Design Chat with Matt Marley: All About Biophilic Design

If you follow us on Instagram then you’ll know that we’re participating in the House Beautiful Whole Home Show House in Fredericksburg, Texas this coming fall. Our room combines the elements of a home office space and gym, centered around mindfulness, biophilic design and wellness. During our research into how we can integrate biophilic design into our space, we came across Matt Morley, an expert in biophilic design and founder of Biofilico. 

Centered around his love for nature and incorporating natural elements into interior spaces, Matt advises on wellbeing, sustainability and interiors for the real estate, hotel, gym and yachting sectors. He is a certified green building professional and a natural health & fitness expert with a specialty in creating biophilic wellness spaces. Matt is Co-Founder of BioBlu sustainable yachting, Founder of Biofilico Wellness Real Estate & Interiors and Founder of Biofit Health & Fitness. His podcast series 'Green & Healthy Places' explores themes of sustainability and wellness in real estate and hospitality. We had the opportunity to chat (virtually) with Matt to learn more about biophilic design, especially in regard to how we could incorporate elements of biophilic design into our home office and gym, as well as in future design projects. 

Image credit: Biofilico

Biophilic design is all about our natural human desire to be in nature, surrounded by earth’s elements – think greenery, natural light, earth-inspired hues, colors and textures, as well as views of nature. According to Matt, it is very much “in our DNA” as humans to be in nature. 

“Our evolutionary history is so much longer and more extensive than our history of living indoors. It was a long, long time when we were in nature. That’s our DNA.” 

Many of our indoor environments are not aligned with this view towards nature. For example, many spaces lack windows with natural light, or feel artificial and uncomfortable (i.e. artificial lighting, uncomfortable furniture, synthetic materials, etc.) That discomfort is what Matt says led to the development of biophilic design – the desire to realign our indoor environments with the natural world. 

Most important to Matt is the bridge between sustainability and health – to Matt, biophilic design creates a space that connects the dots between nature, human health, and planetary well-being. 

If you are unsure about biophilic design, perhaps the benefits will sway your mindset. In addition to the psychological benefits, biophilic design also seeks to improve air quality and reduce chemicals that are brought into a space. Natural materials, according to Matt, are less likely to have chemicals or synthetic properties associated with them. Recycled and upcycled materials are also cleaner, reducing the chemicals that could otherwise be brought into a space with new, chemically-altered products. 

Image captured by Jennifer Hughes from our LHS Cambridge Project

With these physical well-being aspects comes mental well-being. In other words, a space can affect how we feel and perform, as well as how we rest and recover. For instance, in your home office, having a view out into nature through open windows, along with various color spectrums of natural lighting, can help us to feel energized and motivated. 

This poses the question – how can we create spaces that are in tune with our innate human desire to be one with nature? We have outlined some tips below, as suggested by Matt…

Tip #1: Lighting

There are numerous lighting systems that you can incorporate into your home to mimic natural sunlight, such as the Philips hue lighting system. It calibrates the light spectrum to mimic natural sunlight for your home, depending on the season.

Tip #2: Air Quality 

Certain plants can help improve air quality by taking out the bad and pumping in the good (aka oxygen.) Studies suggest incorporating around 6-8 mid-size plants in your space (~250 square ft. space) can create a tangible impact with air quality. Matt’s go-to plant for improving air quality is the ZZ plant – they are easy to care for, a plus for those who may lack a green thumb, and they are some of the hardest working plants for improving air quality. (Bonus: electric air purifiers are also a great way to improve air quality!) 

Tip #3: Natural Scents 

If you enjoy incorporating scents into your space, we suggest looking into essential oils. Citrus scents tend to be associated with energy and motivation, whereas lavender is calming and relaxing. Depending on your space, curating essential oils can help create the atmosphere you need to stay focused and aligned. Aromatherapy diffusers are the perfect way to incorporate these scents into your space. 

Tip #4: Reducing Chemicals + Synthetic Materials

Non-toxic (Zero VOC) paints and high-quality flooring are also generally much better for you and your environment – they may be a bit more expensive, but Matt suggests that the pay-off and reward will be worth it in end. Further, incorporating high quality vintage or antique pieces over synthetic new pieces is another great way to reduce chemicals entering your space, while also shopping secondhand. 

In our House Beautiful Whole Home Office and Gym, we are excited to incorporate all natural materials, channeling nature into the space through tactile woven textures. We hope to create a sense of exploration around the room and create an element of interaction with the space. Natural scents, views of foliage, natural light and many more details will help us make this space truly integrated with it’s natural environment. Stay tuned as we share a closer look at our space in the coming weeks!

LHS Mood Board for our House Beautiful Whole Home Showhouse Home Office and Gym

Thank you so much to Matt for taking the time to chat with us so we could learn more about biophilic design as we incorporate these elements into our home office and gym at the Whole Home Show House. If you would like to check out more of Matt’s work or learn more about biophilic design, head over to his website, follow him on Instagram @biofilico and listen to his podcast series, 'Green & Healthy Places'. 

Now that you know more about it, do you plan to incorporate biophilic design into your space? We would love to hear about your ideas! 

xx  Laura and the LHS design team