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Episode 12

Biophilia in Architectural Technology: The Professional Lens with Amelia Chasey MCIAT and Ann Vanner FCIAT | 012

Welcome to Where it's AT | the Architectural Technology Podcast

Amelia Chasey MCIAT and Ann Vanner FCIAT explore the intersection of nature and architecture, discussing the concept of biophilia and its impact on the built environment. They explore how Architectural Technologists can integrate biophilic principles to enhance human well-being, productivity, and ecological sustainability. The conversation covers educational approaches, the influence of biophilic design in various sectors, and the idea of incorporating nature as a key stakeholder in design processes. This episode emphasises the importance of designing spaces that feel alive and support life, from professional practices to personal choices.

Ann Vanner FCIAT is an accomplished Chartered Architectural Technologist, designer, and research consultant. She runs Healing Buildings, a design practice and educational consultancy dedicated to integrating health and wellbeing into architectural practices. With extensive experience in school, university, and research facility design, she is a passionate advocate for the role of nature in the built environment and emphasises the importance of sustainable, health-promoting spaces. Ann is also a Living Futures accredited professional and a seasoned academic, leveraging her diverse expertise to drive industry innovation.

Amelia Chasey MCIAT is a passionate Chartered Architectural Technologist with specialist expertise in Biophilic Design. Driven by both personal and professional experience within the built environment, she is committed to enhancing health and wellbeing through thoughtful, human-centered architectural solutions.

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00:00 Introduction

00:38 Meet the Hosts: Amelia and Ann

01:20 Understanding Biophilia in Architecture

03:35 The Impact of Biophilic Design

05:39 Biophilia in Education and Professional Development

14:11 Research Supporting Biophilia

18:46 Personal and Professional Applications of Biophilia

23:02 Final Thoughts and Takeaways

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See nature as an important part of every building project, right from the start. Instead of thinking about plants or natural features as something to add later, you can make better choices by including nature in your plans and decisions from day one. This way, your designs will be more thoughtful and connected to the world around you.

When you bring natural elements like daylight, fresh air, and greenery into buildings, you help people feel happier, healthier, and more comfortable. These changes can make a big difference in how people work, learn, and live. By thinking about how nature affects people, you can create spaces that are not just useful, but also pleasant and good for wellbeing.

Learning about biophilia and using it in your work is something that matters at every stage, from your first lessons in school to your daily job as a professional. You can keep growing your knowledge and skills by staying curious and open to new ideas. This helps you make better choices in your projects and supports a way of working that cares for both people and the planet.

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Know someone who could benefit from listening?  Subscribe and share this episode with your network.

Know someone with a story to tell or a topic to explore?  Email us at atpodcast@ciat.global to nominate a guest or a topic.

Want to learn more about Architectural Technology, how to progress your career, or how to work with a Chartered AT?  Head to architecturaltechnology.com to find out more

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Podcast recorded and edited by: Jon Clayton [Podcasting]

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Disclaimer

The contents and views expressed by individuals in the Where it's AT podcast are their own, and do not necessarily represent the views of the companies they work for or the Host. This podcast is for informational purposes only and should not be considered as advice.

The episode transcript is AI-generated. Typos or incorrect words may still be present.

Transcript
Speaker:

Ann Vanner FCIAT: You can make sure that every detail contributes

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to a healthier, more restorative environment and that's something

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clients and end users will really feel.

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It's about where nature meets knowledge.

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Architectural Technologists have the power to design buildings

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that truly nurture life.

Adam Endacott:

Welcome to Where it's AT.

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The podcast from CIAT shining a spotlight on the future focused design

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discipline of architectural technology.

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Know someone who could benefit from listening.

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Subscribe and share this episode with your network.

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Amelia Chasey MCIAT: Hello, I'm Amelia Chay, MCI 80, chartered architecture

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technologist and co-founder of the School of Biophilia, and I'll

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be your host for today's episode.

