Ecotherapeutic Design in its entirety

'We believe in the power of the natural environment to promote, transform and enrich people and society.'

(Project Nurture)

Citicape House in London

Ecodesign and sustainable design, which promote designing things which have little impact on the environment, are already big issues within various industries. An example of this can be seen in my previous blog post. The aesthetic value of incorporating the environment into buildings has also been realised, as seen in the rise of the number of 'living walls' that can be seen. Such as Europe's largest living wall, which is in London. Now, the hospitality industry needs to go a step further and embrace the idea that the environment can not only be nice to look at but can positively affect people's lives.

This area of the unit has perhaps had the biggest impact on me. I've always believed that the hospitality industry can offer some much-needed respite from someone's day-to-day life. It seems that, with ecotherapeutic design, hotels and other businesses within the industry can have much more of a positive impact on people's lives.

Having worked in a spa hotel I have met many people who are escaping modern-day life just for one or two nights to rejuvenate themselves. A spa is a great way to do this, but if the guest can feel just as rejuvenated from walking into the hotel reception, eating dinner or relaxing in their bedroom then hotel's should be offering this.

According to Hannah Hobbs from Project Nurture, nature offers many benefits to people such as; de-stressing, improved concentration, encouraging mindfulness and improvement of physical and mental health. Therefore, hotels can really make a positive impact on a guest by introducing some aspects of ecotherapeutic design. One small step towards this would be to allow the chance for guests to become involved in the picking of fruit and vegetables for the hotel. Many hotels grow their own produce so there need be no additional expense to getting guests involved.

Ecotherapeutic design is not only for guests, but it can also be used to improve the quality of life of staff members as well. If staff rest areas are decorated and incorporate plants, it can destress the staff members on their breaks before they can come back to work.