Spaces that make you feel good: interview with Lucilla Malara
Publication date: 02.09.2025
How can an environment improve the health, emotions and productivity of those who live in it?
Biophilic Design and Environmental Psychology offer concrete answers, integrating nature and design to create regenerating workspaces.
Nature is good for us: by integrating principles of biophilia into design work, space becomes an ally of health and performance.
Architect, biophilic designer and environmental psychology consultant, Lucilla Malara has made this topic the focus of her professional research. Together with Donatella Mongera (occupational and environmental psychologist), she is the author of the book "Spazio al benessere – Come la Psicologia Ambientale e il Biophilic Design possono rigenerare l’ambiente di lavoro" (GueriniNext) and was among the speakers at our edition of ARCHITECT@WORK Milan 2025 (Fiera Milano Rho), with a talk dedicated to “evolving workspaces”.
The volume edited by Malara and Mongera aims to be ‘An invitation to rethink the design of work environments... focusing on the well-being of people, the community and the planet.’
For the September event, we asked her a few questions to explore her point of view in greater depth.
Your work integrates different disciplines. How can Environmental Psychology and Biophilic Design work together to transform an office into an environment capable of regenerating those who live in it?
To transform an office into a truly regenerating environment, it is necessary to bring together different but complementary and cross-cutting approaches, adopting Human & Organisation Centred Design, which puts people and the organisation at the centre.
Environmental Psychology provides scientific evidence to understand how space influences performance, relationships, emotions, quality of life and health. Through accurate analysis methods, it allows individual and organisational needs to emerge and be translated into targeted design solutions, going beyond the traditional functional briefing and intercepting declared and latent needs.
Biophilic Design is the tool through which this knowledge takes shape in space: it is not limited to introducing natural elements (plants, air quality, light, sensory stimuli, materials, shapes and colours reminiscent of nature, etc.), but recreates spatial and multisensory experiences and qualities typical of natural environments and systems, activating the innate connection between human beings and nature and promoting the regeneration of attention.
The integration of these two approaches allows for the design of spaces that support work activities and promote psychological and physical well-being, desired behaviours, a sense of belonging and motivation.
Not just greenery: the right lighting is also essential for mood, energy and comfort.
You often emphasise the link between wellbeing and performance. How does incorporating biophilic elements and conducting an in-depth needs analysis improve creativity, productivity or team cohesion?
The link between wellbeing and performance is now widely documented: offices designed according to the principles of Biophilic Design have shown productivity increases of up to 15% and significant reductions in perceived stress.
The inclusion of biophilic elements must be accompanied by an in-depth analysis of individual and organisational needs, conducted using environmental psychology tools through listening and observation. This allows us to understand needs, operating methods, behaviours and interactions between functions, designing environments that respond to needs and stimulate new behaviours with a “gentle push”.
When these two approaches are integrated from the earliest stages, spaces inspired by the architecture of nature are created, capable of promoting concentration, creativity, motivation, psychophysical recovery and positive relationships.
Space thus becomes a strategic lever for people and organisations, supporting high performance and overall well-being, and representing a competitive advantage capable not only of attracting and retaining talent, but also of consolidating corporate culture.
What is the first step a designer should take to integrate Biophilic Design into their projects, even with limited budgets?
The first step is to explore the principles of environmental psychology and the tools of biophilic design, so as to translate scientific evidence into practical, tailor-made solutions. It is equally important to promote a culture of conscious design, focused on people's real well-being and capable of guiding effective choices even with limited resources. In these cases, it is possible to intervene with small restyling projects following a structured, scientific but flexible process: observing spaces and behaviours, mapping what already exists and identifying areas for improvement.
The goal is to create environments that establish a direct and indirect connection with nature, integrating spatial articulation solutions and experiential paths that enhance people's quality of life and well-being, without necessarily resorting to costly interventions. When a company chooses to invest in spaces, it is actually choosing to take care of people, because “space can heal”.
Co-authors of Spazio al Benessere: Lucilla Malara and Donatella Mongera
Lucilla Malara's talk was one of the key moments of the edition of ARCHITECT@WORK Milan, which on 10 and 11 September brought together architects, interior designers and companies to explore the innovations and ideas that are transforming the way we design. It was an opportunity to discover first-hand how biophilia can become a driver of well-being and quality in the spaces we live in every day.