Interiors can greatly contribute to the health of the mind via their environment as they can aid in bringing tranquility and lessening stress. Architects have given far greater attention to healing environments in recent decades when planning interiors that provide psychological comfort, minimize stress, and foster overall well-being. For example, using wood and plants in design has been proven to decrease cortisol levels (Denieul, 2020), and having quiet contemplation areas or relaxation areas is stress-reducing (Kramer, 2020). The case studies that follow demonstrate the implementation of these kinds of design features such as natural light, materials, layouts, acoustics, etc. in various settings to support mental well-being in the healthcare, education, work, and home environments.
1. Tall Tree Mental Health Clinic (Saanich Peninsula, Canada)
Type: Outpatient mental health clinic, 1,800 sq ft.
Objectives: Establish a peaceful, relaxed counseling center.
The client wanted an environment promoting relaxation and calm, “being surrounded by the comforts of home” instead of a sterile office. The renovation retained exposed wood beams and introduced floor-to-ceiling windows to forest views and sunlight. Expansive windows fill interiors with light and link clients to adjacent trees, a design that alleviates anxiety. Acoustic partitions separate therapy and administrative spaces, providing privacy and quiet. Acoustic panels and glass partitions soundproof treatment rooms from external sounds, making patients feel safe and undisturbed. Warm, homey materials such as exposed wood and wood finishes create a cozy, residential feel (cascadiaarchitects.ca, 2022).
2. Jonas Hill Hospital and Clinic (Lenoir, North Carolina, USA)
Size: 17,500 sq ft inpatient psychiatric hospital with outpatient clinic.
Goals: “Nature-inspired” healing.
High ceilings and clerestory windows throughout the facility allow daylight to pour into spaces, allowing patients to feel more connected to the outside. The inpatient ward’s 22-ft ceilings and lofty windows introduce indirect light, lessening the “institutional” feel common at psychiatric hospitals. Interior textures and colors, such as soft greens, wood, and stone, reflect the Blue Ridge environment. Earthy-toned walls, wood paneling, and stonework textures reflect the outside environment and promote relaxation. Employees observed that even during the night their patients are able to view the stars and trees during the day, so the facility has a park-like indoor environment. Landscaped courtyards and nature murals make sure the patients always have greenery or sky in their sight. Tree views and gardens enhance calmness and improve moods (Stance Healthcare, 2021).
3. “My House” – Architect’s House (Melbourne, Australia)
Type: Private home and office.
Objectives: Employ architecture to enhance individual mental health through light and openness optimization.
Having suffered for years from low spirits during drizzly winters, the architect reworked his long and thin terrace. A clear Thermoclick roof and large windows bathe the interior in daylight. He built an upper-story glass extension for a sunny “greenhouse,” the reverse of the original room. The addition is a kitchen/dining room doubled as a living room, and a top-floor “jungle room” above is an indoor garden lounge. A wide sliding glass wall opens the kitchen to a sunny courtyard and garden, seamlessly integrating inside and outside. The effect is a dwelling full of light and greenery, a deliberate antidote to seasonal affective stress. Numerous houseplants inhabit the extension. The architect feels noticeably more energized and calm in this sunlight-filled, green environment (ArchDaily, 2017).
4. John Lewis Elementary School (Washington, DC, USA)
Type: K-5 public elementary school (WELL-certified).
Objective: To improve student concentration and well-being through design.
The school incorporates ample daylight, natural finishes, and improved ventilation.
Extensive classroom and library windows provide plenty of sunlight. Oversized windows and skylights provide bright, indirect daylight throughout the day. “Pod”-shaped classrooms have glass accordion walls that open up to outdoor learning plazas, allowing indoor/outdoor circulation during class. Operable glass walls and gardens adjoining the classroom allow for outdoor classrooms. Geothermal heating/cooling and high ventilation rates supply fresh, comfortable air leading to reduced stress and better cognitive functioning. Teachers note that students are more alert and conscious, often working in quiet spaces in nature as needed. It is reported the new building has improved student behavior and focus compared to the old building (Education Week, 2023).
5. Innovative Office Spaces (Milan, Italy and Amsterdam, Netherlands)
Use: Corporate and creative offices.
Objectives: Minimize work-related stress through well-being-focused design.
For example, Lenovo’s Milan office positions the majority of the workstations on windowed perimeter walls to optimize daylight exposure for employees, while acoustic panels protect zones of concentration. Carpets, sound booths, and wall panels absorb sound. Lenovo’s design especially separates focus and group areas to “provide comfortable sound levels” and lessen noise-generated stress (Denieul, 2020).
Likewise, an Amsterdam design firm’s office (Interior Works) has living green walls and ample indoor plants to purify the air and boost morale. Plants, green walls, and wood finishes are everywhere. Studies prove these amenities lower stress hormones and improve concentration. Workstations are placed near windows, and see-through partitions allow light to penetrate the plan (Denieul, 2020). Circadian-mimicking lighting is provided within low-light areas to preserve natural rhythms. Companies are also designing wellness spaces, RS Components’ Milan office has a relaxation and play area, enabling workers to lower stress levels. Offices have quiet booths, shared workstations, and lounges. This enables individuals to decide on a place for concentration or socializing (Kramer, 2020).
6. Hennick Bridgepoint Active Healthcare (Toronto, Canada)
Type: Rehabilitation and chronic-care hospital (transformed from a former 19th-century jail).
Objectives: Redesign a hospital as an open, community-centered healing village.
