How to Create a Biophilic Learning Space

Incorporating biophilic principles into your classroom or school setting can revolutionise the way students learn and interact. Studies have shown that a connection to nature can significantly reduce anxiety, boost motivation, and improve overall academic outcomes. With 1 in 10 young people facing mental health challenges, the importance of a nurturing, natural environment has never been greater. Read on to explore the fundamentals of biophilic design and discover our tips on how to create a biophilic learning space with Cabins for Schools...

How to Create a Biophilic Learning Space 

The term ‘biophilia’ refers to ‘a love of life or living things’. It derives from the Greek word ‘philia’ meaning ‘love of’. Biophilic design is all about bringing the outside in and integrating natural elements or parts of nature into a built environment. 

Incorporating biophilic design principles in the classroom or other areas of your school environment is a fantastic way to create a calm learning environment. Creating a stronger connection with the natural world promotes both mental and physical wellbeing and benefits the students, staff and visitors to the school! It also increases students’ willingness to learn as well as their motivation levels which will drive academic outcomes. Plus, studies have confirmed that biophilic design in schools reduces anxiety. This is especially important because 1 in 10 young people can be experiencing an issue with their mental health at any one time. Let’s discuss biophilic design further and how you can incorporate it in your educational setting…

What are the biophilic design principles?

• Maximising natural light & ventilation 

• Having openable windows with views of the sky and trees that also allow the external natural soundscape to be heard

• Using natural materials and textures in the internal and external fit out for increased sensory experience

• Providing access to landscaped settings, as both retreat spaces and communal areas, which (however small) incorporate a whole ecosystem – including fauna, flora, rocks and water within them.

How do I create a biophilic learning space?

 Creating a biophilic learning space can be achieved by considering a variety of principles. These are commonly categorised as either a direct experience of nature, an indirect experience of nature, or an experience of space and/or place. 

Offering a direct experience with nature in your learning environment

Create a visual connection with nature

Offer your pupils and staff alike a view of nature. This can easily be achieved when opting for one of our modular outdoor classrooms, as we offer the option of large glass bifold doors. Pupils will be able to see out onto the natural landscape and when you choose to open out the bifold doors, this will create a more open-air experience where they can feel more integrated with the outside. Another way to establish a visual connection with nature would be to take moments to directly observe the weather through your windows and doors. 

Light and air

Your outdoor classroom having large windows and or bifold doors allows for natural airflow and ventilation. They also allow for plenty of natural lighting. If you choose one of our log cabins, opt for a solar pipe to let the natural light flood in that way! Research has shown that exposure to natural light can improve cognitive function, enhance mood, and even boost overall health and well-being.

Integrate plants

Adding plants and greenery into your learning environment can increase visual interest, improve air quality and oxygen levels. This will in turn improve concentration levels. What’s more? Indoor plants can also act as sound absorbers, therefore helping to control acoustics in your outdoor classroom. 

Bonus: introduce fire!

While fire as a natural element is hard to incorporate into biophilic design, our log cabins make it easy. Choosing one of our log cabins with a central BBQ grill unit allows you to introduce students to fire in a safe, controlled environment. Teach them about risk awareness and risk management as well as basic cookery. The colours and warmth of the fire will be stimulating for your pupils too. 

Offering an indirect experience with nature in your learning environment

Use of natural materials

These are 'materials and elements from nature that, through minimal processing, reflect the local ecology or geology and create a distinct sense of place'. When we design your outdoor classroom, you can choose sustainable Scandinavian redwood or even a cedar cladding, both of which will promote biophilia in your learning space. For the interior design inside your learning environment, choose natural fabrics and furnishings where possible, as well as wooden furniture to match. 

Use of natural colours

When designing or adapting your learning space, opt for colours which naturally occur in nature, or the 'earth-tones'. Think subdued greens, browns and blues! Here are some of the natural paint options we offer so you can incorporate earth tones into your new biophilic outdoor classroom:

Biophilic art and graphics

When choosing any art pieces for your classroom or hallway walls, consider art which mimics nature. Murals of the natural landscape such as lakes, mountains or forests are a great way to bring the outside in and establish an indirect connection to nature.

Billesley Primary School's Biophilic Outdoor Classroom

We worked with Billesley Primary School in Birmingham to design and install an additional learning and support space. The school opted for a bespoke 7.5m x 4m Redwood cladded Eco Classroom. They have extended their biophilic environment from their main school building into their cabin, considering biophilic design principles to create the ultimate safe, calm space for their pupils. This helps the children to feel more at ease and open to communication! When we revisited the school to see how they were getting on, their assistant headteacher Mrs McDaniels told us:

‘We aim to create a biophilic environment at our school and have extended this into the cabin. Our cabin really draws in the benefits of the biophilic environment and allows us to have a multifaceted approach to it. We use our biophilic outdoor classroom to engage the wider community and provide high-quality interventions’ 

The staff at Billesley have made biophilia a real focus at their school for the benefit of their pupils, themselves and their visitors alike. Just like throughout the corridors and within the classrooms in their main school build, they have kitted out their outdoor classroom with live plants, creating a direct experience with nature as outlined earlier in this blog. 

Choose your best location

Since our outdoor classrooms are modular standalone buildings, we can install them in a variety of places at your site. Perhaps you have green grounds or an area which looks out onto trees. This would be a fantastic spot to have your new biophilic learning space! Our experts can conduct a free site survey to advise you on the best location at your school.

Include transitional spaces

This manipulation of the experience with space and place principle aims to connect interior spaces with the outside or create comfort by providing access from one space to another. This can be achieved through selecting one of our optional extras when designing your biophilic school building, such as adding a veranda on your eco classroom or a covered porch on your log cabin!

Ready to incorporate biophilia into your school? Our team of experts can put biophilic design principles right at the heart of designing your new modular eco classroom or log cabin learning space. Get in touch today - it's time to bring the outside in!