As you’ve probably noticed yourself, incorporating nature into our built environment can go a long way in reducing stress, improving cognitive function and creativity as well as generally boosting our wellbeing.
These perks of biophilic design — as it’s called in the world of architecture — have also been key to designing a recently completed project called One of the Kids, a nature-inspired campus for children who have autism.
In preparation for the projects, interior designers from Runa Workshop first had to educate themselves on how to best suit the needs of the children. They needed to ensure that the final design provides a safe haven where kids are encouraged to grow through learning, creating, and playing in a comforting and calming environment.
To achieve this, they incorporated biophilic design and brought in strong connections to nature with natural light and materials that resembled those components, while also keeping in mind the project’s tight budget.
The nature-oriented design features a cost-effective oriented strand board, large windows, and green paint, all of which have been used to strengthen a connection to the natural environment.
“Nature has been proven to promote healing, so we incorporated biophilic design to help us achieve this connection,” the designers at Runa Workshop explained.
“We maximized the amount of natural light in each therapy room and incorporated a view of nature or green space to tie back into the concept. The design allowed for a large space where children can interact with water and ‘grass’ in a well-lit space while burning off excess energy so they can better focus in their therapy sessions,” they added.
Image source: Archello
