Outside In Sustainability

Nature is calling. Are you listening?  When you bring the great outdoors inside, great things happen from a health, wellness and productivity standpoint.  Learn some unique ways to enhance your interior workspaces with real natural appeal that focuses on outside in sustainability. 



1. Bring On The Biophilia 

Biophilic design seeks to connect our need to be one with nature to the modern built environment through natural features, light and space, and place based relationships. The benefits are undeniably positive for cognitive function, physical health and psychological well-being. Who wouldn't want to gaze at this living wall we installed for Credit Human?


Plants in interior space clean the air, help with acoustics, and make us feel more relaxed. They also add real depth to design. We love using planters as space dividers and to bring in pops of color. Planters can also be beautifully woven into furniture, workstations and mobile dividing walls. We love the look of Formaspace's Zig Zag table and Kaleid by OFS, a highly connected, mobile divider with storage and integrated planters that breathes life into agile collaborative environments. 

Natural light is another biophilic design element that does wonders for productivity. . Demountable walls like Rockwell Unscripted bring health-driven benefits and shining beauty to space. Plus, they provide more flexibility and cost savings over dense drywall. This solution did wonders for our Dallas Housing Authority project and their desire to build a more welcoming, "for the people" kind of office space. 


We've heard the office of the furniture and it sounds amazing. Large offices often have a noise level of about 60 decibels, which can cause distraction. So why not leverage soundscaping to bring the soft sounds of wind, rain and fire (crackling not roaring) to the office airwaves for a productivity boost? 



2. Outdoor Furniture Is In

Interior furniture solutions that offer a flair for the al fresco  help create the allure of the great outdoors. Be playful. Have fun. Don't sleep on a picnic table in the cafeteria, a pool-side lounger in an ancillary setting, or a cotton rope-woven hammock in a focus room (actually we highly encourage this one for power naps). Blurring the lines between in and out is a good thing. Getting creative with playful, comfortable outdoor furniture can do wonders for interior design. 


3. Go Faux Naturale 

What if you work in an office that frowns on flora or fauna? Don't let that change your existential need to be one with the environment. Add a splash of serenity to a blank wall with an ocean mural. Bring in a sky blue canopy that doubles as a sound softener. Play with the colors of the rainbow in space like Frasch does with their award-winning acoustical walls, ceilings, dividers and lighting. Get creative with space definition and create inspiring collaborative environments with etched glass partitions featuring rolling waves, vivid sunrises, or brightly colored flowers. You can even freshen workstation glass divider panels with artfully fabricated blades of grass or leaves. 



4. Accent Furniture With Natural Elements

A little touch of nature goes a long way. Think live edge tables with rough edges, soft touches of bamboo or stone accents. Imagine a modest water feature in a lobby to welcome people into your space, or touches of greenery to spruce up an otherwise uninspired nook. The BOB from Scandinavian Spaces is marvelously customizable and can make a strong, bold color statement arranged in an variety of configurations. 


SKG INSTALLATIONS 

Credit Human

Allensworth

ERS


Sustainability is about designing with people and the environment in mind. The workforce of tomorrow needs more of what makes them whole. More sunlight. More of earth's magical gifts. Bringing the outside in will help you breathe life into space and attract more people back to the office. 

READY TO TALK SUSTAINABLE SPACE?