Innovative biophilic designed buildings

Innovative biophilic designed buildings
With Teresa Mayerhofer + Rodelle Lee

Despite evidence suggesting that human connection to nature makes people happier and healthier – e.g. spending time in a forest has been shown to lower stress levels and blood pressure while boosting immune function – Australian’s spend 90 per cent of their time indoors.

In an urban world centred around technology, this fundamental connection can sometimes feel lost, however, Biophilic design is showcasing innovative ways designers can help humans harness this affinity by creating natural environments for us to live, work and learn. By consciously including nature in interior or architectural design, we are unconsciously reconnecting; bringing the great outdoors into our constructed world.

Below, our Design Lead, Rodelle Lee, and Assistant Developer Manager, Teresa Mayerhofer, share their top five most innovative biophilic designed buildings around the globe.

RODELLE’S PICKS:

Bosco Verticale (Milan, Italy)
Designed by Boeri Studio, this vertical forest consists of two towers with over 15,000 trees and plants, covering its exterior. Increasing biodiversity, it promotes an urban ecosystem that can be inhabited by birds and insects, whilst bringing flora and fauna back to the city. Cleverly, this design is an anti-sprawl method helping to control and reduce urban expansion.

PARKROYAL on Pickering (Singapore)
Completed in 2013, WOHA Architects conceived the PARKROYAL as a hotel-as-garden, doubling the green-growing potential of the site. Embracing sky gardens, cascading tropical plants that are enveloped by frangipani and palm trees, these gardens are cantilevered every fourth level.

Almost as though a fixture of the adjoining park, these gardens are an expression of the architect’s desire to avoid generic design often seen in large metropolis like Singapore.

TERESA’S PICKS:

The Eden Project (Cornwall, UK)
A series of complex artificial biodomes, The Eden Project was designed by Grimshaw Architects and contains thousands of plants collected from around the world.

Emulating a natural biome, one dome replicates a tropical environment, while the second recreates a Mediterranean environment. Conceived to explore human’s relationship with Earth and plants, the structure consists of plastic cells reinforced by steel frames.

Mirror Cube: Treehouse Hotel (Sweden)
Designed by Tham & Videgård, this project is one in a series of tree hotels located nearby the small village of Harads, close to the Arctic Circle. An aluminium structure suspended on a tree trunk, the mirrored glass exterior reflects the forest’s trees and sky resulting in a camouflaged escape from everyday life.