Buildings in Natural Wood: Living in Beauty & Wellness
Biophilic design is architecture’s response to the human need of being connected with nature. Central to biophilic design is the use of exposed natural wood, as part of the building’s structure, and as an interior finish material.
The exposure to natural wood improves the way we feel inside a building, as human beings associate the scent, the texture and grain, the color and visual warmth of natural wood with nature. The use of natural wood in buildings like TA, built with a mass timber hybrid structure, surround residents with visual exposure to wood that has been shown helps increase our comfort and reduce stress, lowering heart rate, skin conductivity and cortisol levels.
Living in a space surrounding us with natural wood supports our health, as wood has multiple properties beneficial to our lives. For example, natural wood is hypoallergenic, meaning it’s unlikely to cause allergic reactions, as it’s free from the chemicals prevalent in construction materials, like formaldehyde off-gassing products. Also, natural wood is a highly effective anti-bacterial surface that renders it difficult for pathogens to survive, and supports diverse indoor biomes favorable to our health.
Wood contributes to improve indoor air quality, specifically by increasing the effectiveness rate of ventilation and filtration systems, and reducing environmental pollutants. And natural wood’s hygroscopic properties help moderate humidity by absorbing moisture during periods of high humidity, and releasing it in periods of low humidity, a useful property in humid cities like Miami.
Other benefits for our health are thermal comfort, as wood is a natural insulator, and its visually ‘warm’ surrounding improves our perceived thermal comfort. It also benefits acoustic comfort, as wood’s porous and sound-dampening qualities reduce vibration and sound transmission.
Living in a building connecting us with nature by surrounding us with natural wood is not just aesthetically pleasing and visually comforting, but it’s also healthy living. And it also feels good to know using natural wood helps meet the standards of green sustainable building certification, as it contributes to reduce global warming and protect our environment. I’ll share more about this in my next blog, and until then stay connected with nature!