The School of Biophilia: Connecting Nature, Design, and Wellbeing with Ann Vanner FCIAT and Amelia Chasey MCIAT | 011

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Amelia Chasey MCIAT: It's a really deep rooted need within us that we have to

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satisfy as humans to function in life.

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So it's definitely more than a design trend.

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It should be part of every aspect of the built environment.

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So when I'm detailing a building, when I'm thinking about the

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lifecycle of the building, Biophilic design is part of that.

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It's not a luxury, it's part of Architectural Technology.

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And it should be woven into every part of life.

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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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Ann Vanner FCIAT: Hello, I'm Ann Vanner chartered architectural

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technologist, architect, educator, and a co-founder of The School of Biophilia.

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And I'm your host for today's episode.

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Joining me is the other co-founder Amelia Chasey and we'll be taking a

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closer look at the story that sparked Amelia's passion for biophilic design

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and how this experience has shaped her vision, her work, her belief in

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biophilia as a movement for change.

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So let's get started.

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Welcome, Amelia.

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Amelia Chasey MCIAT: Hi, how are you?

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Ann Vanner FCIAT: I'm not so bad.

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Thank you.

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For those who might not be familiar with, uh, the term biophilia, can

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you explain what it is please?

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Amelia Chasey MCIAT: Yes.

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So biophilia is the idea that humans have this innate and biological tendency

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within them to seek that connection with nature and other living things.

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Put quite simply, it explains why you prefer a view out the window.

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You feel really degraded and stuck when you're indoors

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and there's not any windows.

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It's not just a belief system like a religion or philosophy.

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It's more than that.

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it's grounded in research from biology, psychology, and environmental design.

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And the term was popularised by a biological Edward O. Wilson in the 1980s.

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He first described it as an evolutionary adaptation, and our

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ancestors survived this by being attuned to natural environments.

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So we're hardwired feel better when we are connected to them.

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Ann Vanner FCIAT: That's interesting.

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Could you just dig into that just a little bit more, possibly some examples

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of how it impacts us as people.

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Amelia Chasey MCIAT: Yeah, so biophilia, the research behind it

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explains that having that connection to nature and satisfying that urge

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within us to be close to nature.

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Nature can be things like natural lighting, views of nature.

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It can also be symbols of nature within your furnishings and things like that.

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And it doesn't just make you feel good on the surface.

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It deep down kind of affects your rhythms within you.

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It makes you feel good.

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It makes you sleep better.

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It is proven to improve health and wellbeing.

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And it's also gone on to the point of patients who have a view of

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nature are recovering quicker from illnesses and things like that.

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So it really affects every aspect of our life, and it's something that

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as modern technology has developed, we've become more disconnected with.

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So tapping back into that aspect of nature and biophilia is satisfying

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that biological need within us and makes us happier overall and

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improves our health and wellbeing.

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Ann Vanner FCIAT: That's fascinating.

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So go on.

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Where did your journey to the school of Biophilia begin?

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Amelia Chasey MCIAT: So I first enrolled at university to study architecture

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technology over 10 years ago now.

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And with you as my director of studies and course leaders, architecture, technology.

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And back then I was really interested in that wide picture, the built

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environment and more than just designing a building for its sole purpose.

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So when I first studied, for architecture technology, I was suffering with

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a chronic pain illness and I'd had a really severe spinal injury.

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So at that point in my life, I was classed as food disabled.

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I was relying on a walking stick and um, a wheelchair, and I was relying on

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other pupils and students to kind of help me around the built environment

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and to just navigate everyday life.

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The more I learned about the built environment, they also pushed on my own

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personal journey of how I was experiencing the built environment, whilst also

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studying about architectural technology.

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So it really motivated me to keep pushing that research.

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And it was as part of my final studies project that I was looking

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at the benefits of artificial and natural lighting on patients within

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hospitals and other environments.

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So when you first enter a hospital and it's that really stark white

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environment, that can feel quite daunting.

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And it can also be like a trigger point to a lot of people.

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They, you know, they avoid the doctors, they avoid the dentists, and a lot of that

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is down to the environment they're in.

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It's not so much the treatment or things like that are happening, but to

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even go and have an appointment with their GP can feel really overwhelming.

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So it was looking at how you first enter the built environment and how

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that lighting hits you and how you suddenly respond to that environment

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different within that first few seconds of being in the building.

