Our favourite subject…. ‘Biophilia’ and more specifically in this Blog, we’re looking at the part it plays in a Hospitality setting eg. a hotel lobby, restaurant or bar.
Biophilia means an innate desire to maintain a close proximity to nature and biophilia in an interior design context, involves creating an interior where an abundance of natural materials and elements are used.
Turning to the Hospitality sector, it can be multi-sensory and immersive in a number of ways eg. the trickle of water from an ornamental water feature or fish gently swimming in an aquarium. The use of natural wood and stone for furniture, flooring or an artistic installation.
And interior design colour schemes should draw their influence from the natural world.
Windows should be optimised to give maximum exposure to natural light, vistas…. even bird song!
Candles or diffusers take their scent influences from the natural world.
Finally (and in our opinion), the element that can make the greatest impact is plants, trees and flowers.
Like the elements already mentioned, plants and trees with their visual appeal can improve mental well-being but uniquely they can also help purify the air too.
The addition of a planting scheme, can make an interior space feel more alive, fuller and more vibrant.
Biophilic Design can also result in increased consumer loyalty. Customers are more likely to return if all their senses have been stimulated so positively. They’re also likely to stay for longer too which can of course, potentially mean financial benefits.
This can be from a collection of plants in natural stone containers, table top seasonal planting or even a large-scale living wall and external plants in containers can be useful for creating partitions and boundaries.
The core values of Biophilia would mean to incorporate live planting but frequently artificial planting is used to create the same visual effect.
Artificial flowers and plant schemes are particularly useful to fill spaces that have less natural daylight or where watering and feeding would be difficult eg. cascading down from a high level ceiling.
Our artificial flowers and plants can also be treated and made inherently fire retardant (IFR) to meet with Fire & Safety Building Regulations if required and externally, they can be UV protected to help avoid loss of colour vibrancy.
Whether they are small or larger biophilic additions, their appeal has never been greater.
