biophilia
Project
Wellness architecture serving up residential-level craftsmanship
In their first major commercial project to date, Woodward Architects brings a bespoke sense of craft and material authenticity to this wellness destination in Balgowlah.
Workplace
Architectural asset management
In Auckland, Wingates designs a new headquarters for a specialist investment firm focused on future growth, biophilia and collaborative work.
Project
Clubhouse class in India
The Godrej Woods Clubhouse is the jewel in the crown of a residential development in Noida, India, offering every facility curated with style and finesse by Studio IAAD.
Events
Arts precinct garden research take landscape and ecology design to new levels
Led by Hassell and The University of Melbourne’s Burnley Campus, the Melbourne Arts Precinct Plant Trials will evaluate over 1,000 plants under extreme conditions.
Project
Nature and a humanised airport experience at Singapore’s Changi Airport
Paris-based architecture and interior design practice BOIFFILS Architectures has completed an expansion to the already impressive Changi Airport.
Workplace
Past and future at Maitland Administration Centre
Maitland Administration Centre is rooted in principles of accessibility and community in the workplace.
News
BLP marks $658m healthcare project milestone in Sydney
BLP announces the topping out of Health Infrastructure’s $658m Sydney Children’s Hospital Stage 1 and Minderoo Children’s Comprehensive Cancer Centre building.
Project
Nature in the Kuala Lumpur sky at Lloyd’s Inn
Third in the series of boutique hotels under the Lloyd’s Inn brand, Lloyd’s Inn Kuala Lumpur bring the immediacy of nature to the new high-rise hospitality experience in the heart of a bustling city.
Ideas
Radical logics of connectedness and circular economy with Chris Fox
We sat down with Chris Fox to speculate on the future of regenerative architecture, circular economy and experimenting with vegetation in and on buildings.
Workplace
Banking with LAAB Architects, Singapore style
In Singapore a new workplace offers the perfect place to conduct business in comfort away from a bustling city.
Ideas
Buddhist meditation and bamboo with Vo Trong Nghia
The Vietnamese architect discusses insatiable construction markets and dwindling urban ecologies. For the latter, he recommends bamboo; for the former, meditation.
Project
Beyond retail: UNStudio completes Huawei’s flagship Shanghai store
UNStudio, in collaboration with Chinese information and communications technology firm, Huawei, has unveiled the design for a new flagship store in Shanghai.
Workplace
Office agility at Cox Architecture’s Midtown Workplace
Midtown Workplace is an agile 20,000-square-metre workplace spanning nine levels and merging two commercial towers in Brisbane.
Events
Individual moments of joy inside the LANDMARK by Lexus pavilion
If the LANDMARK by Lexus pavilion has previously been about electrifying the senses, more recently Lexus Australia stepped out of the fast lane with a highly curated, slowed-down approach.
Project
Pig Design’s modern outback of a restaurant in China
Wild Back restaurant transports patrons to the wilderness despite its urban setting.
Furniture
Natural Habitat: The biophilic office with Adam Cornish and District
Adam Cornish and District present Habitat, where nature and the indoors perfectly align for the workplace.
Project
Koichi Takada on nature, luxury and his latest collaboration with Lexus
As LANDMARK by Lexus returns for its sixth iteration, Sydney-based Japanese architect Koichi Takada is reflecting on the place of nature in design.
Events
Unveiling a world first in architectural wallpaper
Architectural innovator Screenwood is introducing SOUNDLINA™, a unique woodgrain wallpaper with high acoustic performance.
Project
G8A designs a series of nature-themed pizza restaurants in Ho Chi Minh
Along with the food, recycled timber shingles, bamboo and reclaimed bricks rendered in eye-catching ways are the highlight in these three pizza joints.
Project
Case study: Biophilic design tactics in Australian school design
More relevant than ever, biophilia has become a centrepiece of education design. Speaking with Lyons, ThomsonAdsett, Capral, Krause and more, we gain insight into the best products and smartest approaches dissolving the boundaries between inside and out.
Project
TAG Espresso flagship cafe by Kaizen Architecture fuses nature and nostalgia
At TAG Espresso’s latest cafe, Kaizen Architecture has combined plywood, concrete and aluminium to create a stylish yet welcoming environment for coffee lovers.
Project
Studio Bipolar delivers Media Monks a new, vibrant workplace
Nestled within a lushly vegetated garden, the Media Monks Campus in India spans 100,000 square feet of dynamic, modern workspace that reflects the team’s youthful energy.
