ideas, not dominating ideas and we are seeing these reflected in interior design and fashion design also. Mushrooms are definitely on the increase and aesthetically it is so pleasing to the eye and feels so transformative and natural.
 |
| The Growing Pavilion was a temporary events space at Dutch Design Week which was constructed with panels grown from mushroom mycelium supported on a timber frame - how awesome is that! |
To keep it simple, think natural stone; organic fabrics - cotton, hemp, linen; unfinished wood (bamboo, oak, Douglas fir and mahogany), ensure they are sustainably farmed. Avoid ebony, murbau,
sapelee, Wenge, Burmese Teak and Brazilian mahogany.
Ergonomics
We all know what a huge difference it makes having a Herman Miller office chair (be it the Aeron, Embody or Say - the latter is my personal preference and comes in a great selection of hues), and most people know that ergonomic is the technical term for comfortable - but it is more, comfort in terms of psychology, physiology and more.
Take the example of the Dyson Airblade - the aerodynamic hot air hand dryer, it's ergonomic design accomplishes in just 10 seconds what takes standard hand dryers much much longer and moreover it eliminates the bacteria found at paper towel dispensers etc AND consumes up to 80% less energy than conventional dryers - and these are things which we will be considering more from now on.
Colour
I have many publications dedicated to colour, and my favourites include The Designer's Dictionary of Color, The Secret Lives of Color, the Complete Colour Harmony (Pantone Edition), Change your Home, Change your Life with Color, Colour in Decoration and The Complete Color Directory. There are a few new ones I have in my Amazon basket, but with Covid-19, I need to prioritise what I want and what I need.
For wellness design, a restrained or neutral colour palette is normally expected, but as we know different colours affect how we feel and the spaces we operate in. We all know the colour wheel (primaries, secondaries, tertiaries, complementary/supplementary etc), well passive colours are calming, they relax the body and prevent anxiety. Active colours activate the eye, make the mind and body restless as they stimulate.
For wellness design, a restrained or neutral colour palette is normally expected, but as we know different colours affect how we feel and the spaces we operate in. We all know the colour wheel (primaries, secondaries, tertiaries, complementary/supplementary etc), well passive colours are calming, they relax the body and prevent anxiety. Active colours activate the eye, make the mind and body restless as they stimulate.
Neutrals include white, grey, creams, brown (and of course leopard print is a neutral right??!!).
Warm colours range from butter through coral, fuchsia, ochre, orange, pinks, peach, purple, red, violet and yellow.
Cool colours include avocado, blue, chartreuse, green, light blue, mint, olive and turquoise.
Speciality colours include fluorescents and metallics (and yes I'm like a magpie and am attracted to both).
It was always perceived that lighter rooms would be considered airy and psychologically feel bigger and brighter (personally I agree to differ) and using darker colours were perceived to make rooms feel more cozy, more sophisticated but often feel smaller (I have a very DARK dining room with all "5 walls" painted in the same dark hue and I don't think it feels small, it feels like the room gives you a big hug when you enter and that's a special feeling and triggers different emotions.
 |
| Thibaut's grasscloth range combines uplifting colour with the organic touch - remember how sensory experiences are so important |
Colour is subjective, but there is a science behind colour psychology which I love to talk about.
Green is nature's hallmark colour which signifies life, freshness and harmony. It evokes renewal and restoration and creates a perfect uplifting colour for many settings.
Yellow is the obvious happy colour and it's uplifting qualities promote vitality and bring a splash of sunshine into any space.
Blue evokes peaceful and stimulating feels and is a relaxing, uplifting and serene colour. Classic Blue is Pantone's Colour of the Year 2020 - it is a deep blue hue that is both comforting and relatable.
Blue evokes peaceful and stimulating feels and is a relaxing, uplifting and serene colour. Classic Blue is Pantone's Colour of the Year 2020 - it is a deep blue hue that is both comforting and relatable.
When I think of the purple family, lavender immediately comes to mind, and the plant's calming qualities often help with my deep slumber in the form of an aromatic spray, lavender has been found to increase slow-wave sleep, has many calming effects and is instrumental for slowing one's heart rate and helps relax muscles. Who has seen the simply divine infomercial for Jo Malone's Lavenderland range: Click here to experience it Lavenderland ;)
I'm not convinced I'd use purple in a residential setting, but perhaps I now might consider the evocative qualities of lavender. Who knows.
I'm not convinced I'd use purple in a residential setting, but perhaps I now might consider the evocative qualities of lavender. Who knows.
Air Quality
Living walls perhaps had their peak in 2017, then there were lots of imitations and now very many are the latter as they are cheaper to maintain and cheaper (but not always) to install. There is an overlap between Biophilic design/air quality and indoor/outdoor when we discuss living walls - having indoor plants has a huge impact on the air quality, of course it has the wellness quality of creating a relaxing environment and it is aesthetically pleasing.
So to summarise, the emphasis on wellbeing can be achieved through a formula which encompasses all of the above, creating a comfortable, functional, sustainable environment, which is of course aesthetically pleasing, and now the paramount element to be considered will have to be that everywhere is sanitary, without feeling like a dentist's practice.
Wellness-focused interior design is a growing design ethos; many designers now realise that residential and commercial spaces can greatly influence our physical health, as well as our emotional state of mind.
This post just scraped the surface... yes a disinfected one, I didn't even mention the vast topic of antibacterial fabrics and how they fight bacteria and protect us, these will be so prevalent from now on.
Let me know what other design posts you'd like me to write about and I'll get writing!
This post just scraped the surface... yes a disinfected one, I didn't even mention the vast topic of antibacterial fabrics and how they fight bacteria and protect us, these will be so prevalent from now on.
Let me know what other design posts you'd like me to write about and I'll get writing!
#STAYSAFE #STAYHOME
xo
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