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Joining me is my friend, colleague, and co-founder Anne Vanner, FCI

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80, an educator and passionate advocate for bio food design.

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Anne has a unique way of looking at biophilia, not just as a beautiful

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design principle, but something deeply relevant to architecture,

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Technology influencing how we think, plan and build from the ground up.

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Anne isn't just talking about bringing nature into design.

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She was showing how biophilia could be woven into the very fabric

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of our professional practice as an architecture technologist.

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So let's get started.

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Welcome, Anne.

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Ann Vanner FCIAT: Afternoon.

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Amelia Chasey MCIAT: So for those listening who working all around

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architecture, why do you believe architectural technologists in

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particular need to understand biophilia?

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Ann Vanner FCIAT: So biophilia is a concept, and specifically the

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idea that humans have an innate tendency to seek connections with

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nature and other living things.

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It's a concept that's grounded in research.

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And it's a term that was popularized by the biologist Edward Wilson

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in the 1980s who described it as an evolutionary adaptation.

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Ancestors survived by being attuned with natural environment, so we're hardwired

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to feel better when connected to it.

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Just think about a pond, clear water we're drawn to that,

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where stagnant water were not.

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And it was our sort of ability to understand what was good

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and what was bad for us.

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If we think about architectural technologists, we're the ones

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who turn ideas into reality.

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We take the design vision and make it work technically,

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sustainably and within budget.

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And that's exactly why understanding biophilia is so important.

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Biophilia isn't just about adding plants or a nice view, it's about creating

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spaces that support human wellbeing.

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It's a deep instinctive.

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As a technologist, you're in the perfect position to integrate these principles

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into the nuts and bolts of the project.

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The choice of the material, the way that, uh, light moves around the space,

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how the ventilation works, how we connect the indoors to the outdoors.

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So if you don't understand biophilia, those opportunities

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get lost along the way.

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But if you do, you can make sure that every detail contributes

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to a healthier, more restorative environment and that's something

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clients and end users will really feel.

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It's about where nature meets knowledge.

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Architectural technologists have the power to design buildings

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that truly nurture life.

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Amelia Chasey MCIAT: That's really interesting that you say that

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for biophilia, if you're aware of the concept, it's kind of.

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Everyday knowledge to you.

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But if you're not aware of it, that's, you know, when these principles are lost and

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that's when you see buildings that, um, perhaps could have been designed better

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to bring Bio affiliate and Nature Indoor.

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So what influence can Bio Affiliate Design have on the way

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we shape the built environment?

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Ann Vanner FCIAT: So biophilic design can fundamentally change the way we shape

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the built environment because it shifts the focus from simply housing people or

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creating the spaces where they work or function, uh, to truly supporting them.

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It's about recognizing that we really are hardwired to respond positively

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to nature, and using that knowledge to design spaces that make us happier,

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healthier, and more productive.

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So our eyes are designed to see more green colors than any other shades, and

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we're also designed to see horizontal.

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Spaces more comfortably than vertical.

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'cause we evolve from the Savannah planes.

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So horizontal planes are more comfortable.

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And think about that when you are out and about looking out, out

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over view and things like that.

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There's that sense of calm.

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But then vertical planes and think then in urban environments is where

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we start to feel stress and anxiety.

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And the influence can show up in many ways.

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So how we orientate buildings to maximize the natural light, to create

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the views, how we access the green space.

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And that doesn't just mean physically.

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That could mean, uh, acoustically, it could mean visually to thinking

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about the textures and colors and materials that evoke the natural world.

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So actually using natural materials, more wood-based, thinking

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about sort of patterns and it can inform how we plan cities.

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How we plan houses, uh, and how we approach sort of retrofits as well.

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If we think about the big retrofit issue, not only do we need to think about how

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we retrofit for carbon and for energy, maybe we can at this time also think

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about retrofitting to ensure that, uh, we are embedding biophilic designs into it.

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So when biophilia is embraced, we move away from a sterile, purely functional

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building towards environments that are actually where people want to spend

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time to spaces that feel alive, and that in turn help us feel more alive.

