Wellbeing & Human needs

1 Infographic showing psychology theory called 'Maslow's hierarchy of needs' in its most simpliest of froms.

By applying this theory to homeless accommodation and the people who are experiencing homelessness, we can see that by developing designs with wellness and community values at its core in a supported accommodation setting, it is fundamentally checking off a large portion of these basic human needs.

Wellbeing & Human Needs

A recent study published in the Journal of Environmental Psychology, states that having a bond of some sort with places effects wellbeing and that having emotional connections to these places in which we have been surrounded by, is a normal part of human nature. The study also states that there has, in the past, been significant research to support the claim that feeling attached to our space does indeed have benefits of a psychological nature. (Scannell and Gifford, 2017).

Giving the residents a sense of ownership in these spaces, for example, the chance to personalise to some degree their private areas such as their living environments could help instil an emotional bond to these areas.

In the book Wellbeing in interiors, Elina Grigoriou discusses at length what the fundamentals are for designing for wellbeing. Elina states that the fundamental prerequisites needed for creating the opportunity for wellbeing within interiors are beauty and comfort. However, this is not quite as simple as making the space look appealing or providing a soft sofa for example, but in fact comes right down to areas often overlooked by many interior designers, such as air quality. Indoor air, ventilation, natural light, artificial lighting, soundproofing, spatial planning and even the views from the space can all affect an inhabitant achieving wellbeing within a space.

I aim to think about all of these things when designing the project, it may not seem obvious to look at but I will attempt to point out cetrain items I have considered with regards to designing for wellbeing.