Finns are globally renowned for their impeccable design, but it's not until you live in Finland, through the dead of winter, that you understand why that is. For half of the year it becomes the norm to spend as much time inside as possible - just to escape the harsh climate. As such, interior spaces start to look a lot like the surrounding landscape that makes a brief appearance during the limited hours of daylight of winter, with white (like snow), black (like rock) and wood (like nature and trees). And in the summer? Well, you probably don't care what the interior looks like during summer, because no one would dare spend time inside when they could be outside soaking up the sun.
So how is it that people can stand to live somewhere as cold and dark as Finland? I believe it is thanks to the entire country's focus on wellness. Interiors aside, Finland has an enormous focus on social activities such as taking transit, excessive public drinking, karaoke (which go hand-in-hand), a huge culture/art/music scene and of course, sauna. But these activities don't just happen - they happen through design. And of course, we know that design doesn't just happen. Design is the slow and steady process of research which is filtered through a series of creative processes, eventually creating beautiful and highly functional spaces.
According to the Well Building Institute, beautifully designed spaces make us healthier. If you want to take it one step further, the Happiness Research Institute of Denmark has a guide to hygge which is proven to make us happier - not just by carefully placing cozy blankets and soft lighting, but also encouraging mental wellness, having space to spend time with loved ones and practicing gratitude.
Interior design is no longer just about creating beautiful spaces - some may argue that it never has been. However, over the last couple of years, rather than hearing trends such as "minimalism", we are hearing more and more about wellness. Stemming from the booming $134 billion wellness industry, interior design firms focusing on healthy spaces are in high demand. According to the founder of Hyphen & Co. Interior Design, Shelly Lynch-Sparks, the scope of work in a wellness project not only requires a space to be comfortable and aesthetically beautiful, but it must also be highly functional and sanitary. Businesses in the wellness sector - which range anywhere from day spas to yoga studios to luxury cosmetics to physical therapy clinics - want their customers to feel truly relaxed, which can be extremely challenging when you are downward-dog over a dirty floor.
MNDFL Upper East Side by Shelly Lynch-Sparks + Ariel Farmer for Homepolish. Photography by: Julia Robbs
Interior designers have become project assets when it comes to implementing wellness - especially when moving into an existing building for a tenancy improvement project. While many aspects of wellness can be considered common-sense, there is a lot to say for evidence-based design and cold hard facts when making design decisions. Interior designers are writing the standards (quite literally if you look at the Well Building Certification) and are holding through the design, construction and operating phase accountable for meeting these standards.
After spending the past 3 years attending the IDIBC Emerging Professionals Portfolio Review event, I can confidently say that candidates with LEED accreditation are chosen over those without. In fact, local firm Perkins+Will expects junior interior designers to become LEED AP within 6 months of hire. And while we're not likely to let the environmental design standards fall to the wayside during these Greta Thunberg times, the rise of human-centered design standards - such as The Well Building Standard and Fitwel Certification System are gaining popularity and importance in interior design firms.
According to the president of American Society of Interior Designers (ASID), students graduating with an interest in wellness design will be sought after by design firms as more projects will be featuring wellness aspects. The Council for Interior Design Accreditation (CIDA) uses market research to establish desired learning outcomes for accredited programs across North America. For programs to achieve/maintain accreditation, CIDA has deemed it necessary for students to have a general understanding of health and wellness in order to graduate.
In the 2019 Summit Report by CIDA, learning outcomes include "Design for human well-being, both mental and physical" as well as "Understanding of the breadth of human needs: physical/social/intellectual emotional/environmental, etc.". According to the latest report, graduating students should have a strong understand of a broad range of topics under the health, wellness and well-being umbrella which include, but are not limited to, ergonomics, designing for aging populations, how interiors affect mental health, and designing for sensory and perception disorders. Emerging professionals are expected to have an understanding of how technology can help achieve connectedness, while understanding the adverse consequences of technology which can enhance the feeling of isolation.
