Biophilic school design should strive to engage children as active co-designersBiophilic design incorporates elements of nature into the built environment. In school settings biophilic design aims to create “ecologically rich places of learning” that support educational outcomes and promote students’ optimal health and well-being. This approach has not been well researched, however, and more guidance is needed to support biophilic design in schools. This study overviews biophilic design patterns used in primary schools and also presents an evaluative tool to engage children as co-designers in the biophilic design process.
A search of the literature identified very few case studies of schools utilizing biophilic design; therefore, descriptive examples of schools with biophilic design were also considered by the researchers. A comparison of biophilic features at seven primary schools, set within different countries (both tropical and temperate climates), to an established framework of biophilic design principles was conducted to identify the main components applied in school settings.
Findings highlight ten biophilic design patterns used in schools. Design patterns related to nature in the space, which provide direct experience with nature, include visual connection with nature, non-visual connection with nature (e.g. auditory), non-rhythmic sensory stimuli, thermal and airflow variability, presence of water, dynamic and diffuse light, and connection with natural systems. Other patterns related to natural analogues that provide indirect experience with nature were also identified, including biomorphic forms and patterns, materials and elements from nature, and complexity and order.
The researchers also propose two evaluative tools that can be used to incorporate children’s views into the biophilic design process. The evaluative tool for assessing children’s happiness with biophilic design utilizes a 4-point scoring scale for children to report their satisfaction with specific design elements (ranging from sad to very happy). This tool was tested with 291 primary school children in England, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Thailand. Because most of these children expressed their happiness with biophilic features, a secondary evaluative tool was developed to further clarify children’s feelings, including calm, happy, excited, anxious, angry, or no feeling. This tool was tested in one primary school in England with 134 children.
Biophilic design should engage children as co-designers and “equal stakeholders throughout the entire experience, contributing to the process as experts of their own lives.” The tools proposed by the study offer an approach for incorporating children’s voices in the design of biophilic school spaces that promote connection to nature.
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