Happy by Design: A Guide to Architecture and Mental Wellbeing

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If budget is an important constraint, decide which spaces will benefit most from the extra daylight they will receive from larger windows. By using the Web site, you confirm that you have read, understood, and agreed to be bound by the Terms and Conditions. As a student, I loved books such as Gordon Cullen’s The Concise Townscape and Christopher Alexander, Sara Ishikawa and Murray Silverstein’s A Pattern Language, which combined beautiful passages on design with informative images and useful diagrams.

I’ve noticed dramatic changes in my mental wellbeing and positivity when I’ve had to live or work in an unpleasant space. The author of Happy by Design: A Guide to Architecture and Wellbeing (2019, RIBA Publishing), Ben regularly speaks on this subject to businesses and universities around the world. Calendar arrived safely in plastic-free packaging - which I've not seen before with a calendar, so kudos for that. From this experience, he realised that mental health issues are universal and that anyone can find themselves struggling. Ben Channon Ben Channon is an architect at Assael Architecture, where he is the Mental Wellbeing Ambassador for the practice, and is also an accredited mindfulness practitioner with the Mindfulness Association.This guide is designed to help students understand what a 'site analysis' is and why it is valuable to their design proposals, this book provides 100 easy-to-follow rules of thumb with simple line drawings and illustrations to help. I can honestly say from start to finish the whole process was seamless, it took just over a month and the end result is amazing! In his 2018 book, Happy by Design, architect and mindfulness practitioner Ben Channon notes how ‘colour can be used to create a mood or an atmosphere at very little cost, and can even encourage socialising, evoke calmness or improve our focus.

Particularly in cities like London, stories around the health dangers of particulate matter and other air pollutants are increasingly common. Read the article from Francoise Astorg Bollack the author of the Old Buildings, New Ideas: A Selective Architectural History of Additions, Adaptations, Reuse and Design Invention. I wanted to bring my knowledge of mental health and mindfulness to the fore in the design process, helping clients create buildings that would make their users happier and promote wellbeing.Having carved out a reputation as an industry expert on this subject, he is now in high demand on panel discussions, podcasts, at major corporations and for university lectures. They listened to what we needed and turned our ideas into something workable and user friendly and its looks really great too.

A soft fabric will also pleasingly catch the breeze if the window is open—a good way to bring life and movement to a gloomy space. These systems are sensitively balanced, and even small changes in the amount of daylight we receive can have substantial impacts on our mood, productivity and overall wellbeing.

Read more about the condition New: A new, unread, unused book in perfect condition with no missing or damaged pages. This is often the first piece of advice I give people when they ask what one thing they should do to make their home a better place to spend time in. Hallewell Publications is a small publishing house based in Argyll which concentrates largely on a single project: a popular series of walking guides which covers Scotland and selected areas of England. Ben is an ambassador for the Architects’ Benevolent Society, and works closely with the charity to promote their mental health support services. He is a Director at design-for-wellbeing consultancy Ekkist, a WELL Accredited Professional and co-founder of the Architects' Mental Wellbeing Forum, which is focused on improving mental health within the industry.

Good architecture isn’t going to provide magical cures to people with severe mental health problems – this is a fact.Remember also that windows higher up a building will receive more daylight than windows on lower floors, as more open sky is visible. It is made up of a number of architectural practices who are renowned for their approach to staff welfare. They outlined each step in detail and worked with our vision, which they understood fully from the off.