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Amelia Chasey MCIAT: That's interesting.

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So as a previous educator, and you've designed an entire degree

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program rooted in biophilia, how do you see the relationship

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between education and architecture, technology evolving in the future?

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Ann Vanner FCIAT: So for me, education and architectural technology

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are more and more intertwined.

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Uh, it, the, the cycle is getting sort of smaller.

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In the past you went and got your degree and then you went into practice

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and you occasionally sort of topped up your learning with sort of CPDs.

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But that sort of conversation, uh, the learning that needs to happen sort of

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in practice and that cycle of learning is, is more and more intertwined and

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our industries, uh, faces some actually huge challenges, whether that's climate

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change, wellbeing, how we sustain urban growth and things like that.

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We've planned a whole degree of program.

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So we looked at sort of where the nature meets knowledge.

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So mapping out, uh, the whole program, an undergraduate

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program around those principle.

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But we've also looked at mapping out the whole educational

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journey of someone entering the architectural technology profession.

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So thinking about what are they learning at the age of four, what are

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they learning at the age of eight?

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What are they, what is going through their heads when they are making their GCSE

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choices, what, uh, are they doing when they are doing their A levels or their BT

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techs to then like sort of say, looking at how we might introduce biophilia into

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undergraduate programs, but then also what happens once they leave education.

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So the CPDs, the continuous learning that is needed.

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So the idea that we've introduced sort of biophilia to the ongoing professional

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development and not just thinking about sort of new graduates was thinking

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about how we support people already in practice, helping them integrate by feel

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into their daily work, into the project decision making and leadership approaches.

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But when we go back to undergraduate programs, it can show up in many ways.

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So in design, for example, students thinking about how the orientator

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building, how they maximize daylight, thinking about window positionings,

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the size of windows, window openings, framing views, circulation plans that

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allow for movement, encourage movement.

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The buildings that create moments that connect to the outdoors.

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That might be through, like we sort of say through Windows, internal

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courtyards, glimpses through spaces, bringing the outside inside.

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But it also appears in building technology modules where we think about sort of

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materials that we are using, thinking about non-toxic natural materials that

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are much better at regulating temperature and humidity, developing facade strategies

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that respond to seasonal sun paths.

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So where does the sunrise, where does the sunset, what's happening in April?

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Where is it different in October?

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Integrating natural ventilation systems into the building fabrics,

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but also in professional practice.

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So where we might think about post-OC occupation evaluations.

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So if we.

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Implement something like that.

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We need to get much better at understanding the impact of that.

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Our journey tends to end once we get to completion.

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We need to focus a little bit more about how people are using the buildings, are

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they benefiting from it and is that then also having an impact on their wellbeing?

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So did the lighting strategy work, did the air quality strategy work?

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Thinking about the user comfort, but also thinking about how we also might ensure

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that people have a bit more, uh, control over the building that they are in.

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So whe when we're talking about control, about sort of heating,

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lighting, ventilation, uh, but also bringing that sort of back into the

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project, but we don't just stop it.

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So it's the undergraduate level.

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We also run workshops for practices, contractors and clients, both introducing

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sort of just biophilic principles on a very general level, but also then

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just thinking about projects and workshops that, uh, are quite specific.

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So you might have had a client that's come forward and has an interest in this,

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then, uh, we can step into doing this.

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So it's not just about teaching what to design, but why those

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designs matter for people, projects, practice, and the planet ultimately.

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So I see a future as one where architectural technologists are

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not only technically skilled, but are deeply aware of the human and

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ecological impact of their work, and where this awareness is nurtured from

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the first contact with the profession.

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As a 4-year-old through to a lifetime of learning.

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Amelia Chasey MCIAT: So I'm just gonna build on that a bit.

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So we've discussed the degree program, but do you think that

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biophilia fits into every core subject throughout the educational

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system in the UK At the minute?

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Ann Vanner FCIAT: Oh gosh, absolutely.