In 2018, interior designer Ariane Laxo wrote an article titled "Beyond Health & Wellness: Designing Interiors for Human Thriving" on GreenBuildingNews.com. Laxo states that by implementing the Well and Fitwel Standards, interior designers can approach wellness more holistically, using the 4 categories outlined by The National Wellness Institute (NWI) for overall intellectual, occupational, social and spiritual well-being.
While some parts may seem like common knowledge, there is little argument to be made against the scientific approach of evidence-based design and "positive psychology" when addressing mental and physical wellness of users in the built environment.
Laxo states that "while positive psychology research is broad and deep, five concepts stand out as directly applicable to the design of interiors":
Ask questions and understand what is currently working and what is not
Use the Pleasure-Arousal-Dominance Hypothesis to understand how users will feel about a space
Design spaces that encourage day-dreaming and "support the creative process"
Design distraction-free spaces to increase productivity
Allow for the existing culture to take precedent over evidence-based design/positive psychology
When we consider wellness in an office context, business owners have a multitude of reasons to ensure employees are happy, such as employee-retention, productivity and efficiency. Now with the rising trend of wellness, people are demanding thoughtfully designed interiors in every aspect their life - from where they live, where their children study and where they spend leisure time. With a boom in mindful retreats, day spas, wellness clubs (ie: Equinox), and meditation centres (ie: ZenDen and Yyoga), interior design firms which specialize exclusively in wellness are popping up - such as New York-based firm DesignGLXY. Maria Lomanto, the principal of DesignGLXY, who is both a WELL AP and a Fitwel Ambassador, spent months researching materials before launching her firm.
Luckily, for any firms/designers hoping to specialize in wellness, according to InteriorDesign.net, recent surveys have shown that almost 70% of clients are willing to pay for a space that fosters wellness and well-being. In 2018, Fast Company released a list of the most innovative companies. Stealing 2nd out of 1500 candidates was interior design firm Perkins+Will, which has offices across the world including Vancouver, Denmark, Dubai, London, São Paolo, Shanghai and New York, to name a few. Fast Company recognized the firm's "commitment to environmentally progressive design that helps reduce carbon emissions associated with climate change." CEO Phil Harrison boasts the many positive effects his designers of Perkins+Will strive to achieve for the end-user, but he should also be commended for the nurturing work environment that is provided for his own employees.
When considering the many aspects of health and wellness, with mental health at the forefront, employees of Perkins+Will are encouraged to perform community outreach and improve leadership through emotional-intelligence training, while being an equal-opportunity employer. They believe that diverse perspectives create better design solutions - which no one in their right mind would argue with. Besides paying for public transit, employees are offered wellness retreats alongside fitness opportunities/subsidies. The firm's commitment to people and the planet should serve as a target for other design firms. The firm's hiring page states: "Happy, healthy individuals contribute to positive, high-performance teams. Your personal success is our collective success."
According to Elizabeth Wallace, in her article titled "Why the Wellness Industry Means Big Business for Designers and Architects", interior designers are in the perfect position to implement new health and well-being strategies in otherwise undesirable buildings based on the fact that the industry is problem solving-centric.
"Wellness-focused design involves lighting, materials, air and sound quality, neutral color palettes, biophilic design (connecting architecture and nature), greenery, and outdoor-indoor space integration—to name just a few key design areas."
While neutral color palettes may sound a bit... beige? Biophilia is anything but. Scientifically proven to enhance productivity, increase happiness and (in the case of real plants) actually improve air quality, biophilia is a key element to wellness in interior design. The broad term ranges from the use of live plants, to green walls, to the application of nature-inspired motifs and patterns found in wall coverings, art or tiles - basically anything that reminds us of or reconnects us to nature.
And what could be more biophilic than having a tree physically support a building? Well, not much. According to local architect Michael Green - principal of Michael Green Architecture (MGA) - little else could be as sustainable either. After publishing "The Case for Tall Wood Buildings" in 2012, the world has been using Green's techniques to develop high-rise buildings using cross-laminated timber (CLT).
Riverfront Square in Newark by MGA
As we move to a carbon-neutral (or fingers-cross, carbon positive) future, firms who are on the CLT wagon will not only be helping to save the environment, but providing users of the building with a life-long biophilic connection through the use of exposed timber throughout the building. Locally, firms specializing in CLT include MGA with projects being built in Vancouver, Newark and Minneapolis, as well as firms Perkins+Will and Acton Ostry.
