Walk through almost any recently completed commercial building in an Australian city and you will see plants. Planted lobbies, green walls, trees in the atrium, planters lining a terrace. Some of it is beautifully resolved. Some of it looks like it was added late to soften a render.
The difference usually comes down to whether the design team treated planting as a strategy or as decoration.
Biophilic design is the strategy version: the deliberate use of natural elements, patterns and materials to improve how people feel and function indoors. It has moved from a niche interest into mainstream commercial briefs, and there is a credible body of research behind it.
What biophilic design is
The term comes from biophilia, the idea that people have an innate tendency to seek connection with nature. Design practice usually breaks it into three categories:
- Nature in the space: living plants, water, natural light, airflow and views to the outdoors.
- Natural analogues: materials, colours, textures and forms that reference nature, such as timber, stone, organic shapes and earthy palettes.
- Nature of the space: spatial qualities people respond to instinctively, such as a sense of refuge, open outlooks and places to retreat.
The 14 Patterns of Biophilic Design, published by Terrapin Bright Green in 2014, remains one of the most widely used frameworks for translating those ideas into design decisions. It is worth having on hand at briefing stage because it gives the whole team a shared vocabulary.
Why it matters: what the research shows
The research base is broader than many people expect.
Roger Ulrich's 1984 study, published in Science, found that surgical patients with a window view of trees had shorter post operative stays and needed fewer strong pain medications than patients whose window faced a brick wall. It is still one of the most cited studies in the field.
Attention Restoration Theory, developed by Rachel and Stephen Kaplan, proposes that natural environments help restore our capacity for directed attention, the kind of focus office work depends on. That idea underpins much of the workplace interest in biophilia.
In the workplace, the 2015 Human Spaces report commissioned by Interface surveyed 7,600 office workers across 16 countries. People whose workplaces included natural elements such as greenery and sunlight reported 15 per cent higher wellbeing and 6 per cent higher productivity than those without.
Like any body of research, it has limits. Effects vary, and studies measure different things. But the direction is consistent enough that biophilic design is now referenced in wellbeing frameworks and many corporate workplace strategies.
Planting strategies that last
Plants are the most visible part of biophilic design and the part most likely to fail. A dying plant does more harm to a space than no plant at all.
A few principles help planting survive past handover:
- Choose species for the actual light conditions, measured on site, rather than the conditions shown in the render.
- Specify planters with sufficient soil volume. Undersized containers dry out quickly and restrict root growth.
- Decide who maintains the planting before the design is final. An in house team, a landscape contractor and a tenant all bring different capacity.
- Consider self watering liners or reservoir systems where maintenance access is limited. Indigenus, for example, fits its planters with a liner and water level gauge that can keep plants watered for up to four weeks.
- Group planting into fewer, larger compositions rather than scattering small pots. Larger groupings read better and are easier to maintain.
Planters themselves deserve more attention than they usually get. They are a piece of furniture. A well made planter in a durable material holds its finish for years, defines space, provides separation between zones and becomes part of the architecture. A cheap one fades, cracks and gets replaced.
Natural materials and finishes
Not every space can support living plants. Natural materials carry part of the biophilic effect where planting is impractical.
Timber is the obvious example. Timber veneers on workstations, solid timber table tops, timber framed seating and timber acoustic panelling all bring warmth and texture. Stone, wool, leather and natural fibre upholstery contribute in the same way.
Colour matters too. Earthy, muted palettes drawn from local landscapes generally sit more comfortably than saturated corporate colours, and they tend to age better.
Form is the subtler element. Organic curves in furniture, planters and joinery echo natural shapes. Sculptural planters in particular can carry a lot of this work, bringing natural form and living plants into a space at the same time.
Commercial applications
Biophilic design works at every scale. A few places we see it done well:
- Office floors: planters used as soft dividers between neighbourhoods, with timber finishes on workstations and green outlooks preserved for shared settings.
- Lobbies and end of trip facilities: large scale planting that sets the tone on arrival.
- University and school campuses: outdoor learning spaces with shade trees, natural seating and planters that double as informal perches.
- Health settings: views to planting from waiting areas and treatment rooms, consistent with the research on recovery.
- Public plazas and streetscapes: large format planters that provide greenery where in ground planting is not possible due to services or structure.
Light, outlook and the spatial side of biophilia
Plants and materials get most of the attention, but the spatial qualities in the framework do a lot of quiet work.
Natural light is the obvious one. People gravitate to windows, and settings near the perimeter are almost always the most used. A common mistake is to line the façade with assigned desks or enclosed offices, which hands the best light to a few people. Placing shared settings, kitchens and breakout zones along the perimeter spreads the benefit.
Outlook matters too. A view to a tree, a courtyard or a distant horizon gives the eyes a change of focus. Where a building has limited views, planting near shared settings creates an internal outlook.
Then there is refuge and prospect: the instinct to sit with something solid behind you while looking out over open space. High backed lounges, booths with an open side, and planters placed behind seating all create that feeling. It is why the corner table in a café is always taken first.
These moves cost very little. They come from where things are placed rather than what is bought.
Maintenance planning from day one
Biophilic elements need a maintenance plan, and it should be priced alongside the design rather than discovered after handover.
A simple plan covers who waters, prunes, replaces and cleans; how often; and who pays. It also covers access, because planters behind fixed furniture or on ledges without safe access tend to be neglected. For larger installations, a maintenance contract with a specialist provider is often more reliable than relying on building cleaners or tenant staff.
Planting that outlasts opening day
Done well, biophilic design makes a space feel calmer and more connected to its place. Done badly, it leaves a building with dead plants and faded pots, and which way it goes is mostly decided at briefing stage.
Binowee Group supplies planters, including the full Indigenus collection, alongside commercial furniture in timber and other natural finishes. We can help design and project teams choose planters and furniture that support a planting strategy built to last. The Indigenus 2027 catalogue is on our Downloads page.
Considering planting or planters for a workplace, campus or public space? Speak with Binowee Group about planter selection and furniture finishes.