![]() Such ‘silo thinking’ tends not to aid good design (perfectionism can be crippling) and often different criteria are in tension. When we discuss well-being in buildings, it is more important to incorporate a wide range of both quantitative and qualitative health considerations rather than to focus on single, narrowly defined criteria. These findings are interpreted here in terms of architectural design. There is an established body of expertise related to the study of physical health with increasing quantitative evidence, but research into well-being in the built environment is a relatively recent and largely qualitative area of investigation that is nevertheless beginning to reveal consistent and widely accepted findings. However, this essay will focus instead on supporting positive mental well-being, which, in turn, has implications for physiological health. There can be no doubt that negative physical health-related considerations associated with, for example, poor indoor environmental quality should be avoided. ![]() The emphasis will be on the presence of well-being rather than the absence of ill health. The purpose of this article is to outline the definition(s) of health and well-being, and to determine the potential implications and opportunities for housing design. Can architecture create choice architecture? The role that architecture can play seems evident: “Designled interventions can make better choices easier or constrain behaviours by making certain actions more difficult” 2. People can be nudged into making better decisions in largely automatic, non-coercive and simple ways, through changing what Thaler and Sunstein refer to as “choice architecture”. The publication of Nudge: Improving health, wealth and happiness by Richard Thaler and Cass Sunstein in 2008 was influential in revealing that behaviour can be strongly influenced by context 1. The design of our built environment affects our health and well-being, and can have long-term implications for quality of life. ![]() Based on the Five Ways to Well-Being that have recently been established by scientists, this article outlines some essential rules of thumb that designers can follow in order to nudge building users into a healthier way of living. To truly enhance human well-being, building design needs to move beyond optimising single parameters such as temperature and humidity, to more holistic approaches that take their cues in health-supporting human behaviours. Text by Koen Steemers | photography by Thekla Ehling
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