Architecture and Health: Biophilic Design for Better Mental Health in Auckland City

The Importance of Sunlight Exposure for Health and Wellbeing

Doctor Jörg Reichrath, Deputy Director of the Clinic for Dermatology, Allergology and Venereology at the Saarland University Hospital explains: “When human skin is exposed to sunlight or artificial broad-spectrum lighting there exists a wide variety of photochemical processes that occur in the skin that can influence overall health and well-being...”  This is an educated fact that proves that people need sunlight to improve their physical and psychological well-being. No connection to nature may create health issues in the near future. 

The Mental Health Foundation has stated that: ‘In the 2012/13 New Zealand Health Survey, one in six New Zealand adults (16%, or an estimated 582,000 adults) had been diagnosed with a common mental disorder at some time in their lives (including depression, bipolar disorder and/or anxiety disorder ). People can suffer from depression and anxiety for several reasons. It is a problem that is rapidly increasing. This project aims to learn about the effects that a working environment has on people in terms of their health and wellbeing and to find solutions that improve the daily life of people in Auckland City. 

The location for this research will be in Auckland City as there are many offices where the environment lacks connection to nature. The fast pace motions of a city can be stressful… creating more awareness of how architecture can affect one's health and wellbeing will initiate a more thought out process of designing for the younger generation. This projects architectural solution will be; A building that includes a working environment that benefits the health and wellbeing of people in Auckland City.

 People relied on daylight to illuminate a space in the pre-industrial era. Research into the architectural strategies and techniques will create a more defined background and thorough understanding. This includes; ancient strategies used in Ancient Egypt, Ancient Greece, Ancient Rome, Early Christian, Byzantine, Romanesque, Gothic, Renaissance and Baroque. Strategies including large openings and orientation, illumination through light shafts, glazing, and the reflective form.

 

Daylighting during the Industrial Revolution transitioned to the study of reflective light and the strategic glare. It will look into the emotional response that a space can define. After the Industrial Revolution, environmental control became relent on mechanical systems. It was not until the modern movement where architects such as Louis Khan, Frank Lloyd Wright, Alvar Aalto and Le Corbusier “retained many of the historical principles of site orientation, natural ventilation and daylight illumination while selectively incorporating the new technology .” How can biophilic design methodologies help to create architecture that promotes health and wellbeing in a work environment?

Depression and anxiety are common in Auckland City. Reducing work stress and anxiety through the design of architecture is beneficial. It is important to express that this project will not be the ultimate answer for eliminating stress or anxiety... but it may create an environment that benefits the health and the wellbeing of people in Auckland city and introduce productivity, positivity and health. 

 

This desired outcome for this project is to create a building that has a working environment that expresses biophilic design methodology. A building that pays attention to the visual, acoustic and physical connection of the natural environment. An architecture office with a working environment that promotes health and wellbeing. Architects endure long hours in front of a computer and are known to have a workload that is high and overwhelming.