Biophilic Design: Letting Work Breathe Again
Biophilic design is not about trends or decoration. It’s about how workspaces quietly shape our nervous systems, attention, and sense of belonging — and what happens when we let nature back in.
Editorial Note: This essay sits within the Cultivated canon exploring regeneration, wellbeing, and the quiet forces that shape how work feels over time. It is less about design trends and more about attention — to space, to people, and to the environments that subtly influence who we become at work.
Biophilic Design: Letting Work Breathe Again
Biophilic design is often described as a workplace trend. Plants in offices. More light. Softer materials. A splash of green in the corner of a room.
But that framing misses the point.
At its core, biophilic design is not decorative. It is relational. It asks a deeper question: what happens to people when the places they work in remember that they are human?
The idea itself is simple. Humans evolved in relationship with the natural world. Light, shadow, texture, rhythm, weather, seasons. We are shaped by environments long before we ever open a laptop. When workspaces strip those elements away, something subtle is lost. When they reintroduce them, something begins to return.
This isn’t limited to offices. It applies to cities, co-working spaces, studios, kitchens turned into work zones. Wherever work happens, the environment is already teaching us how to feel.
This essay can also be explored in audio form. You’re welcome to listen — or continue reading below.
Why nature keeps showing up at work
Research has spent decades confirming what most of us already sense. Natural light regulates energy and mood. Greenery calms the nervous system. Organic materials feel grounding in ways synthetic ones rarely do.
Researchers such as Judith Heerwagen have shown that environments rich in natural elements don’t just improve wellbeing. They influence focus, recovery from stress, and even how safe and connected people feel. (See biography)
This isn’t about productivity hacks. It’s about restoration.
The human nervous system was never designed for constant artificial light, sealed air, and uninterrupted cognitive demand. Nature introduces pauses. Variation. Breath.
And where there is breath, there is capacity.
Noticing the weak signals
During the shift to remote work, I began noticing small changes on video calls.
A plant appears in the background.
Then another.
A shelf of books.
A wooden desk.
Sunlight repositioned deliberately.
Nobody announced a strategy. Nobody mandated it.
These were weak signals — quiet, individual acts of re-balancing. People unconsciously re-introducing nature into environments that had become too flat, too digital, too abstract.
Later, those same signals began appearing back in offices. Bamboo risers. Natural fabrics. Fewer harsh lights. A slow correction, led not by policy, but by instinct.
Weak signals matter. They tell us where systems are under strain — and where people are trying to heal them.
Friction, sustainability, and a common misunderstanding
Biophilic design is often confused with sustainability. They overlap, but they are not the same thing.
Sustainability focuses on the planet.
Biophilic design focuses on the human experience of place.
A solar panel helps the environment. A window helps a person. A green roof becomes biophilic only when someone can see it, walk on it, or sit among it.
The most effective spaces understand this distinction. They don’t just optimise energy usage. They reduce psychological friction. They make it easier for people to feel settled, focused, and present.
When workspaces ignore this, people compensate in other ways. More breaks. More exhaustion. More quiet disengagement.
A personal moment in a field
I recorded the podcast episode on this topic while standing outdoors.
Wind moving through barley.
Uneven ground underfoot.
Sound that didn’t repeat itself.
Nothing about it was efficient. And yet, I felt clearer within minutes.
That experience stayed with me. Not because it was dramatic, but because it was ordinary. A reminder of how little it sometimes takes to feel re-aligned.
Back at a desk, the same principle holds. A wooden surface. A living plant. Light that changes through the day. These aren’t luxuries. They are cues to the nervous system that it is safe to think.
What this means for work
Work doesn’t happen in isolation. It happens in rooms. On streets. At tables. In buildings that quietly shape behaviour long before culture decks and values statements ever do.
When environments are harsh, people harden.
When they are sterile, people disengage.
When they are thoughtfully designed, people soften — and often think more clearly.
Biophilic design isn’t about copying nature. It’s about remembering our place within it.
And perhaps that’s the deeper invitation: to design workspaces that don’t just extract effort, but restore the people inside them.
Closing reflection
Look around where you work.
Not critically. Curiously.
What does the space encourage?
What does it drain?
What does it ignore?
Sometimes the most meaningful changes don’t come from grand redesigns, but from small acts of noticing. Opening a blind. Moving a desk. Letting something living share the room.
Work should not feel like exile from the natural world.
It should feel like a place where thinking — and people — can breathe.
A collection of photos from my walk where I recorded this episode
This piece forms part of Cultivated’s wider body of work on how ideas become valuable, and how better work is built.
To explore further:
→ Library — a curated collection of long-form essays
→ Ideas — developing thoughts and shorter writing
→ Learn — practical guides and tools from across the work
→ Work with us — thoughtful partnership for teams and organisations
Bibliography
Biophilic design — Future of Work Hub [WWW Document], 2021. . futureofworkhub. URL https://www.futureofworkhub.info/explainers/2021/4/7/biophilic-design-and-the-workplace (accessed 7.18.24).
Biophilic design [WWW Document], n.d. URL https://www.designingbuildings.co.uk/wiki/Biophilic_design (accessed 7.18.24).
Bolten, B., Barbiero, G., 2020. Biophilic Design: How to enhance physical and psychological health and wellbeing in our built environments. Visions for Sustainability 11–16. https://doi.org/10.13135/2384-8677/3829
Dalay, L., Aytaç, G., 2022. Biophilic Design: Integrating Nature Into the Urban Environment, in: Emerging Approaches in Design and New Connections With Nature. IGI Global, pp. 1–19. https://doi.org/10.4018/978-1-7998-6725-8.ch001
Gillis, K., Gatersleben, B., 2015. A Review of Psychological Literature on the Health and Wellbeing Benefits of Biophilic Design. Buildings 5, 948–963. https://doi.org/10.3390/buildings5030948
Johanson, M., n.d. How ‘biophilic’ design can create a better workspace [WWW Document]. URL https://www.bbc.com/worklife/article/20200929-how-biophilic-design-can-create-a-better-workspace (accessed 7.18.24).
Mollazadeh, M., Zhu, Y., 2021. Application of Virtual Environments for Biophilic Design: A Critical Review. Buildings 11, 148. https://doi.org/10.3390/buildings11040148
Wijesooriya, N., Brambilla, A., 2021. Bridging biophilic design and environmentally sustainable design: A critical review. Journal of Cleaner Production 283, 124591. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2020.124591
Yildirim, M., Gocer, O., Globa, A., Brambilla, A., 2023. Investigating restorative effects of biophilic design in workplaces: a systematic review. Intelligent Buildings International 15, 205–247. https://doi.org/10.1080/17508975.2024.2306273
