If you were to design a building that prioritises occupants’ happiness, what would it look like? How would the materials, form and layout support healthy ways of living and working? Delving into the evidenced-based research on architecture and mental wellbeing, The Happy Design Toolkit helps you to create happier places. It explores how factors, such as lighting, comfort, control over our environments and access to nature, exercise and social interaction, can impact how we feel.

Easy-to-understand tips include bringing nature into your developments with roof gardens and living facades and countering social isolation with communal areas that encourage chance interaction. Each of the featured architectural interventions includes an analysis of the wellbeing benefits as well as the potential limitations or associated challenges. From sparking joy in individual homes and workplaces to encouraging healthier lifestyles through landscaping and urban design, this book demonstrates how wellbeing concepts can be integrated across a range of scales and typologies.

DETAILS:
By Ben Channon
RIBA Publishing, 2022
Hardcover, 240 pages
10.12 x 1.06 x 8.54 inches