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So that's, that then led me on to doing a master's in arts and health.

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And in that I specialized research in biophilic design and

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end of life care environments.

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So similar to chronic pain and end of life care, they're both illnesses that you

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are kind of at the end of your treatment, you are maybe not receiving treatment

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within a hospital and you are relying on other holistic and health therapies.

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So that could be physio, that could be meditation, mindfulness, any of that.

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And I think a lot of that comes back into the built environment

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and using the built environment and aspects of arts and architecture

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to help you respond to treatment.

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So biophilia leaves on more than just nature and the environment.

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It really taps into how biophilia can be used to improve a person's pain.

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And I felt that really helped me on my journey.

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And that then led to, um, more research into biophilia design and

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different people's use of biophilia within the built environment.

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So from the relationship that I had, um, 10 years ago of being a student,

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it led to the School of Biophilia about educating and inspiring

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other people about biophilia.

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And I think it's really, the message is really simple, that

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biophilia is for everyone.

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You know, it's really important in the early years when babies are just born

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and that again, they're under that really stark bright light through to end of life

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care where people's mobility is limited.

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And relying on, you know, the, their immediate surroundings to engage

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them throughout the day and to not go crazy like some people feel

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because they are just sat in a room.

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With not a lot of visual engagement or sensory engagement, and that's

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when people started to decline.

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So that is how we got to school of biophilia, and we were on the mission of

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bringing nature into everybody's life.

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Ann Vanner FCIAT: That's fascinating.

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It's a bit like when you go to the dentist, isn't it?

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It's, you understand that there is a possibility of pain, but actually

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the environment itself is stressful.

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Uh, whether that's about, uh, seeing sort of the equipment or then uh, just the

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sounds of, uh, the drills and what have you, and if you can sort of, uh, start

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to address that, that must be fabulous.

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So in what ways can the built environment hinder or support a person's health?

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I mean, you've talked very much about your own personal experience.

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Could you just sort of expand on that and, and talk about it, I suppose from

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the concept or the idea of the sort of the school of biophilia, but what we're sort

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of trying to do, but how it sort of will impact people's, uh, health and wellbeing.

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Amelia Chasey MCIAT: So since COVID, a lot of people are obviously working

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from home, but when you look at the large picture of it, by the time you're

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40, you spent about 36 years indoors.

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So that could be in an office, it could be in your home office.

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And a lot of people now, their home offices are just their spare bedrooms.

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So they've got quite a small window.

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Um, they haven't got any light, they haven't got a good setup, so.

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When you think about the amount of time you're spent spent indoors

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and how that has an effect on you.

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So that can be your air quality within the room.

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It can be the light or thermal airflow and variability and

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shadows and things like that.

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It can be really motivating to be in a really amazing space and it really

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affects your creativity and productivity whilst you're working, but it can also

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make you feel really poorly and unwell.

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So if you think about your day, whether it's in the office or at

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home, how do you feel when you go into your workspace in the morning?

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You know, are you happy, you excited?

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And how does that change throughout the day?

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So a lot of people get to half five and they feel like run a marathon whilst

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they've just been sitting at a desk.

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So for me, we shouldn't feel like that in our buildings.

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You know, you can have a hard day, but you can still have, your building

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can still be really good, important for you in how you act in the day.

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So I think Biophilia is for everyone, and it's something that should be taught

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as part of architecture, technology and architecture that we should be creating

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healthy healing and biophilic buildings.

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Um, and as over the years where the building regulations and things like

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that have changed to improve the structure and stability of buildings,

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but then it's also brought up other problems, um, with airflow lighting,

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overlighting and things like that.

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So for me, biophilic design is a full lifecycle, I suppose, view of the built

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environment that affects everyone.

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So it's not just the person sat at their desk, it's the cleaner who comes

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in the evening when the lighting's different, everything's turned off.

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It's how different people affect the building.

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And as designers, we need to think about that.

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And for me, biophilic design is the only tool that really taps into

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all your senses and, um, different ways that you use a building.

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Ann Vanner FCIAT: Yeah, you, you talk about sort of senses.

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It's something we don't, uh, really talk about, is it?

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So how we actually design for our senses.

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I always get very excited about how we don't design for our ears.