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Um, I think I think we, we can, um, bring in biophilic in,

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in sort of every part of it.

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So one of the things that we've done within the School of biophilia is

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when we've thought about sort of, uh, the educational sort of process, we

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understand having spoken to a lot of teachers that their curriculum is very

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full, very, uh, they've got a lot to do and we don't want to add to them.

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So our approach within the school of bio feely was to create lesson plans

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that align with the national cu.

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So we've created a lesson plans for how you bring biophilia into, uh, languages.

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So a German class where you are looking at sort of the German words for nature and,

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and trees and things like that, or into geography or into history or into English.

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But it's also, so it's about sort of aligning by feely and, uh, it's

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learning within the curriculum.

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So we're not asking teachers to do something completely different, but

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also those moments where there isn't the formal teaching taking place.

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So I'm thinking about, so those moments in the classroom before

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classes started or in break time, that actually if we, uh, educate the

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educators, but also the students, the learners, about the importance of

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occasionally looking outside at what is happening connecting to nature, taking

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class, taking learning outside, uh.

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I've done now a couple of walking meetings.

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So, uh, taking the meeting out onto, uh, into the park where you are walking allows

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for, uh, a different sort of relationship, uh, and input into those conversations.

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But we've also now started us thinking about bringing nature

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into those conversations.

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So actually having nature as a stakeholder, uh, as actually having nature

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as a thing that sits at the, at the table.

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So when we are discussing the designs, we're thinking, well, you might want

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this, and the client wants that.

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What does nature want?

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What would nature's sort of input be in, in all of this?

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How, how is she going to, so giving nature a voice and a place at the

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table, at the, in the meetings.

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Know someone with a story to tell or a topic to

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explore email atpodcast@ciat.global to nominate a guest or a topic.

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Amelia Chasey MCIAT: Yeah, I like that.

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Especially when you think about the hard conversations you have in

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like offices and things like that.

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By just taking that conversation out, the environment will have such an impact.

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Ann Vanner FCIAT: it, actually came from, uh, speaking to teachers.

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So they have this thing, they have standing meetings.

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So to actually, uh, they only 'cause they only have sort of so

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much time get people in a room, they're having a standing meeting.

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That means they are standing.

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So they are using sort of their body as it should be used.

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It focuses the conversations and means that people can't sort of drift off.

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So when we looked at that, it was like, actually that's quite a good idea.

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Let's take our site meetings outta the site cabin.

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Let's actually wander around the site.

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Let's wander around the site with the clients, with the end users.

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Uh, let's talk to the people who know that site.

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Uh, so yes, uh, just taking a lot of what we're doing inside the

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building, outside the building and, and meeting nature there.

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Amelia Chasey MCIAT: So what research is it that supports

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Biophilia's impact in the practice?

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Ann Vanner FCIAT: Oh, well, I suppose when we, when we speak to professionals,

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uh, we need to think about the evidence.

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And the good news is that there's a growing body of research and case studies

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that show ophelia's measurable impact.

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But if I just take that back a little bit, so there is this concept, the

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thi the 3 3300 rule, and it's a rule that's intended to show a company's

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relative square foot cost across three factors, utility, rent, and people.

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So the example is that if a company spends three pounds on utilities, so

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things like energy, water, and waste, it will typically spend around 30 pounds

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on rent or other building costs, and around 300 on people meaning staff

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salaries, benefits, and related expensive.

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So put it simply, human cost outweighs all other expenses combined, and

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that means even a small improvement in staff wellbeing or productivity

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can have a huge financial impact.

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So in the context of biophilia, the integration of nature into the

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built environment isn't just a nice to have feature, it's becoming a

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strategic driver for healthier, more effective and efficient workplaces.

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But going back to sort of the research that exists I'm just gonna

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be very logical in this workplaces.

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So in office environments, terrapin, terrapin, bright green, found an 8%

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increase in productivity and a 13% boost in wellbeing for staff who had access to

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daylight, greenery, or a view of nature.