Ideas
“Leaving things better than you found them”: Advocating for a regenerative future with LFIA’s Laura Hamilton-O’Hara
As CEO of the Living Future Institute of Australia (LFIA), Laura Hamilton-O’Hara is concerned with how various factors come together to produce our built environment. Initiatives such as the Living Building Challenge are pushing towards a sustainable status quo.
Ideas
How biodiversity design could benefit Vietnam’s tourism industry
Vietnam is yet to adopt green buildings and sustainability at the same pace as the rest of the world. GroupGSA Vietnam Studio Leader and architect Thien Duong posits that the growing resorts and hotel sector is one area where designing for biodiversity can have enormous benefits, and show developers how it can be achieved locally.
Events
Growth industry: Students leading the way in biodesign
In a competition held by K5 Furniture in collaboration with Monash University, students were challenged with a brief of mycelium-based product design. We visit the avant-garde with the exhibition ‘Metanoia’.
Project
This Jewish community centre has social engagement at its heart
More than just a place to meet, DesignInc’s Anne and Eric Smorgon Active Living Centre celebrates community and culture.
Articles
Biophilia comes to the fore in this Gray Puksand fit-out
For this Melbourne-based workplace, Gray Puksand has created an environment that exudes calm and balance. Soft, gentle Milliken flooring helps to craft the ambience and flow of the spaces.
Project
A sustainable garment manufacturing plant that rehabilitates the poor wetland
A beautiful project has been designed and completed in Guilin, China by Ronald Lu & Partners and is both sympathetic to the landscape and conceived with sustainability at its heart.
Ideas
The importance of biophilia in high-density cities
From urban biodiversity to architectural microclimates, MK Leung of Ronald Lu & Partners pens an essay exploring what the urban biophilia movement could mean for our planet’s future.
People
Will biophilia help restore nature to our cities?
From urban biodiversity to architectural microclimates, MK Leung pens an essay exploring what the urban biophilia movement could mean for our planet’s future.
Project
A ‘gravity-defying’ garden cafe by Karv One
In Fuzhou, China, Karv One has combined terrazzo, gridded metal and greenery to conceive a whimsical cafe.
Project
10 landscape designs that promote mental health and wellbeing
The 2021 NSW Landscape Awards winners selection is a treasure trove of outstanding landscape design projects. Here are 10 in particular that do wonders for wellbeing.
Project
Thomas Heatherwick transcends luxury living, in EDEN
EDEN eschews the shiny, enclosed tower typology of high-end housing in favour of a more humanistic approach that celebrates Singapore’s tropical setting.
Project
The Overlap House In Tokyo Is Three Homes In One
Folding up and over itself, this residence by akihisa hirata architecture gives each set of occupants a sense of privacy within a dense Tokyo neighbourhood.
Project
Reinvigorating public spaces: Short Lane
Designed by Woods Bagot, Short Lane is a mixed-use apartment building that supports the creation of diverse and activated neighbourhood areas. It’s also an oasis providing people with the relief of green spaces in their apartments. No wonder, the project won the acclaimed INDE Gold in the Multi-Residential category partnered with Bosch.
Project
Reinvigorating Public Spaces: Short Lane
Designed by Woods Bagot, Short Lane is a mixed-use apartment building that supports the creation of diverse and activated neighbourhood areas. No wonder the project won the acclaimed INDE Gold in the Multi-Residential category partnered with Bosch.
Project
WOW Architects Design Singapore’s First ‘Super Low Energy’ Resort In Mandai
Treehouses in the shape of seed pods feature in WOW Architects’ design for the biophilic Mandai resort, which will be run by Banyan Tree Hotels & Resorts.
Project
Studio SKLIM Lets Nature Take Over An Office
Tropical rainforests, vernacular longhouses and natural landforms inspired the unconventional design of the Verdant Spine Office.
Project
Creating an island: Microsoft Place by Gensler
In bringing 2000 Microsoft staff into a single location, Gensler has deconstructed the typical working model. Taking its client into unchartered territories, the design team envisaged a new working landscape that moves beyond the corporate norms to embrace ‘island’ life.
Ideas
HDB Begins Applying Biophilic Design Framework To New Towns
After several years of refinements, the HDB’s Biophilic Town Framework is ready for implementation in new estates. Concurrently, new research projects for smart energy towns, 3D concrete printing, and floating solar panels have been announced.
Ideas
Next Frontier! How Science and Technology Help Create Better Work Environments
Named by Fast Company as one of the world’s top 10 most innovative architecture companies, NBBJ and its team of designers and architects work with doctors, anthropologists and molecular biologists to create work environments that disrupt the status quo and effect real, meaningful change at all levels. Partner in charge, Eric Phillips tells us more about what they do.