Incorporating Biophilic Design Strategies to Improve Employees’ Psychological Restoration in the Work Environment

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 Architectural and urban planning engineering, Port said university, Egypt

2 Faculty of Engineering, Port Said University

3 Assistant professor, Architecture and Urban Planning Department, Faculty of Engineering, Port-Said University, Port Said, Egypt

Abstract

Over the past few decades, with the psychological restoration benefits of integrating nature into buildings, particularly in workspaces where stress levels are rising, the restorative benefits of being in touch with nature have emerged as a multidisciplinary field. Work stresses and restrictions lead to physical and psychological strains, amplified by poorly designed work environments, which in turn affect productivity and innovation. Consequently, a question arises regarding how to incorporate biophilic design attributes into the work environment to support psychological restoration. Therefore, this study proposed a biophilic design framework with specific design attributes to support restoration Subsequently, the study evaluates the framework by analysing three global case studies and examining strategies related to biophilic design, functional well-being, and social well-being, all aimed at supporting employees' restoration. Results indicate the effectiveness of integrating natural light, natural landscapes, and other proposed biophilic attributes to improve employees' restoration. In addition, the proposed well-being characteristics, like flexible, collaborative, and social gathering spaces, can support and speed up the restoration.

In particular, the proposed guiding model can be considered more effective in incorporating and evaluating strategies supporting restoration in the work environment. Additionally, the guiding model helps to integrate biophilic attributes to promote restoration, which establishes the foundation for further research to expand the examination of the additional advantages of biophilic design.

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