Sustainable Design to Maximise Health and Wellbeing

At CEAD Architects, we have researched alternative materials and finishes for many years, including the latest non-toxic options and finding the best balance between performance and value. We also use the design itself to maximise wellbeing through careful use of daylight, views and colour.

5/8/20242 min read

Our experience of the world, physical and sensory, is overwhelmingly defined by the four walls and materials that make up the rooms of our offices and homes.

We’ve all been in places that made us feel less than our best. The problem is that many of us spend the bulk of our lives in rooms like this. Offices that are stuffy, with cleaning chemicals liberally sprayed on all surfaces every other day or conversely nothing cleaned in months. Poor lighting and limited access to daylight. It just fades into the background of our day to day.

We hope that when we make a new building for a Client we can get it right from the start. Through simple choices, we can set up spaces that make people feel good and enhance productivity and health. This doesn’t need to cost more – it just needs care and attention. Access to daylight, fresh air, the materials that make up the surfaces you touch and interact with.

Done well, this makes spaces that reduce allergies, aid concentration, increase productivity and reduce ‘sick building syndrome’ effects like headaches and irritation from contaminants. They also raise mood and help reinforce natural circadian rhythms. These effects are well documented and founded on good quality research.

We use these elements, to suit your priorities and budget and to make the best quality spaces and maximise your health and wellbeing. Sometimes this is as simple as careful positioning of windows to maximise daylight and minimise glare, but it can also extend to careful selection of materials and more. For example, using natural insulation, low-VOC paints and finishes, minimising harmful solvents and more.

We take your lead, but we are here to give you the benefit of our research and experience to give you the best possible results.

Speak to us or follow some of the links below to find out more about this important aspect of building design.

Indoor air pollution: new EU research reveals higher risks than previously thought

40% of Brits spend just 15 minutes outdoors each day 40% of Brits spend just 15 minutes outdoors each day

Indoor air pollution – The killer within?

National Institute For Health And Care Excellence Guideline Scope Indoor Air Quality At Home

Timing of light exposure affects mood and brain circuits

Why Sunlight Is So Good For You