Children and their teachers spend 1,000 hours per year in school buildings. These learning environments impact their health, well-being, and children’s ability to learn and retain information. Biophilic design can offer schools a low-cost, high-impact way to create healthier learning environments.

What is Biophilic Design?

Biophilic design is the purposeful integration of nature into the built environment. Stemming from the term biophilia—meaning a love for life and living things—this design practice uses a variety of techniques to promote mental and physical health and well-being.

Biophilic design incorporates practices such as the inclusion of environmental features, natural patterns, and natural light. Biophilic design can be integrated at both simple and complex levels, with projects ranging from plant installation to full floor-plan redesigns. In addition to its practicality, biophilic design’s flexibility makes it an ideal choice for schools that are looking to improve learning environments for their students.

Biophilic Design Benefits

Natural elements are typically associated with an overall sense of calming and biophilic spaces incorporate blue, green, and earthy tones, a decluttered space, and ample natural light. Aarhus University in Denmark conducted a study where they brought together 1,000 Danish adults and analyzed their proximity to green spaces as children. Their findings concluded that students with more access to green spaces “have up to 55% less risk of developing various mental disorders later in life.” Using natural shapes and textures can also help immerse students and promote prosocial behavior. Classrooms that have mimicked nature through the scale and flow of the room have shown to produce fewer conflicts and kinder behaviors between students.

Passive exposure to the natural world through repeating geometric patterns and images of nature can improve memory and attention. Further, classrooms that utilize biophilic design enhance student creativity and support overall healthier development due to our biologically encoded connection to nature. Finally, in terms of academic success, biophilic design has produced higher test scores and found higher rates of focus from students. For more cognitive and physiological benefits of biophilic design, check out this article from urbanNext.

Strategies for Biophilic Design

It is widely accepted that there are 14 strategies that can be used to integrate biophilic design. They are divided into nature in the space, nature analogues, and nature of the space.

Nature in the space describes the presence of nature in a given space, whether it be visual or emotional connections. Nature analogues refer to non-living representations of nature such as through carpeting or wall designs. Finally, the nature of the space discusses the experiences that are created in the space that evoke feelings like those felt in nature.

Terrapin Bright Green, an environmental consultant, published a thorough report detailing the 14 strategies of biophilic design. Detailed descriptions for each of the strategies below can be found here.

• Visual connection with nature
• Non-visual connection with nature
• Non-rhythmic Sensory Stimuli
• Thermal/ airflow
• Presence of water
• Dynamic and diffused light
• Connection to natural systems
• Biomorphic patterns
• Material connection to nature
• Complexity and order
• Prospect
• Refuge
• Mystery
• Peril/ Risk

Biophilic Design in Schools

The Nature Lab at Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens

The Nature Lab at Phipps Conservatory is one of the most successful examples of biophilic design found in the country. Not only is the building a SEED collaborative project, but it has also achieved Living Building Challenge Petal Certification.

As a SEED classroom, the Nature Lab acts as a dual-use space. It is used as a learning laboratory as well as a model for healthy learning spaces. The lab generates its own energy and recycles all water retrieved on site.

The Nature Lab achieves all five petal standards for sustainability through the International Living Future Institute. The five petals include Site, Water, Energy, Equity, and Beauty. These were achieved through all stages of the design, construction, and current use practices. The Nature Lab prides itself on its ability to combine the presence of nature with human experience in order to create a high-performing, safe, and comfortable educational space for its students.

Here are some of the biophilic practices demonstrated at the Nature Lab:

• Abundant natural daylight
• Exposed mechanical systems to encourage student inquiry
• Live plants in the classroom
• Location is situated in the heart of Phipps Conservatory’s campus, overlooking the natural lagoon
• Earth and clay-colored tones on the outside of the building
• Artwork and sculptures that mimic nature/flows within nature

Scandinavian Schools

In response to the Covid-19 pandemic, five schools in Scandinavia took an ambitious approach and created an innovative space for their students to learn and grow. The schools looked towards biophilic design as a solution because of their understanding of its benefits for the students’ health and well-being. Above all, the schools wanted to create a revolutionary space that would benefit users of the future and maintain sustainable excellence for decades.

In the methodology, the cohort had four primary goals: connect teaching processes with student education, create attractive and creative spaces, make the teaching flexible for spaces and cultures, and intertwine the natural and physical environments. They chose to use an appreciative inquiry approach, which incorporated the voices of students and teachers into the design process to promote positive, strength-based change.

For their biophilic design, they aimed to incorporate natural daylight, green elements and spaces, earthy colors, and creative classroom functions. The schools analyzed the connection between physiological and psychological interactions and biophilia. The cohort of students included 25 participants who learned the principles of biophilic design and then proposed ideas based on the biophilic goals of the study.

The students understood the importance of ample daylight in the classroom and dreamed up ideas such as large windows, adjustable lighting, and colored divisions of space. As for color in particular, the students placed a heavy influence on the use of blues, yellows, and oranges while also looking towards smart mood lighting. Further, the students required a courtyard and the creation of physical space where they can immerse themselves in nature. 

Students wanted creatively designed classrooms with moveable walls and multi-functioning spaces, and wanted more green spaces inside and out of the classroom, more exhibitions of water around their classroom, and instruction that engaged and immersed them in nature.

Easy Ways to Incorporate Biophilic Design into Your School

If you are not sure where to start bringing nature and biophilic design into your school or classroom, here are some easy and cost-effective ways to get started:

• Add plants to your room
• Send your students on a nature photography shoot, have their photos printed and framed, and hang them around the room
• Add a small electric fountain to your desk to incorporate the sound of water
• Open the windows/ raise the blinds to bring in more natural light and fresh air, if possible
• Have students create art using natural, earthy colors such as brown, blue, and green

If your school incorporates any of these or other biophilic design ideas into the campus or classrooms, please share them with Green Building Alliance!

Additional Resources

Importance of biophilic design in schools

The biophilic mind

More Case Studies

Sources

14 Patterns of Biophilic Design

An Innovative School Design Based on a Biophilic Approach Using the Appreciative Inquiry Model: Case Study Scandinavia

Being surrounded by green space in childhood may improve mental health of adults

Biophilic Design Patterns for Primary Schools

What Is and Is Not Biophilic Design?

5 Ways That Biophilic Design Can Boost Social-Emotional Learning

Nature Lab at Phipps

Biophilic Design: Psychological and Physiological Health and Well-being/

Kids surrounded by greenery may grow up to be happier adults

The six elements of biophilic design

Top banner photo: Idriss Meliani (Pexels)