It has been documented that exposure to and immersion in the natural world can be incredibly beneficial for our physical and mental wellbeing. With the places we live, work and learn becoming more urbanised, it is important to provide pockets of natural space and integration of natural elements within our buildings.
Biophilic design is a concept that takes specific patterns observed in nature and applies them to urban and architectural design. These can be as obvious as using natural materials and patterns, or more subtle such as providing diversity in lighting, airflow and volume of spaces.
Geelong’s Green Spine project along Malop Street is an attempt of adding a micro dose of nature into an urban centre. Whilst it is unique and has some merits, many improvements could be made, which this design-research project attempted to address using biophilic design principles.
The end proposal has some practical issues due to extreme design solutions, however it highlights that there are many small biophilic design elements that can be considered that will benefit the end user. Be it adding detail to a façade, water features or layered vegetation, there is plenty that can be done to improve our urban spaces.
Ellen Phillips – Select Architects
