Environmental psychologist Lily Bernheimer on how architecture affects wellbeing
As part of our series on wellbeing, for which we have visited Duncan McLeod and Lyndsay Milne McLeod’s west London home and Anna and Russel Hayden’s Passivhaus in Stockport, we’re speaking to environmental psychologist Lily Bernheimer on how architecture affects wellbeing.
Lily is well versed in how to configure spaces that work better for human needs, being a writer, researcher and head of Space Works Consulting firm, which utilises academic architectural research for real-world application.
Here, Lily draws from our sales listings to explain how they promote wellbeing.
Lily Bernheimer: “Research has shown that the built environment tends to support our wellbeing best when it echoes the natural world in some way. And it’s not just about how many trees there are! It’s also about factors like light, pattern, dimension and sound.
“The natural environment is what we were created to excel in, so we tend to be drawn to elements that would have once helped support our survival and wellbeing.
“One way domestic architecture can mimic the natural world is by offering refuge and prospect. In the natural environment, refuge could be a small dark cave or a little nook in a hill. Prospect would be a vantage point that allows threats and opportunities to be perceived.
“Refuge spaces can be areas of a house that are cosy and dark, such as the study in Walter Greaves’ family home, which he designed to be north-facing to prevent too much natural light coming in.
“At the same time, we also like prospect spaces. When we think about the domestic environment, we find that people really love homes with a view. Keeling House and Pemberton Gardens are good examples of this as they offer vistas over London from elevated positions.
“Refuge and prospect can explain the appeal of Frank Lloyd Wright’s architecture, which often has a great balance of low ceilings opening up onto areas which have higher ceilings and views. This trick was used by Neil Marlow in his flat in Westcombe Court, where low ceilings give way to taller ones and large windows in the living area.
“Another important element is ordered complexity, as it has been found to have a really positive impact on wellbeing.
“An extremely ordered environment might have little variation in colour, material, detail and ornamentation. It can be very boring; hospitals are an example of this.
“A lack of complexity can have a negative effect on people’s wellbeing because it mimics the sensation of a neurophysiological breakdown, of not having enough information about where you are in your environment and how to navigate it, which is a stressful experience.
“Natural scenes tend to be defined by fractal geometry. A tree is fractal in its overall structure because its shape is roughly approximated in the shape of its branches, which are roughly approximated in the shape of its twigs.
“Those fractal patterns are a specific balance of order and complexity. We find fractal patterns in the vernacular architecture of all types of different cultures, such as the decorative mouldings of the Western tradition.
“The period features of Mornington Terrace are a good example of this as their underlying geometry contains similar patterns to the ones we often find in nature.
“It’s also something we find in Gothic cathedrals, Hindu temples and high-quality Modernist architecture. Research has found that the most successful Modernist works are not just one big white box.
“For example, Berthold Lubetkin’s Penthouse in Highpoint doesn’t have mouldings, but there is quite a lot of detail in the scale of the long narrow windows, which are divided up into sections.
“It might contain fractal properties or not, but what research has found is that the best Modernist architecture often demonstrates scales and dimensions which are informed by natural proportions.
“Mystery and legibility is another consideration for domestic architecture. We like legibility in the sense that we want a space to be laid out in a way that is easy to navigate.
“But humans are information seeking creatures. We are very drawn to the promise of new information; the curiosity of finding out what’s beyond the bend is very intriguing to us.
“So we are also really attracted to mystery. The spiral staircase is the iconic image of mystery, such as the one that leads to the private garden of Spedan Close.
“In great examples of Modernist architecture, you’ll find variation in the size of spaces. The Isokon Penthouse demonstrates this well as the open-plan living room balances the smaller, more intimate bedroom.
“We find that successful buildings can support comfort, but also inspire people with a sense of awe.
“Studies might support the statement ‘people prefer tall ceilings’. But if every room in a house had really high ceilings, that might feel odd and not very comfortable.
“For example, a bathroom should feel very safe and comforting, like the one in the Mare Street house that has bookshelves, a fireplace and a dark-coloured rug.
“People have a particular love for semi-enclosed spaces, so features such as French doors, like the ones found in Northiam, are ideal because they allow you to open and close off spaces.”
Do you have a well-designed house to sell? We are now booking valuations for the Spring selling season. If you’d like to know the current value of your home, please get in touch to reserve an appointment.
Lily is the author of ‘The Shaping of Us: How Everyday Spaces Structure Our Lives, Behaviour, and Well-Being‘.
Read more: My Modern House: architects Anna and Russel Hayden on building a Passivhaus for comfort and wellbeing
My Modern House: architect Duncan McLeod and set designer Lyndsay Milne McLeod on architecture for wellbeing in their playful west London home
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