We have been commissioned to design several nature focused dwellings in Devon and Somerset

Biophilic Design Principles - By Thomas Heatherwick from Nature Inside

“ In an age where mental health and well-being are becoming widespread problems that many of us encounter in our lives, it is now clearer than ever that, to design better buildings, society needs to re-connect with its own instinctive and emotional sensibilities; and nature can be an amazing teacher.

For the last century, the practice of architecture has been dominated by the academic and theoretical areas without as sufficient balancing factor of instinctive and emotionally intelligent thinking about how structures and spaces make us feel. Biophilia, for me, is one potential form of antidote. It’s interesting because it is much broader than just being about the love of plants or the obvious benefits of greenery. It touches every aspect of design: whether we can see the sky change from within a room, or how we perceive sounds and movement like the twitch of leaves or the movement of water. In our studio we have become more passionate about making places that people can feel an emotional connection with. We’re clearer than ever that nature provides many of the clues to creating places that can be more ‘alive’.

Nature has infinite lessons for designers. Water and grasses can give a place vitality and the movement of a garden can provide a contrast to the rigidity of a building. I’m equally fascinated by imperfection - by the ever-so-slight differences that give authenticity to texture; wood that shows its natural grain; materials that can be repaired by nature as they age. Nature has rhythms and pattern; it is complex, beautiful and always interesting.

There is a growing body of evidence to support this way of working, and principles of design that can now be advocated for more objectively. To create meaningful places that will endure, designers need to consider their emotional response to place, which goes beyond the old-fashioned concept of rational or linear thinking. The concept of Biophilia is a brilliant way to frame a set of issues that are critical to the design of the environment around us - whereby nature is not just a prop to achieve another aim - but instead the overall objective should be a more naturally formed world”.