Biophilic design – buzzword or big deal?

We challenged ourselves with a question: is biophilic design just good design, or something we need to intentionally spotlight because of its unique importance? Answering it led us to the UK’s first-ever Biophilic Design Conference, held at London's iconic Barbican Centre—a venue as architecturally provocative as it is unexpectedly biophilic.

To understand biophilic design, you first need to understand biophilia. Popularised by biologist Edward O. Wilson in 1984, the term describes our innate human affinity for nature. It’s this psychological inheritance that biophilic design tries to address—through spaces that recreate, reference or respond to natural environments in ways that make us feel calmer, safer, more creative, and better able to thrive.

Dr Nigel Oseland, an environmental psychologist and one of our episode guests, explains it like this:

“[Evolutionary] psychologists say: ‘well, if our body, our physiology, was developed to live and hunt or whatever in the African Savannah, so was our brain’. And then of course, over the last 100 years or so we've been in modern offices, and before then we moved into buildings. But they're saying that because it's evolution, the brain has never quite caught up.”

This mismatch is the heart of the evolutionary psychology story: that we’re biologically primed for natural light, fresh air, and the shapes, sounds and textures of nature—which means we can struggle in environments that suppress or ignore those preferences. It’s a compelling argument, though not without critics. It’s hard to empirically test such theories and assertions without a time machine, after all.

That said, as another guest, Dr Sally Augustin notes, environmental psychology has spent decades quantifying how for example light, acoustics, ventilation, texture, and visual complexity impact our well-being and performance. So it’s here that we can research and test biophilic design theories:

“…in application after application, we find that when spaces are biophilic, you know, biophilically designed, that people who are working, their wellbeing increases, and so does their performance, particularly their creativity.”

So biophilic design isn’t a style, a trend, or a decor choice. Considered properly, it’s an evidence-based design approach that starts with how humans work best. The irony, of course, is that when it’s done well, it often goes unnoticed—because it just feels right. Sally elaborates:

“Biophilic design's goal is to create places where people are comfortable ... When people are comfortable, their brains work more effectively … biophilic design is good for what goes on in your head.”

Another seminal figure in the world of Biophilic Design is Terrapin Bright Green’s Bill Browning, who offers 14 Biophilic Design patterns. Architect Oliver Heath explains how these patterns fit into three groups:

“When we talk about biophilic design, there are really three core aspects to it. The first is what we call ‘direct connections’ to nature. It's the real sensory forms of nature that we can bring in, or allow views out onto … The second one is what we call ‘indirect connections’ to nature. It's how we enhance those connections to natural shapes, forms, colours, materials, and textures … And the third bit that people actually tend to forget about the most is what we call ‘the human spatial response’. It’s actually allowing the spaces where people can have deep, rich, and more emotive connections to those elements of nature.”

One of the most inspiring threads through the conference—and the episode—was how biophilic design naturally links to other important built environment needs: sustainability, urban regeneration, and even social equity. Prof. Geoff Proffitt shared his collaborative work with Hacer on Biophilic Living Swansea, a project in Wales that combines aquaponics, community housing, vertical gardening and education in one city-centre building, explaining:

“Swansea's biophilic village is a really good example of a retrofitted building. The developers have taken on board the whole concept of biophilic design, and they are integrating it into that new building, but also linking it into the development of a community.”

That theme of integration came up again and again. Chloe Bullock, a sustainable interiors specialist and author of RIBA-published ‘Sustainable Interior Design’, talked about how biophilia helped reframe her design philosophy and practice:

“It's basically integrating nature, realizing our interconnectedness to nature and then reintegrating it into your life again … we are nature. I really believe that nature includes humans … It's all part of this sort of lower impact consciousness. It's a compassionate way of working.”

Of course, not everyone subscribes to the idea that biophilia is the answer. Some in the architecture and design world have pushed back against what they see as soft science or subjective claims. Others worry that biophilic design, like sustainability, risks becoming diluted by superficial gestures or greenwashing.

These are fair challenges. As a concept, biophilic design walks a fine line: too vague and it becomes a buzzword open for commercialisation; too rigid and it misses the rich emotional and cultural meanings we attach to place. What grounds it though is research evidence from environmental psychology—and the people bringing that evidence into practice.

That’s why events like the Biophilic Design Conference matter. Organised by the tireless Vanessa Champion, editor of the Journal of Biophilic Design, the event attracted architects, designers, planners, technologists, psychologists, researchers and clients—people who don’t always share the same space. We couldn’t possibly feature every speaker on the podcast episode, but at the conference we sensed an important conversation beginning to take shape. As Vanessa says:

“I've been interviewing people for how many years now with a podcast series, and you just know that the interdisciplinary nature really needs to happen. You know, there's people working in silos, you've got architects, you've got interior designers, you've got planners, you've got architectural technologists and landscape people. But X doesn't talk to Y … it's about inspiring each other, listening to each other, learning from each other, and making spaces better for people and [the] planet.”

Vanessa’s decision to host the conference at The Barbican literally immersed attendees within a classic example celebrating the importance of biophilic design. Barbican resident Matthew Burgess came along to the event. Stood with me beneath a massive cheese plant in the conservatory,  he reflected on the Barbican’s communal gardens:

“They’re not manicured. They’re made as places that people will gain enjoyment from. And I think that, biophilia, at its crux almost, it’s that thing of, it’s not just nature, it is human beings recognizing the benefit of nature and working to bring it back to places where it is not naturally … actually this is part of what makes a good life. Even the City of London knew that”

So in answer to our question: biophilic design might *be* good design—but perhaps it’s also something more. A reminder. A rebalancing. An opportunity for community integration and environmental regeneration. And a return to designing with our full humanity in mind.

Listen to the full episode, available on all podcast platforms: Biophilic design: buzzword or big deal? | a Workplace Geeks Investigation™

Learn more about Bill Browning’s 14 patterns of biophilic design:https://www.terrapinbrightgreen.com/reports/14-patterns/

‍