Horticultural experts Benholm Group will feature in an upcoming with Sustainability Lead and PhD Researcher at PLP Architecture, Joyce Chan-Schoof. The collaboration, which centers around the concept of biophilic design, will examine how a social and economic value can be applied to the current practice so designers can better communicate outcomes with decisionmakers on future projects.
“Without data, we will not be able to prove the business case for biophilic design,” says Joyce Chan-Schoof. “We want to make a more direct link to the upfront, budget planning stage of the design brief so that it encourages companies to start having biophilic design in their projects. It will in (sic) half the battle for design teams because you won’t have to negotiate once the design is done to introduce biophilia – it should be in the process”
Other collaborators within the project include Biophilic Design Consultant Alexander Bond, as well as lecturer, author and expert in multisensory design, Professor Derek Clements-Croome. As part of the research, the team will measure indoor environmental quality throughout the project, with participants filling out questionnaires in response to scenario shifts throughout the period.

Benholm Group will gradually transform this office space into a biophilic haven for members of the study.
Biophilic Design Fuels Study on Economic Benefits
Benholm Group’s experienced design consultants will help bring each space in the study to life, starting with an initial pilot study featuring a roughly 322-square-foot office space at the PLP Architecture campus in London. Over the course of eight weeks, the space will be gradually altered until it is filled with trailing plants, floor standing pots, desk-top planters and living walls. Natural light, outside views, natural décor, patterns, colors and biophilic audio will further supplant the office environment.
While results from the study will be used to make broader business cases for including biophilic design in projects, this pilot project will specifically focus on economic value as it relates to office workers. Given that employees can greatly affect the earnings and costs of a business, the study will examine if, in addition to improving air quality and aesthetics, the boosts in productivity and wellbeing can translate into actual economic returns.
The study is set to begin later this month and will wrap up in July 2022. Following completion, the results will be launched during a special event and published thereafter.