In May of 2019, Perkins+Will announced their design proposal for "the world's tallest hybrid wood tower", to be located at Burrard and 8th. Canada's Earth Tower will comprise of 200 residential units, retail stores, food and beverage services and office space. With the intent to become Passive House certified, the project's focus includes triple-glazed windows, cross ventilation, maximizing natural daylight and the use of photo-voltaic panels to support a around 1/4 of the building's energy use and is intended to be carbon neutral during operations.
"Earth Tower" - Photography by Delta Land Development and Perkins+Will.
Unsurprisingly, the Nordic countries were early adopters of the mass timber movement - not only due to availability of material, their awareness of environmental impact and the undisputed insulating qualities offered by CLT, but also because having wood in the interior provides a connection to nature that make people healthier and happier.
Wellness may be inlaid into Nordic design, but we can be sure that it is quickly becoming a staple in North America. Cannabis retailer, Dosist, is using "wellness" as their actual design concept, stating they are "elevating wellness in every detail", through the use of forms, materials, customer service and products. It may be safe to say that before long, wellness will no longer be a specification to meet, but rather something intrinsically built into interior design projects.
Resources:
Aouf, R.S. (2019). Dosist opens second LA cannabis store that elevates "wellness in every detail". Retrieved from https://www.dezeen.com/2019/12/28/dosist-los-angeles-marijiana-store-interiors/
CIDA (2019). 2019 Summit Report: a strategic view to the future. Retrieved from https://www.accredit-id.org/summitreport
Frearson, A. (2015) Architects embrace "the beginning of the timber age". Retrieved from https://www.dezeen.com/2015/11/09/cross-laminated-timber-construction-architecture-timber-age/
Kanning, K. (2017) 6 Ways to Practice Hygge, the Danish Secret to Happiness. Retrieved from https://www.health.com/mind-body/hygge
Laxo, A. (2018). Beyond Health & Wellness: Designing Interiors for Human Thriving. Retrieved from http://greenbuildingnews.com/2018/03/07/beyond-health-wellness-designing-interiors-human-thriving/
McKnight, J. (2019) Perkins+Will designs "world's tallest hybrid wood tower" for Vancouver. Retrieved from https://www.dezeen.com/2019/05/29/canadas-earth-tower-perkins-will-vancouver-canada/
McKnight, J. (2016) Michael Green completes largest mass-timber building in United States. Retrieved from https://www.dezeen.com/2016/12/02/michael-green-architecture-t3-largest-mass-timber-building-usa-minneapolis-minnesota/
Perkins+Will (unknown). Untitled. Retrieved from https://perkinswill.com/careers/
Renzi, J. (2018). Interior Designers Champion the Wellness Movement. Retrieved from https://www.interiordesign.net/articles/14968-interior-designers-champion-the-wellness-movement/
Wallace, E. 2019. Why the Wellness Industry Means Big Business for Designers and Architects. Retrieved from https://www.architecturaldigest.com/story/why-wellness-means-big-business-for-designers.
Winer, R. (2018) Why beautiful spaces make us healthier. Retrieved from https://resources.wellcertified.com/articles/why-beautiful-spaces-make-us-healthier/
Images:
Shelly Lynch-Sparks + Ariel Farmer for Homepolish. Photography by: Julia Robbs
Retrieved from https://www.hyphenandco.com/mndfl-upper-east-side
Delta Land Development and Perkins+Will (2019) canada-earth-tower-delta-group-perkins-will_dezeen_2364_col_3
Unknown (2019). dosist-los-angeles-shop-interiors-marijuana_dezeen_2364_col_0.
MGA (2018) riverfront-square-michael-green-lotus-newark-new-jersey-usa-largest-timber-office-building_dezeen_2364_col_5.
Retrieved from https://www.dezeen.com/2018/02/06/riverwalk-square-michael-green-architecture-newark-new-jersey-usa-largest-timber-office-building/