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And going back to the dentist, uh, analogy, while I can sit in the

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dentist chair and close my eyes so I don't see what's happening,

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I can't switch my ears off.

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Uh, yes.

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Yeah.

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Amelia Chasey MCIAT: So.

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that's really interesting actually, just leading back to that.

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So when you think about different environments like um, nurseries,

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which are so overcrowded with noise and children feel so overstimulated,

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tapping into that and changing the sensory and noise environment can

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really crucial to the development.

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That also then goes back to patients end of life care who are, would love some

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noise, and you find that usually you have the TV on in the background or the

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radio, but they aren't engaging with it.

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It's just background noise.

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But with biophilic design, if we could provide an aspect to

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the built environment that.

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It isn't dead silence and isn't machines beeping, but is a noise

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that is sympathetic to the person in that room and that kind of sparks

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curiosity or memories in that person.

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That's when you start to get more involvement from the user in the building.

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Ann Vanner FCIAT: Let's see.

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We did, uh, a dementia walk, uh, around Preston, and we were looking at the

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sonic, uh, environment in that sort of space and how, um, sounds have

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a, a, they can unlock memories, uh, and how the sonic environment over

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those sort of decades has changed.

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So the older people were talking about the different sounds that the cars used

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to make or the, the trams used to make and how those have sort of changed.

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And then if we also then think about sort of people, uh, with

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neurodivergent, how they sort of respond to that, that the urban environment

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must be a very, very sort of scary space, uh, for things like that.

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Amelia Chasey MCIAT: It is.

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And I think that's when you get people kind.

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Reclusion into the built environment, but the built environment they've

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kind of brought themselves into isn't satisfying that need either.

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So it's getting the balance for the individual and the the user.

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Ann Vanner FCIAT: I suppose it goes back to that conversation though, about

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agency as well, about people having the ability to interact with their

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building, so to be able to create an acoustic environment that they're happy

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with, or the ability to move to a space.

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I'm thinking about people working the ability to sort of sit in a

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busy coffee shop when you need that kind of stimulation or to find a

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quiet space when you need to head down and, and actually get on with

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some work and things like that.

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But if we just go back to sort of the idea behind the sort of school of biophilia.

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What are we trying to do there?

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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: We are trying to make biophilia inclusive to everyone

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and to educate everyone about biophilia.

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So we've.

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Define ourselves as a school of biophilia because it is an educational process

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and we don't just mean people in school.

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We also want to educate pe I think there's a generation from the school to the

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elderly that is really important here.

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You know, people who are already working and in the office who are wondering,

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why do I feel like this in the building?

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Why do I come home feeling drained and exhausted?

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Is it the job or is it the office you're sat in all day?

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So at the School of Biophilia, we produce CPDs workshops, activities, helpful

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tips and tricks for everyone so that everyone is learning what biophilia is.

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So I think it's really important for offices.

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Like I said, people learn differently and they work differently.

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And there's different parts of the day.

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So I know at three o'clock I need fresh air, a bit of sun, and I need a

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coffee and I need to break the day up.

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And I know from biophilic design how I use the building that I'm in each day.

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But not everyone knows that.

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So I think what we offer is, one, the conversation to open up and discuss how

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different people work and to provide that insight to the HR and higher up in the

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companies about what staff want and need.

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And also then providing the research that provide in this choice and change

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in the built environment for the user has such good, you know, results of how

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people are working and their productivity.

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So if people can tap into their weaknesses and peaks in the day,

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they're getting more outta the day and achieving better results.

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So I think it's, it's looking at the built environment for everyone, as I've said.

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But we are, we have a catalog of resources for so many different people

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that we've got something for everyone.

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Ann Vanner FCIAT: And is there evidence that supports this belief?

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I'm, I'm just wondering about those people who might feel that this is a

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bit woo woo or a bit sort of out there.

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Amelia Chasey MCIAT: There is an overwhelming amount of research, and I

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think at the minute, biophilic design kind of sits within the built environment

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the holistic therapies, and it doesn't really have its space at the minute.

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So it's a term that is discussed and, you know, nature, why nature's

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this and everyone knows that.

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But I think there's still a bit of a taboo subject in why it's so important

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and, you know, it is not a joke.

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Having healthy and heal healing buildings and being in a building all day and

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working, thinking about what that does for your health, it's such an important topic.

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Um, so not just for office workers.

