ABSTRACT

Biophilic design, a design practice that promotes wellness through the connection of people and the natural world, has grown in popularity over the years but is often discussed only in the context of its implementation in large-scale architectural projects. As a practice that is regarded by many as overtly beneficial, it is intriguing that it is mainly discussed in terms of its application in the workplace or commercial projects when its most widespread benefit can be felt in the one place that almost everyone has in common: the home. The application of biophilic design in the home, while not a new topic, is one that is primarily skipped over or assumed to be out of reach for the majority of society. This practice should not be limited in this field due to the immense opportunity for far-reaching benefit that lies in making biophilic design practices widely available to projects at the smaller residential scale.

Through familiarization with the major literature on biophilic design and an investigation into the ways in which biophilic practices have already been implemented in residential scale projects, this thesis will investigate how biophilic design practices are related to the idea of well-being for the user and how they can be generalized and executed on the residential scale in order to provide the benefits of nature in an extensive way. These general practices will be compiled in a comprehensive catalog, or pattern book, that will be used to inform the design of a series of biophilic home prototypes concentrated on providing maximum wellness benefits to its residents. This design will be documented through drawings and each of the different practices will be further described in the pattern book as to how they can be implemented and what specific benefits they provide to the user. This thesis will yield a resource for the application of biophilic design in the residential environment in the way of a pattern book of design applications that can provide inspiration and direction on how to move forward with the implementation of biophilic design in residential projects.