NATURE’S TONIC FEATURE Nature’s Tonic
After the madness of the Christmas rush is over and the January lull sets in with the long dark nights, we can all start to feel the gloomy winter blues. As we know, this may be reflected in a decline in customer foot-fall and spending habits. Sarah Robinson talks to eco-celebrity interior designer Oliver Heath to discover how retailers can use a connection with nature to attract customers and drive sales.
Television interior designer, journalist and author Oliver Heath, has long been interested in designing with sustainability in mind. The current trend in connecting the spaces we inhabit with nature is something that has been a recurring theme throughout his work. Biophilia (meaning life love) may be a relatively new concept for the UK and, much to Oliver’s annoyance, is often described as ‘bringing the outside in’. However, when we start to incorporate nature into our surroundings there is no doubt that it has a deep psychological effect on us, bringing a whole host of benefits to our health, wellbeing and habits. It would be easy to dismiss the concept as ‘green marketing’ but it is, in fact, backed up with data and empirical research carried out by psychologists.
Why it’s important to retailers
We might not notice it automatically but principles of biophilia have already been embraced by the retail world. Oliver uses shopping malls as a prime example, and highlights the fact that their design taps into our most primordial instincts. “Picture a mall – they’re built on multi-tiers, with many levels. At some point there will be a vantage point where you can look down the mall and see biophilic elements such as fountains, trees and natural light flooding through the atrium. These elements key into people’s basic desire to have nature around them and the pleasing qualities it brings them. So, you can imagine that it is in effect a sort of artificial savannah that provides a plentiful view, which would allow us to survive and thrive.”
As Oliver points out, studies in the United States have demonstrated that design elements such as natural light
can have a dramatic influence on sales. He mentions one study, in which it was proven that natural light in certain areas attracted customers and encouraged them to spend more. “Research shows that customers prefer shopping in spaces that demonstrate biophilic principles where there is lots of nature, trees and water features and places for them to sit, with natural light as opposed to heavily built-up very urban environments.”
It seems almost obvious that people would prefer to shop in areas where they are surrounded by natural beauty, but what can we do if our retail premises are situated in an inner-city urban centre and without any access to natural light? “Well”, says Oliver, “In the absence of nature, or without direct contact with nature, there are ways that you can use materials and products, which in some way mimic nature.” This concept is known as biomimicry and involves using natural materials like timber or stone, or introducing items with a natural aesthetic or colour scheme into interior spaces.
One retailer that has successfully incorporated a strong biophilic presence is Anthropologie in London, who installed a 15m green living wall system into their Regents Street store. “It’s really stunning, you walk in and you’re totally wowed! And it’s not just the effect of the feature, but also the deeper psychological reaction it produces with the calming quality of nature.”
If you are creating a retail space the study suggests that by using natural materials you would create a more
reliable source of information from the staff in that space.
For those of us for whom installing a towering wall of plants is a pipe dream, there are other ways in which we can simulate nature. Manufacturers are now starting to realise the benefits of natural light and are creating LED light systems that can create circadian systems. Oliver explains that circadian rhythms are the impact of natural light on our 24-hour lifecycle. In fact, we may not realise it but our moods, behaviour, hormones and sleep-wake cycles are all regulated
Tomorrow’s Retail Floors Winter 2015 | 27
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