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See, and that's been, you can see this now in the edge in Amsterdam.

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Uh, that's often called the world's greenest office or Bloomberg's,

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London's hq, where an open central atrium optimizes daylight and

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natural ventilation strategies.

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As part of the core design, we think about healthcare.

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There's a landmark study of, of hospital patients with the view of trees recovered

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8% faster and needed less pain medication.

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But you see this in examples of the Maggie centers across the uk applying

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this thinking, creating cancer support spaces surrounded by gardens,

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designed with natural light and homemade materials that incorporate

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healing gardens that are visible and support patient and their users.

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Uh, recovery and support.

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Think about retail.

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Uh, again, there is research that shows a 12% increase of retail

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sales when we you focus on natural materials, daylight and greenery.

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So, IKEA in Greenwich, in London has used this principle to integrate, uh,

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daylight filled showrooms, ikea's, rose, those big blue boxes where you have no

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idea what the weather was doing outside.

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But this one sort of flipped it on its head.

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It now has, uh, showrooms filled with natural daylight.

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Um, yeah.

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Landscaped indoor areas, uh, that support biodiversity and invite the co

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consumer to just linger a little bit longer in education classrooms with

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more daylight improve test, students test scores by between s 17 and 18%.

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There's a school in Copenhagen that has huge glass facades to maximize

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daylight and give students the visual access to the surrounding landscape.

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It has an impact on their health wellbeing, inspiring, more creativity,

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and a calmer learning environment.

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Residential can be applied to homes.

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There's a, a development in Sweden where they have an extensive use

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of courtyards, stormwater gardens, daylight, optimizing housing layouts

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that create healthy and connected.

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Uh, neighborhoods, um, hospitality.

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So yeah, it's, it's across the board.

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So we often say that design, that Biophilia isn't just a design philosophy,

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it's a performance driver across the sectors, whether that's workplaces,

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hospitals, retail, residential, hotels, um, connected people, people who are

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connected to nature see measurable gains in wellbeing, productivity,

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community value, and performance.

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Amelia Chasey MCIAT: It really is for everyone then.

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Ann Vanner FCIAT: Absolutely.

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Yes.

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Yeah.

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Across

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Amelia Chasey MCIAT: So was it this evidence that inspired you to view

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bio affiliate, not just as a design tool, but as a design generator?

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Ann Vanner FCIAT: Yes, I suppose the evidence that I've been sort of seeing

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has an impact on my own work that biophilia was, uh, was far greater

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and has, has a greater potential.

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And I know, yes, I do see it now as a design generator, but I see it operating

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at three sort of interconnected scales.

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So I think it has an impact on me, the personal habits I have, the

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mindsets and daily choices I make in my practice in terms of the system,

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the culture, the shared values that we have, that guide design decisions

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and what I do and where I do it.

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And on the projects that we sort of take on, you know, the tangible, technical

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ways that these ideas show up in drawings, specifications, and the built environment.

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But at a personal scale, it was COVID.

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I think that brought it into sharp focus when we were all sent home.

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And the realization for once I could create my own workspace from

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home, uh, that was completely in tune with my own needs, the rhythms

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and what I felt was comfortable.

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So the ability to have, uh, different kinds of lighting, uh, the ability to have

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my desk close to the window, the ability to open a window, the ability to look out

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onto something that was, uh, green and pleasant, a desk that's made outta wood,

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uh, all those sort of things meant that.

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For, for a long, for the first time I realized that the spaces, the, the

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workspaces that had been given to me or I was shown to when I started in

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new places, uh, was actually having a really detrimental impact on the

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way that I thought and did things.

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So I think that for me, that personal sort of scale, but then in, in a, on a

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practice scale, uh, sort of just mentioned it, and it's something that we're trying

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to do a lot more, is have actually having nature as a stakeholder in every decision.

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Imagining that nature is a person that sits at the table, that we need

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to think about their views and ideas.

