The Impact of Architectural Design on User Well-being
Rachna Agarwal, Founder & Design Ideator, Studio IAAD, believes that unprecedented times like the pandemic should motivate designers to innovate beyond merely revisiting the fundamentals. Read on…
Rachna Agarwal
Any other year and this article would have started differently. However, today, given the pandemic, every individual is struggling to adjust and find new ways to adapt to the sudden changes in their lifestyles while staying safe and physically and emotionally healthy. At such a time, when well-being is of paramount importance, we need to make sure that we, as designers, change the existing trend and place the health of the user at the forefront. Unprecedented times like the pandemic should motivate designers to innovate beyond merely revisiting the fundamentals. That is quite fundamental, isn’t it?
Moreover, our nation’s progress is also greatly influenced by the developed world. Many times, it comes with disadvantages. The fascination with modernism and fancy buildings draped in glass is leading to Indian cities losing their identities while trying to be at par with global cities and not being cognizant of the country’s own climate. Great aesthetics need to be complemented with the correct material specifications to be sustainable and offer an optimal user experience.
A good design—architectural or otherwise—is value additive and value accretive. While value addition renders enhanced user well-being, value accretion enables better economic value. At Studio IAAD, our approach to design is keeping the above in focus. Value addition for us is when we excel and deliver on our client’s brief. Value accretion is when the client’s space gains economic value.
Well-planned, spacious buildings that encourage free movement are the need of the hour. Any design process must start with an extensive understanding of the physical location’s environmental data and the region’s weather patterns to establish a proper connection between spaces and their context. These account for factors such as seasonality, the intensity of the sun, wind, rainfall and humidity, ensuring a truly climate
responsive, sustainable and environmentally responsible design solution. Closed-off, walled structures can be redesigned into open, ventilated spaces that allow a wholesome interaction with the environment. Buildings in specific local contexts like a beach or amidst mountains can be planned with a mindful selection of materials to retain the region’s authenticity and create habitable spaces.
Once the climatic factors are taken into account, a biophilic design approach can be implemented to reconnect with nature and create healthy and productive habitats for the modern lifestyle. The inclusion of direct or indirect elements of nature into the built environment has shown demonstrated results, through research, to reduce stress, anxiety and ill-health, whilst increasing productivity, creativity and well-being. It filters air on a micro level, reducing toxin levels and optimising its quality and ventilation. It also promotes a healthier lifestyle through improvement in thermal and acoustic comfort by means of natural mechanisms.
Adding a touch of green, such as a few potted plants, can enormously transform a space to create a better indoor environment. Green walls and open spaces can augment, nourish and enrich spaces while endowing vibrancy and serenity through internal and external views of nature. Their engagement with the human senses can also have positive psychological and physiological effects on the user, thereby improving lives and lifestyles.
Natural materials in construction and finishes are another indirect way to incorporate biophilic elements in a design. They have the most negligible environmental impact and are renewable while also being safer and more hygienic than other materials that tend to become breeding surfaces for microbes. Recycling, upcycling and repurposing of natural materials ensure waste reduction, thereby reducing the carbon footprint. For projects such as retail stores and experience centres, the convenience of the visiting customer is a crucial factor. A customised walk-through that employs the products as the key installation optimises ease of accessibility, ensuring user well-being. Biomorphic forms and patterns that mimic nature to create natural and organic shapes also form the basis for many architectural works, thereby celebrating simplicity and respecting functionality.
For spaces specially designed to keep a specific category of end-users in mind, the planning and approach need to be customised accordingly. For example, the design for a school must employ user-friendly materials to curate an experiential space that promotes early-age adoption of aesthetics. The interventions must focus on a holistic approach that promotes health and safety despite a free learning environment.
For housing communities, an egalitarian experience of the space for the residence owners fosters well-being. With a focus on context, flora and fauna, hygiene, health and safety, a thoughtful design places the user at the crux of its concept.
The dwindling state of natural elements in buildings due to the chase for technological, futuristic buildings is an alarming cause of concern. An optimal design solution is one that builds a sustainable user experience and promotes healthy interaction among the natural surroundings and the building inhabitants, reiterating the innate tendency of the connection with the earth that we have had over centuries.
An
optimal design solution is one that builds a sustainable user experience and promotes healthy interaction among the natural surroundings and the building inhabitants, reiterating the innate tendency of the connection with the earth that we have had over centuries.