Designing environments that enhance well-being through the principles of environmental neuroscience
By Rose Morrison, managing editor of Renovated.
Architectural psychology is a technique builders use to craft intentional spaces that support well-being, sustainability and creativity. It leverages neuroscience, discovering what is good for the mind and body. Then, experts apply what they find out as a construction technique. What does this look like, and how does this make spaces more harmonious to be in?
What Is Neuroarchitecture?
Neuroarchitecture is a field within design. It researches how built environments impact the mind and body. The study is interdisciplinary, requiring insights from psychologists, engineers, architects, interior designers and specialists in related fields. Their knowledge combined reveals how spaces impact mood, well-being and behaviors.
These are some of the factors experts consider when thinking about architectural psychology:
- Lighting
- Building materials
- Colors
- Soundscapes and noise pollution
- The amount of visual stimuli
- Access to nature and green spaces
Professionals use this knowledge to create spaces that make people feel happier and healthier. It is pivotal to human-centric design, which supports positive living conditions through architectural choices. Every building project team should be mindful of how their design may support those who visit and live within the space — psychologically informed blueprints make this possible.
The Impacts of Neuroarchitecture
Construction workers combine neuroscience and architecture in hopes of achieving these results.
Enhanced Learning Spaces
Many schools are rapidly deteriorating. The derelict appearance could make students feel more resistant to attending classes. Appealing to students’ psychologies will encourage them to learn. In Greensboro, North Carolina, Guilford County’s Signature Career Academies incorporated neuroarchitecture. It used more textures, curves, mood lighting and technology to promote creativity and critical thinking, profoundly considering students’ needs.
Improved Health Care Environments
Hospital spaces are known for their sterile and sometimes bland atmospheres. The bland, neutral aesthetic can make patients feel unwelcome and more stressed, making recovery more challenging. Builders can make calmer spaces to enhance healing by using neuroarchitecture strategies, keeping the environment more sterile and more cozy, comforting and welcoming. Patients with a level mind and resilient composure in these conditions may have a greater chance of faster recovery.
Increased Workplace Productivity
Imagine an office with no windows. Cubicles may seem claustrophobic, gray and drab, because decoration may seem distracting or there’s just no budget for decor. Using neuroscience and architecture principles and following psychologist guidelines, designers can opt for open floor plans to give employees some visual appeal without having to overspend on interior decorating. According to neuroarchitecture guidelines, when people see their colleagues, they may feel more inclined to collaborate creatively. Allowing people to customize and adapt the space to their needs and projects can also improve employees’ morale.
Enhanced Stress Reduction in Urban Environments
Mental health crises are on the rise across the globe. This concerning trend is yet another reason why builders and designers should be inspired to create calmer spaces with lots of natural light and minimal clutter to encourage peace. Households could make mental health spaces for their family with simple rearrangements and tidying.
Improved Wayfinding and Navigation
Feeling lost could make the body feel anything from anxious to nauseous. Clear navigation and signage prevent these responses from occurring, and this falls well within the neuroarchitecture realm. Accessible, easy-to-find wayfinding signals make cities and buildings more intuitive, especially in crowded locations like public transport hubs.
Increased Social Interaction
Complex designs with many barriers or walls make the mind feel closed off from the rest of the world. Consider how a household with open doors feels more inviting than closed-off spaces. Shopping centers, banks, museums, parks and more can promote interactivity using neuroscience and architecture, encouraging engagement and interaction.
Accentuated Personalized Sensory Experiences
Spaces should consider people of all abilities, backgrounds and demographics. Considering psychological factors will help architects create environments better suited for more individuals, particularly those whose sensory experiences are more powerful. These include children, individuals with sensory processing differences and older adults who feel overwhelmed or overstimulated more easily. Experts can use neuroarchitecture to tailor places for them.
Enhanced Restorative Environments
Neuroscience and architecture encourage creating peaceful or chill spaces. Zones like meditation rooms in manufacturing facilities or covered patios in a retirement home are amazing resources for people who need mental and physical relief. It gives them access to quiet areas and green spaces with minimal resistance.
Emphasized Sustainable and Biophilic Design
Builders should try to incorporate more plant life in designs, indoors and outdoors. Recent research using artificial intelligence suggests that biophilic elements produce positive psychophysiological responses in humans. The surroundings make environments more attentive to human needs by improving atmospheric conditions and enhancing color compositions.
General Techniques Used by Construction Workers
Architects, designers and construction professionals use these neuroaesthetic strategies to appeal to people’s minds.
Incorporating Natural Light
Humans crave sunlight, so architects incorporate as many windows and skylights as possible. These make internal environments brighter, which reduces depression and heightens alertness. Light therapy is a common prescription for many who frequently live or work in dark spaces, and it helps 40%-60% of patients. People could eliminate this entirely by incorporating more sunlight into the home.