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So it's not added at the end, it's actually from the beginning,

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which is almost a client.

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It drives our thinking from the first sketch influence, everything

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from spatial orientation to the health of the materials that we use.

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And not how we, a and how, you know, nature systems inspire the form, the

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layouts and material of the building rather than, so like I say, it's thinking

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about those natural systems in terms of.

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You know, the layout and materiality of the building, and it's a

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much, it's much bigger than just asking where can we put plants?

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It's about designing with nature's patterns and processes at the

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core so that the final space feels not just visually appealing, but

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fundamentally better to inhabit.

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So we talk about how, uh, we ask nature to be at the table in sort of decision making

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processes, but also we talk about the journey that a rainwater drop will have.

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So what happens from the moment it hits the roof of a building?

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Where does it go?

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Where does it meet other water?

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What happens to it on the site?

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Can we deal with it on the site?

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One of the other things that, uh, we spend a lot of time talking about is,

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can the buildings function like a tree?

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And the analogy is that a tree provides generates its own energy.

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So why can't buildings do that through the power of the sun?

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That a tree will only take from its surrounding what it needs.

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So they don't, they're not invasive, they don't sort of expand further.

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There are those beautiful images of tree canopies, that sort of wave

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where there's always a little bit of a gap between the different, uh, trees

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that a tree will decay at the end of its life once it's no longer needed.

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Why can't our buildings sort of decay?

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Uh, and a tree will deal with, uh, rainwater it, you know, it catches

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it, it takes it down to its roots.

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It recycles the water that comes onto its sort of site.

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So can tree, can we learn from what is happening in nature and bring

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that within the built environment?

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Amelia Chasey MCIAT: That's a good message.

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I like it.

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Ann Vanner FCIAT: Thank you.

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Amelia Chasey MCIAT: So before we wrap up, is there one message

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that you'd like every architecture technologist listening to take away?

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Ann Vanner FCIAT: Oh, uh, it's probably not one message but I'm gonna ask people

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to treat nature as a stakeholder in every project, not as an afterthought

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or a backdrop, but as an active partner shaping the decisions from day one.

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This isn't about sort of a nice, have at the end of it.

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And if you can start with that mindset that every choice you make, whether it's

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the orientation of the building or the orientation of a window to where the

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materials have come from, can contribute to spaces that are healthier, more

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sustainable, and simply better to be in.

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And this is exactly where our profession, through the CIAT comes

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into its own as Chartered Architectural Technologists, we bridge design

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creativity with technical precision, sustainability and buildability.

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We don't just imagine better spaces, we translate ideas into practical,

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buildable, and that has an impact on the performance for people and the planet.

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So yes, people need to think about nature being, um, a

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stakeholder when you are designing.

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Amelia Chasey MCIAT: And thanks so much for being here, for sharing our

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story throughout the professional lens.

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And to our listeners, thank you for joining us today.

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You've been listening to where it's at.

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A huge thanks to our guests and to you for listening.

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Want to learn more about architectural technology, how to progress your

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career, or how to work with a chartered architectural technologist?

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Head to architectural technology.com to find out more.

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The contents and views expressed by individuals in the where it's at

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podcasts are their own and do not necessarily represent the views of the

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companies they work for or the host.

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This podcast is for informational purposes only and should

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not be considered as advice.

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About the Podcast

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Where it's AT - the Architectural Technology podcast
The Architectural Technology podcast from CIAT. Celebrating the diversity of Architectural Technology, one episode at a time.

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Chartered Institute of Architectural Technologists CIAT

CIAT is a dynamic, forward-thinking, inclusive global membership qualifying body for AT. The only international body permitted to award the regulated and protected qualification, Chartered Architectural Technologist and protected designations MCIAT or FCIAT. This status recognises the distinct nature of AT discipline. Architectural Technology (AT), the technology of Architecture. A creative and innovative design discipline; integrates architecture, science, technology and engineering. AT forms the link between concept, innovation and realisation of a building or structure.
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