The project retains the heritage red-brick prison wing (now administrative area) and provides a glassy new wing organized around landscaped courtyards and a rooftop park with a view to the Don River valley. The interior is open and light, designed to promote a feeling of community, rather than institution. Expansive windows link patient rooms and corridors to trees, sky, and gardens. Access to natural light is available in almost every area. The interiors filled with light and skyline views assist in uplifting spirits, improving mood and comfort. Hospital personnel have noted that patients who view the outdoor gardens “experience faster healing.”. Wood and brick finishes warm the clinical setting. Coupled with green vistas and fresh air, the areas are welcoming. The emphasis on air quality in the design through low-VOC materials and good ventilation also promotes a healthy, peaceful environment (Bakalova, 2024).
7. Vajrasana Buddhist Retreat (Walsham-le-Willows, UK)
Category: Retreat and meditation center.
Goals: To create a harmonious community for meditation and society (Sangha).
The layout is established as low brick-and-timber pavilions encircling a cloister-like central courtyard. The protected courtyard links living, dining, and lounge spaces, capturing vistas of the landscaped garden. The shared courtyard is used as a monastery cloister, beckoning communal life beneath colonnades. The simple bench seating and pavilions encourage community ambiance. Two inner meditation courtyards (Dharma) are entered through lattice walls from there; one courtyard focuses on a Portuguese limestone stupa, the other on a bronze Buddha statue within a lotus pool. Adjacent meditation courtyards provide secluded spots. Filtered light and a quiet pond and statue are wrapped in brick screen walls, creating tranquil retreat “rooms” in the landscape. Charred Siberian larch, oak flooring, and hand-laid brick are used, both indoors and outdoors. This natural, earthy palette and the dappled patterns of light created by small window openings cast a warmth that invites mindfulness (Aia.org, 2025).
8. The House of Silence (Quevedo, Ecuador)
Type: Private residence constructed as a family meditation retreat.
Aims: Establish a peaceful haven for everyday living.
This single-story house wraps living areas around a roof-light central zen courtyard.
A sloping roof overhangs indoor and outdoor spaces: sliding glass walls open living and dining areas to the interior garden courtyard, which includes a reflecting pool and dense planting. The extensive skylight and operable facades expose the sky and garden. The family house perpetually frames nature from every room one can view greenery and water, creating a meditative quality. The layout makes use of red brick and regional wood throughout, giving it a feeling of warmth and a natural atmosphere. Exposed wooden beams and red brick walls form the interior of the house with a natural hue. This minimal, low-key finish strategy allows occupants to psychologically “unplug.” Critics observe the outcome is “a moment of peace and calmness in an otherwise busy urban context” (NaturaFutura, 2019).
Every example demonstrates how through the incorporation of daylight, biophilia, acoustics, and human-centered design, interior design can positively contribute to wellness. All but one of the projects recorded positive responses; for instance, John Lewis School teachers reported calmer students and tidier habits (Education Week, 2023), and Milan office staff credited reduced tension to new spaces for relaxation (Kramer, 2020). Collectively, these case studies show that well-considered interior space, whether home, hospital, school, or workplace, can contribute positively to mental well-being.
References:
- Denieul, X. (2020). Working well: office design for mental health – Tétris-db. [online] Tétris-db. Available at: https://www.tetris-db.com/en/news/working-well-office-design-for-mental-health/ [Accessed 28 May 2025].
- Kramer, N. (2020). Working Well: Office Design For Good Mental Health. [online] Work Design Magazine. Available at:https://www.workdesign.com/2020/11/working-well-office-design-for-good-mental-health/.
- Cascadiaarchitects.ca. (2022). Case Study: Tall Tree Mental Health Clinic at Mattick’s — Cascadia Architects. [online] Available at: https://www.cascadiaarchitects.ca/case-studies/tall-tree-mental-health-clinic-at-matticks [Accessed 28 May 2025].
- Stance Healthcare. (2021). Furniture Designed with Health in Mind. [online] Available at: https://www.stancehealthcare.com/blog/case-study-nature-inspires-healing-from-the-outside-in-at-jonas-hill-hospital-and-clinic [Accessed 29 May 2025].
- ArchDaily. (2017). My House – The Mental Health House / Austin Maynard Architects. [online] Available at: https://www.archdaily.com/873011/my-house-the-mental-health-house-austin-maynard-architects.
- Education Week. (2023). How This School Uses Architecture and Design to Improve Mental Health. [online] Available at: https://www.edweek.org/leadership/video-how-this-school-uses-architecture-and-design-to-improve-mental-health/2023/01.
- Denieul, X. (2020). Working well: office design for mental health – Tétris-db. [online] Tétris-db. Available at: https://www.tetris-db.com/en/news/working-well-office-design-for-mental-health/.
- Bakalova, E. (2024). Building Health: How an Old Jailhouse in Toronto Became the Heart of Patient-Centered Care. [online] Journal. Available at: https://architizer.com/blog/inspiration/stories/toronto-hennick-bridgepoint-hospital-healthcare-design/.
- Aia.org. (2025). Case Study: Vajrasana Buddhist Retreat Center, Walters & Cohen Architects. [online] Available at: https://network.aia.org/blogs/katherine-b-ball-aia/2019/01/21/case-study-vajrasana [Accessed 29 May 2025].
- NaturaFutura (2019). natura futura’s house of silence features a central courtyard for meditation in ecuador. [online] designboom | architecture & design magazine. Available at: https://www.designboom.com/architecture/natura-futura-arquitectura-the-house-of-silence-ecuador-08-14-2019/.
