‘Biophilia is humankind’s innate biological connection with nature’
As the modern built environment has detached humans from the natural elements in which we evolved, the proposal for a biophilic tower is meant to improve the users’ mental well-being and productivity. The Biophilia Tower is a prototype building that focuses on user’s experience. It represents a symbiosis between nature, well-being and technology-driven design. The tower design maximises outdoor spaces and is based on principles of biophilic architecture. It is a mixed use building with a pedestrianised ground floor, a small ‘urban farm’ used as a therapeutic space and biophilic residential units. The public access on the ground floor area consists of accessible walkways, a local market, an art gallery and a performance area to support local artists. The transition between the public and private spaces is a vertical farm which is meant to improve the user’s experience and act as a therapeutic space for people working or living in the building. The public spaces are designed as stepped terraces to respond to the urban context. The floors are connected by an atrium that uses parametric design principles to improve the natural ventilation and sunlight gain of the spaces. The tower consists of residential units which are maximizing the balconies space and adjusting them to suit each person’s needs. All of these principles are encapsulated in a ‘tall timber’ skyscraper design to emphasize the biophilia concept and how mass timber construction is the new architecture of the 21st century.