Using Natural Materials
Exposure to organic elements more regularly can make people feel more grounded. Wood, stone and bamboo are examples. These are better than artificial-looking tiles or furniture covered in layers of muted paint.
Making Green Spaces
Natural areas are not exclusive to the outdoors. Architects can install indoor gardens, living walls and built-in hydroponics to expose residents to more flora. Outdoor installations are just as important, with green roofs, small water bodies and flower gardens some of the most joyful.
Green spaces like rain gardens serve an additional purpose. Landscapers place them between six and 12 inches below the ground with plants and mulch on top. The penetration controls water runoff and boosts stormwater quality.
Refining Acoustics
Overexposure to noise pollution can alter the central nervous system, cognitive function and inflammatory responses. Therefore, incorporating soundproofing or sound-absorption technologies lowers acoustics to manageable levels. It makes buildings more tranquil.
Choosing Colors Intentionally
Experts describe the impact of color theory, saying, “Colors speak a silent language we all understand. Warm hues can inspire conversation and comfort, while cool tones might enhance concentration and calm.” Careful color choices can make people feel more relaxed.
Boosting Airflow
Managing internal conditions also changes psychophysiological responses. Poor air quality drastically affects comfort, leading to scratchy throats and itchy eyes. Advanced ventilation is vital for making areas feel clean and safe to be in. It can lower the risk of infection while lowering the building’s negative environmental impact by spreading fewer pollutants.
Reducing Visual Clutter
Consider how a line of sight could reduce confusion and stress in a space. People can clearly see what is coming around the corner and know how occupants interact with the room. Reduce anxiety by using open blueprints.
Leveraging Fractals
Fractals are naturally occurring shapes, appearing as splashes of light or constantly falling snowflakes. These patterns can be small or large, making spaces more visually interesting. Fractals repeat, which gives rooms a coherency and intrigue that other minimalist approaches lack.
One study explored fractals impact on the mind. It could reduce stress and enhance productivity in many applications. The researcher stated, “[Architecture] almost ties into a culture’s view of the universe because fractals have to do with a part of a whole that is also the whole of its parts.” The study further implies how people find comfort in patterns and geometry, which shows the importance of including this in the construction and design of spaces.
Harmonious Spaces in the Real World
These are shining neuroarchitecture examples and their impact on residents and visitors.
Google Headquarters in Silicon Valley, U.S.
World-class innovators reside and flourish in Silicon Valley, so the buildings need to encourage continued progress and imagination. Google’s Headquarters have open areas, quiet spaces and plenty of room to move around. These facilitate movement, interactivity and productivity through conversation and collaboration.
The Spheres in Seattle, U.S.
The Spheres in Seattle are structures that use 40,000 plants from cloud forests to make one of the world’s best examples of biophilic architecture. The soothing curved lines, plentiful windows and copious greenery make this an ideal place to feel creative and connected with nature. It also blends the organic world with built infrastructure, showing people how it can blend to boost well-being and community.
Maggie’s Cancer Care Centres, UK
Those being treated for cancer need a space that helps them build emotional and mental resilience. Maggie’s Cancer Care facilities in the UK are exploring a new way to treat patients. It contrasts the stereotypical clinical care facility with an alternative that is more open and bright. Its many locations experiment with unique indoor and outdoor architectural elements, including natural materials.
They have received widespread acclaim for their innovativeness, so much so the Carnegie Museum of Art in Pittsburgh highlighted them in an exhibition. It expressed the founder’s hope that cancer patients should exist in spaces where they do not “lose the joy of living in the fear of dying.”
Bibliotheca Alexandrina, Egypt
The Library of Alexandria is one of Earth’s most visually stunning buildings. Its exterior is reflective, making it bounce light around the environment. Its interesting shape causes shadows to warp around it throughout the day, creating a mystique that makes visitors curious and eager to discover what is inside.
This massive structure uses numerous neuroaesthetic elements, including natural materials, innumerable skylights and sightlines to make everyone’s experience there feel comforting.
The Impact of Environmental Neuroscience on Architecture
Environmental psychology, architecture and sustainability are seemingly disparate concepts tied by their connection to construction. Thoughtful spaces leverage these ideas to support human health and happiness. Learning about these spaces can help people spend more time in locations that support their goals and wellness.
About the Author
Rose is the managing editor of Renovated and has been writing in the construction, landscaping and sustainable building sectors for over six years. She’s most passionate about improving environments, reducing carbon footprints and incorporating resourceful methods to promote well-being in the planet. For more from Rose, you can follow her on Twitter and connect on LinkedIn.