Stephen Kellert (professor of Social Ecology) helped pioneer the concept of biophilic design, an emerging field that promotes improved health and wellbeing by creating connections between people and nature.
Our inherent connection with nature, forged during our evolutionary development, plays a central role in our capacities to think, feel, communicate, create, and find meaning in life.
There have been numerous studies over the last 35 years on the benefits of Biophilic design and improving our connection with nature, these are:
Homes: can become more calming & restorative, with 7-8 % less crime attributed to areas with access to nature and can command an increase of 4-5% in property price.
Office design: productivity can be increased by 8%, rates of well-being up by 13%, increases in creativity, with reduced absenteeism and presenteeism
Hospitality design: Guests willing to pay 23% more for rooms with views of Biophilic elements
Education spaces: increased rates of learning 20-25%, improved test results, concentration levels and attendance, reduced impacts of ADHD
Healthcare spaces: post-operative rates of recovery reduced by 8.5%, reduced pain medication by 22%
Retail: the presence of vegetation & landscaping has been found to increase average rental rates on retail spaces with customers indicating they were willing to pay 8-12 % more for goods and services.