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So as I mentioned before, um, there's research about improved hospital stays

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and how you respond to treatment.

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So for people who are at the end of life.

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They respond to treatment better when they've had biophilic design and nature

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brought into their built environment.

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So for me, my, when I first started researching biophilic design, it was

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a terrapin bright green who released the 14 patterns of biophilic design.

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And to me that really sums up biophilic design.

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So it breaks down biophilic design into 14 key parameters.

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And it's almost like a checklist for what might be missing in your

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built environment or what you could do to improve your environment.

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And from, this has been further publications, um, about why the economics

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of biophilia and why designing with nature and mind makes financial sense.

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So as a case study for offices who are feeling that staff are burnt out,

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overwhelmed, that's where we come in.

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We can provide the evidence and research.

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A, you know, breakdown case study of what's going in on in the office that

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someone can change and improve the productivity and creativeness and overall

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happiness of people in the office.

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Ann Vanner FCIAT: So you see, uh, that there is plenty of research out there.

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This is supporting this as a, as a, as a way of, of doing, doing things.

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So it's more than a design trend.

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I think sometimes we, sometimes when people talk about biophilia, they, uh,

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possibly dumb it down to this idea.

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It's about just bringing a, a plant in.

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I mean, that's a start, isn't it?

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Amelia Chasey MCIAT: yeah, I think a lot of people think that it is

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just putting a plant on your desk.

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Yes.

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That's great.

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It does.

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It's a really quick win for people.

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Um, you know, they've got a view of nature there.

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They've got the smell of nature, um, and sometimes the airflow as well.

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So if you get plants that improve your airflow, but it is so much more than that.

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It's a really deep rooted need within us that we have to satisfy

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as humans to function in life.

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So it's definitely more than a design trend.

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We are about educating people about this and that is It should

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be part of, you know, every aspect of the built environment.

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So when I'm detailing a building when I'm thinking about the

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lifecycle of the building, there's Biophilic design is part of that.

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It's, you know, it's not a luxury, it's part of architectural technology.

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And it should be woven into every part of life.

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Ann Vanner FCIAT: So is that why the School of Biophilia is on a mission,

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uh, to inspire children, teachers, and professionals to connect with nature?

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I.

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Amelia Chasey MCIAT: So we not only want to educate the children or the pupils in

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education, we want to educate the teacher.

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So what we refer to is, you know, teaching the teachers so that what

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they learn from us can then be brought into their life as well.

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So that not only are they teaching the next generation about how to improve

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their health and wellbeing with nature and biophilia and how to interact with nature

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and the built environment, but they can also bring that into their life as well.

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So their their day daily struggles or stress within the job is improved as well,

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because they would have breakout spaces.

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They would know when to take a break, um, how to design the build in for them.

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'cause a lot of the buildings at the minute aren't purpose built.

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So providing them with the knowledge and experience.

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Evidence of what's going on and why they feel like they

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do or why they're struggling.

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That's really important.

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And when you talk about the neurodivergent and A DHD and things like that, biophilia

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has been proven to reduce his symptoms.

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So providing people with the holistic approach of biophilia of how to

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ground yourself or how to feel relaxed in the environment around

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you because of the design that is around you, that's really important.

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And I think as we see in the numbers of A DHD and neuro divergent children

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kind of increase, we need to know how to cater for that as designers and as other

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people just using the building around us.

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Ann Vanner FCIAT: Well, that's it.

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I was just thinking about about what you were just saying there in terms

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of this sort of educational ripple.

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So, uh, if we can sort of tap into the children, they don't all have to go and

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become architectural technologists or, uh, work within the built environment,

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but if they, they have the skillset and the knowledge, if they become nurses

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and doctors and things like that, they can have an impact on the spaces that

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they're working and develop, I suppose some techniques and tips for themselves.

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I'm just thinking about doctors, nurses in surgeries, not seeing daylight

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for days, those sorts of things.

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What would you recommend that they do?

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Amelia Chasey MCIAT: Firstly, reach out to us.

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I think biophilia is something, the 14 patterns of biophilia is a good

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starting point to understand what biophilia and biophilia design is,

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but for us to really understand the environment you are in and it changes.

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On different people.

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So I've, um, worked in veterinary architecture and vets as a profession

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is one of the highest professions of a suicide rate because of the staff

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amenities within that environment.

