Making the office an attractive place to work can often involve Biophilic Design. This provides many advantages to the environment.
What is Biophilic Design?
Biophilic design brings the outside in, using natural elements or nature-inspired materials to create workspaces that feel calming, restorative and inspiring. It’s not about turning your office into a jungle, but about recreating the emotional benefits we get from natural environments; a sense of calm, curiosity, safety and discovery. This might come through organic textures, earthy colours or shapes that mimic nature.
The beauty of biophilic design is its flexibility. You don’t need to overhaul the entire office - a single corner, meeting pod or breakout space can have a big impact. Even small changes can boost mood, reduce stress, and improve concentration.
The benefits?
- Improved wellbeing and mental health
- Reduced stress and fatigue
- Increased productivity and focus
- Enhanced creativity and job satisfaction
- A more welcoming, engaging environment for both staff and visitors
In short, biophilic design makes your workspace feel more human.
In our previous blog we looked at Moss Walls, so the space could be quite condensed but still very rewarding.
Examples of Biophilic Design
Bringing the outside in:
One of the most effective ways to connect indoor spaces with nature is through access to natural light; think windows, skylights, or even repositioning the office layout to maximise daylight and external views. Whilst structural changes like installing skylights can be more complex, BGF&I can help with thoughtful planning of your office footprint.
Plants are a simple and powerful way to blur the line between indoors and outdoors. Features like living walls or moss walls offer lush, expansive greenery that’s not just beautiful but also boosts wellbeing and improves air quality. Even smaller touches like succulents on desks or planters on top of mid-height storage units can transform the atmosphere.
Added Bonus: those planters also double up as natural space dividers.
Don’t underestimate the power of ventilation. Opening a window brings fresh air, natural sounds and the subtle scents of the outside world into the office helping people feel more awake, focused and connected to their environment.
Mimicking natural patterns, colours and textures:
You don’t always need real plants or raw materials to create a nature-inspired space. By using patterns, textures and colours found in the natural world like soft curves, fractals or organic geometrics you can evoke the calming, grounding effect of nature in clever, unexpected ways.
Layered textured flooring, wall graphics and coverings and fabric finishes can carve out quiet, reflective zones within busy workspaces. Even acoustic screens and glazed partitions can be designed to echo natural elements bringing in both visual and sensory calm without compromising on practicality.
Flooring is one of the most versatile canvases for texture but we can also extended this approach to work surfaces, desks and tables, adding tactile interest where people interact most.
Using natural materials:
Modern workspace design increasingly favours natural materials like wood, stone, cork and recycled finishes over synthetic alternatives such as plastic or polished metal. These materials don’t just look and feel better, they also support sustainability and well-being.
There’s growing momentum around using recycled and responsibly sourced products not just for floors and walls, but also for desks, worktops, and other high-touch surfaces. These materials add warmth, texture, and authenticity to a space creating an environment that feels grounded, calm, and human.
Biophilic Design: the Benefits
Nature Makes Us Feel Good
Whether your office is filled with lush living plants or simply mimics nature through colour, texture, or pattern the effect is the same: a more harmonious, uplifting workspace that supports emotional wellbeing.
A healthy emotional state isn’t just a “nice to have” it’s been linked to greater life satisfaction, higher happiness levels and even better learning and cognitive performance. And when people feel better, they think better fueling creativity, focus and productivity.
Introduce nature and the outcome will be the same; a more attractive work space which will lift the spirts and improve the working environment.
Having a healthy state of emotional wellbeing has been linked to an overall increased quality of life, improved happiness and even improves learning performance all of which assists with creativity and productivity.
- Natural light and greenery reduce stress and eye strain
- Fresh air improves cognitive function and mood
- Biophilic touches support mental health and productivity
- Plants and natural views create a more inviting, energising space
Supporting emotional wellbeing helps people feel more connected fostering a stronger sense of belonging, team spirit, and collaboration. This is especially important in today’s hybrid and often fragmented work culture, where isolation can impact morale and productivity.
Living plants offer far more than visual appeal. They actively purify the air, reduce toxins, and help balance humidity counteracting the drying effects of heating and air conditioning systems. On top of that, plants also absorb sound, enhancing a space’s acoustic comfort and creating a calmer, more focused atmosphere for everyone.
The result? A healthier, happier, more connected workplace, naturally. Exeter University published a paper on productivity and plants.
BGF&I and Biophilic Design
Positive Spaces Make People Happier and at BGF&I we aim to achieve this for all our clients.
However big or small your project is, contact us to talk about how we can improve your workspace.
Call 01865 920220 or sales@bgfi.co.uk
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