The Psychology of Built Environment Design

Environmental Psychology is the study of transactional relationships between individuals and their environments.

An environment can be natural or built, physical or social, real or virtual – all influencing how people see, feel, think and act in a space. That is, environments act as settings for people’s behaviours, perceptions and attitudes.

Built environment psychology focuses specifically on how the features, spaces, and elements of a building, as well as those of outdoor settings like streetscapes and urban landscapes affect people. It is becoming increasingly important to design Built Environments that focuses on and supports user’s psychological needs. Where architectural research predominantly looks at design challenges from a more aesthetic, functional, and efficiency perspective, environmental psychology research addresses psychological needs and factors. These can be cognitive and affective wellbeing, health, basic psychological needs, behaviours covering identity, attachment, belonging, safety, autonomy, independence and so on.

I believe that for built-environment designs to be truly human-centric, it should address psycho-social necessities and challenges. This means taking the ‘people’ element of built-environment design processes beyond ‘user’ consultations, market research, feedback surveys – to designing for psychological, social, and behavioural needs in the spaces, for sustained health and wellbeing. This may involve, using research and evidence to guide designs, assessing and measuring people’s experiences, perceptions, and behaviours within Post-Occupancy Evaluations, and asking – what do people (and the environment) truly need from these spaces?

It is not the sole responsibility of an architect or designer to create meaningful and tailored spaces. It is a collective responsibility of everyone involved in the design, development, delivery and management of built-environment initiatives. There is a growing need for more research or evidence in how built environment attributes and people interact.

In response to this, I am developing rigorous research evidence, and championing a shift in research and design paradigms, towards a more psychologically grounded design approach for higher wellbeing.