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So when I was designing these buildings, they weren't, the patients

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obviously weren't people, so they couldn't voice up about what they

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wanted their environment to be.

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So again, the buildings weren't necessarily purpose built and the staff

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were just working in there and, you know, sometimes we were having toilet

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breaks or staff breaks in a cupboard and that was just normal for them.

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No one ever questioned it.

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So if we can tackle that kind of really hard discussion of, you know, you are

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dealing with sometimes death and pain and helping other people, but you can't

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do that if you can't help yourself.

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So there is so much to what we want to do at the school by affiliate and our.

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What we do is for everyone.

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We can cater it to everyone, but reach out to us, have the conversation and

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let us kind of, we find that doing a survey, the building's really good.

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So identifying what isn't working great for the building and for the user, for

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the patients, for the cleaner, allows us to really provide a, um, bespoke approach

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to what that person may want to do and on what budget and for what timeframe.

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So, like I said, there is really quick wins that plants on the

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desk change the lighting, but that it's so much bigger than that.

Adam Endacott: 00:21:57

Mm-hmm.

Adam Endacott: 00:21:57

Ann Vanner FCIAT: Well, when you mentioned sort of about vets and sort of, uh,

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where they were taking toilet breaks, it then takes me thinking about sort

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of, on construction sites, temporary, what we describe as temporary cycles.

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But for, uh, those workers who are using those, they're not temporary.

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They move from one to.

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The, so basically I suppose the, the, the line of thought is if you can have

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a, a positive impact on those kinds of spaces, then you'll have a, an impact

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on people's health and wellbeing.

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So possibly start thinking about reducing suicide rates in construction workers, but

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also possibly more productivity as well.

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And I suppose creating an environment that is more inclusive, uh, drawing

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other people from different backgrounds into that sort of workspace.

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So dealing with the skill shortage that we have in construction as well.

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Amelia Chasey MCIAT: Yeah, I agree.

Adam Endacott: 00:22:45

Ann Vanner FCIAT: So is there anything else that you'd just like

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to add about sort of the school of biophilia or your journey?

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Um, how is it now in terms of you started off talking about sort of

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your own personal journey now as a practicing architectural technologist.

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Amelia Chasey MCIAT: Yeah, so I think that's really interesting.

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So as a practicing architecture technologist, I feel like I am

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every day trying to speak to people about my own experience.

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Why it's really important to think about these things, whether it's

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other designers or other people who may be using the building.

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And I think part of biophilic design and the school of biophilia is opening up the

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conversation to the built environment.

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So, like I said, a lot of people like the vets, doctors, practices

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and things like that, that's normal for people because it's how it's

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been for the last 10, 20, 30 years.

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But by us having the conversation, we are making people realize

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that things can be better.

Adam Endacott: 00:23:40

There are.

Adam Endacott: 00:23:41

Other ways to improve the health and wellbeing and providing the evidence

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that suggests changing this about your environment will mean that you

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are working better, you're sleeping better, and you're doing a better job.

Adam Endacott: 00:23:52

That's the whole picture of what we're doing.

Adam Endacott: 00:23:54

So reach out to us.

Adam Endacott: 00:23:56

We have lots of workshops, free activities as well.

Adam Endacott: 00:23:59

Lots of, we want to be inclusive to everyone, so we provide

Adam Endacott: 00:24:02

workshops, um, activities.

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We do, um, a bit of everything.

Adam Endacott: 00:24:07

We have done a lot of articles as well for the Journal of Biophilic Design,

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and we're also really keen about getting into do, to do some CPDs at offices,

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um, because I think there's a big gap there about what we're doing and what's

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going on in the built environment.

Adam Endacott: 00:24:23

Ann Vanner FCIAT: Yeah.

Adam Endacott: 00:24:23

That's wonderful.

Adam Endacott: 00:24:24

Thank you very much for that.

Adam Endacott: 00:24:26

So Amelia thank you very much for being here and for sharing your story.

Adam Endacott: 00:24:30

We really appreciate the time and effort that's gone into this

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and wish you and the school of biophilia or all the best Thank you,

Adam Endacott: 00:24:43

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

Adam Endacott: 00:24:45

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

Adam Endacott: 00:24:48

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Adam Endacott: 00:24:52

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Adam Endacott: 00:25:00

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