The BRE Foundation Space

Biophilic design in the workplace has been shown to increase productivity by 15 percent, increase creativity, improve staff retention and crucially reduce absenteeism and presenteeism – potentially saving businesses thousands of pounds. 

But the question remains how best to implement Biophilic Design to create the highest return on investment? 

The BRE carried out 1 year of monitoring of its staff in their Watford Campus office, specifically the first floor of a 1980s concrete frame building (B18), to provide pre-refurbishment data. 

Data was gathered using a combination of questionnaires, cognitive tests, and physiological measures. The following measurements were also taken on both buildings:

• IEQ, including indoor air quality (IAQ), temperature, relative humidity and ventilation

• daylight and artificial lighting

• acoustic environments

• occupant wellbeing and performance.

Some of the pre-refurbishment results, as found in their report, were as follows:

• Concentrations of CO2 were found to rise above the CIBSE recommended limit of 1000ppm for substantial periods in the afternoon on workdays, especially in the smaller meeting rooms

• 45.7% in the test group rated the temperature as ‘uncomfortable’ or ‘very uncomfortable’

• 25% of the test group reported that they do not go outside at all during the working day, and most reported only going out once a day

OHD created a Biophilic Design strategy for the study, to involve three tiers of intervention to test out:

• The first tier focused on the low-cost elements that staff can input themselves such as desk plants.

• The second involved more detailed design considerations, such as cladding walls in timber and fitting Biomimetic Interface carpet tiles.

• Finally, the third tier of intervention incorporated more technologically advanced features, such as green walls, biomimetic flooring, acoustic soundscapes and circadian lighting systems designed to mimic natural lighting to improve staff sleep patterns and cognitive functioning.