News

Technology meets biophilia: the future of hospitality

Patio at the Villa Cortine Palace Hotel in Sirmione, Italy. The building materials and details, furniture, and view each contribute to the biophilic experience of the space.
Posted on Thu, 2018-02-22 10:00 by APowell

The growing need for personalised experiences is driving hotels across the Middle East to constantly adapt and identify new ways to improve their customers stay.

Developers and hospitality brands are on the lookout for ways to stay ahead of the curve, by anticipating what customers want now and what they will want in the future.

The Sydney Park Water Re-use project by Turf Design Studio and Environmental Partnership is in the running for Europe’s oldest award for the built environment, the Civic Trust Awards, which aim to “encourage the very best architecture in the built environment” and to “reward projects that offer a positive cultural, social, economic or environmental benefit to their local communities.”

Exposure to greenery staves off depression

Posted on Tue, 2018-02-13 10:46 by APowell

Exposure to trees and other greenery has been shown to stave off depression in adults, and a new US study finds the same may be true for teenagers. 

Researchers looked at more than 9,000 kids aged 12 to 18 and found those who lived in areas with lots of natural vegetation nearby were less likely to display high levels of depression symptoms. The effect was strongest among middle schoolers, the study team reports in Journal of Adolescent Health. 

China will plant new forests covering an area roughly the size of Ireland this year as it aims to increase forest coverage to 23 percent of its total landmass by the end of the decade, China Daily reported on Friday.

Planting trees has become a key part of China’s efforts to improve its environment and tackle climate change, and the government has pledged to raise total coverage from 21.7 percent to 23 percent over the 2016-2020 period, said the China Daily, citing the country’s top forestry official.

With research showing the average North American spends 90 percent of their time indoors, Think Wood advocates for the design of our buildings—particularly office spaces—to promote productivity, functionality, creativity and occupant wellbeing. Uses of wood as a structural or finishing material not only offer aesthetic beauty, but enhances indoor air quality, acoustics, thermal comfort, and energy efficiency. Perhaps most notably, it also has biophilic benefits—the innate wellness humans feel towards nature.

If there was ever any doubt about the need for green infrastructure to complement Sydney's building boom, the scorching heatwave that cooked the city earlier this month should have cured it.

In the first week of 2018, Sydney baked through 40 degree temperatures, while Penrith, in the city's west, clocked in at the hottest place on earth as the mercury hit 47.3 degrees.

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