City Skyline and Harbor from Marina Bay Singapore (left)

Crowding. Environmental psychology addresses environmental problems such as density and crowding, noise pollution, sub-standard living, and urban decay. Noise increases environmental stress. Although it has been found that control and predictability are the greatest factors in stressful effects of noise; context, pitch, source and habituation are also important variables. Environmental psychologists have theorized that density and crowding can also have an adverse effect on mood and may cause stress-related illness. To understand and solve environmental problems, environmental psychologists believe concepts and principles should come directly from the physical settings and problems being looked at. For example, factors that reduce feelings of crowding within buildings include:

• Windows - particularly ones that can be opened and ones that provide a view as well as light

· High ceilings

• Doors to divide spaces and provide access control
• Room shape - square rooms feel less crowded than rectangular ones
• Using partitions to create smaller, personalized spaces within an open plan office or larger work space.
• Providing increases in cognitive control over aspects of the internal environment, such as ventilation, light, privacy, etc.
• Conducting a cognitive appraisal of an environment and feelings of crowding in different settings. For example, one might be comfortable with crowding at a concert but not in school corridors.
• Creating a defensible space

 

Personal space and territory. Having an area of personal territory in a public space, e.g., at the office, is a key feature of many architectural designs. Having such a 'defensible space' can reduce the negative effects of crowding in urban environments. Creating barriers and customizing the space are ways of creating personal space, e.g., using pictures of one's family in an office setting. This increases cognitive control as one sees oneself as having control over the competitors to the personal space and therefore able to control the level of density and crowding in the space.

Healthcare. It is no secret that hospital patients are influenced by their surroundings. Hospital design directly impacts patient health – in more ways than one might think. Today hospital designers are trying to evolve hospitals beyond their infamously sterile décor. Care is being taken to use color, nature and ways to ease a patient’s hospital stay.

 

A pleasant environment helps patients recover. Research shows that patients in well-designed, modern buildings get better quicker than those in conventional wards, according to the Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment. A study in Nottingham found patients in wards with good lighting, big windows, external views and smaller clusters of beds returned home quicker than those in old buildings. They had lower pulse rates and blood pressure readings.

Crime. Today, it's widely acknowledged that design can be used to limit crime. Many police forces have "architectural liaison" teams who pore over plans for new developments to identify weak spots. The idea that architecture and crime-prevention could be linked goes back 30 years, to the principle of "defensible space". Research found that subtle psychological boundaries - such as gardens or hedges - could be as effective in protecting property as robust, physical fences. The emphasis now is on houses with good visibility, and homes that face each other to allow mutual surveillance. Through-streets draw in pedestrians, who will tend to deter burglars.

Education. New schools will also need to make good use of natural light, following research which shows this helps learning. Pupils appear to behave better in modern, well designed schools and studies in the US have put an emphasis on more space for each pupil. One school in Britain was able to cut the number of playground monitors by redesigning the space, allowing it to switch resources to other areas. And it's not only children who do well out of it - research in the UK found that new buildings boosted teachers' morale.

 

Housing. Poor housing and bad design can create a breeding ground for crime. Good design tends to boost property prices, something that will give home owners more of a stake in their surroundings. Bad housing is also a health issue. According to a UK study, billions of pounds a year are spent on treating illnesses arising from poor housing conditions.

 

Business. Design is also important to big business. A survey of blue chip companies, such as British Airways, which have invested heavily in bespoke offices, found they had done so to improve the functionality of workplaces and keep employees happy.

Civic pride. Councils across the UK have woken up to the fact that eye-catching architecture alone can help generate civic pride and bring in tourism. Witness the success of Birmingham's Bridley Place, where the city's old canal-side area has been transformed, with thoughtful design, from a wasteland into a busy social hub (left).

 

 

The struggle should pay off, experts believe, because when designers fabricate buildings with the mind in mind, the occupants benefit. Research by John Prescott's office found that well designed commercial centres resulted in high rental levels, lower maintenance costs and increased public support for the development. New and visually exciting art galleries in St. Ives, Cornwall, and Walsall, West Midlands, have boosted trade for nearby businesses while Peckham's award-winning modern library led to a steep increase in visits and book lending (right).