“Why do certain environments feel good? Why do some spaces create a sense of calm or connection, while others don’t?” wondered long-time design industry executive Linda Kafka. Her answer came in 2019 at an early neuroasthetic exhibition within a major European design expo. Kafka went on to create and lead the online professional training program, NeuroDesign Academy for architects, interior designers, builders and other interested construction-related professionals. “Our homes are no longer just a place to live. They are environments that shape how we regulate, recover and connect,” she observes. So what is neuro-based home design and how can it enhance our well-being (and resale value)?
Neuro-related Definitions
There are three relevant terms to know about this emerging discipline: Neuroasthetics, neuroarchitecture and neurodesign.
Neuroasthetics
Kafka defines the first as looking at our brain’s responses to beauty, color, light, form and symmetry; what emotional and physiological response do they trigger, neuroasthetics ponders? Architect Pina Petricone, co-founding principal of Toronto-based Giannone Petricone Associates, is incorporating its principles into just about all of her firm’s projects, both residential and commercial, but sees it as especially inspiring in the individual’s home. With dwellings being the most intimate of spaces, “the last thing we want is for its inhabitants to feel like guests,” she says. Petricone explains that “Comfort and ease are primary, but beauty in the form of materials, surfaces, memorable elements is indispensable for a neuroaesthetic emotive experience daily.”
Neuroarchitecture
This concept looks at how spatial and structural aspects of design, like ceiling heights, window placement, room layouts and the like affect cognition, behavior and health, Kafka explains. It’s been widely used in commercial and institutional settings, and is now showing up in residential design.
“Our surroundings speak to us on many levels,” observes Toronto-based architect Tye Farrow. We form a relationship with our spaces that can be evaluated and modified to improve our memory, social interactions, intelligence, health and wellbeing, he notes. It’s a new and growing field with professional architecture programs now training graduates in this discipline. Farrow is a graduate of one himself. Now all of his firm’s commercial and residential projects incorporate neuroarchitectural principles, he says.
Discussing this concept with homeowners isn’t a simple conversation. Farrow says he asks clients to notice how their surrounds affect them. How do their home and workspaces make them feel? How can they make them feel better? What if health was the criterion for judging every building and home, he asks them? Perhaps most important: “What if we stopped tolerating design that causes boredom, dis-ease, and depression?”
Neurodesign
This is the overarching framework, Kafka says. “It investigates how design elements influence our stress levels, focus, comfort and what sways our behavior. Many of the neurodesign principles relate directly to interior design and architecture including biophilic design. It provides the framework for interior designers and architects to design spaces based on neuroscience research,” she concludes.
Burlington, Ontario-based interior designer Regina Sturrock sees neurodesign as a “powerful tool” to achieve great design. Because it’s inspired by individual responses and perceptions, each project she takes on incorporates its principles, she says. “To craft any space or product without human inspiration would result in an environment that may fall short in the delivery of that ‘something special’.” She uses all three neuro-based concepts to shape environments that are well-balanced, make the best use of the site’s features and views, and create visual connections between spaces for a greater sense of security.
How It All Works
“Neuroarchitecture, neurodesign and neuroaesthetics are all important to creating healthy buildings that support our mental and physical health,” observes Rachel Hodgdon, president and CEO of the International WELL Building Institute. The organization expanded its internationally recognized WELL Building Standard to a credential for single family homes last year. Hodgdon points out how its concepts relate to these neuro-based principles: “WELL for residential supports healthier home environments by contributing to key elements such as spatial design, lighting, air flow, thermal comfort, acoustics and more, which work together to reduce stress and enhance cognitive clarity and emotional well-being. It promotes intuitive and calming layouts that minimize cognitive overload and foster a more positive daily experience. Specific strategies include incorporating biophilic design, optimizing sensory experiences through views, natural materials and access to art, and enabling restorative routines that emphasize beauty, nature and emotional balance — all linked to measurable neurological and psychological benefits.”
With neurodesign as the connector, Kafka suggests that it’s no longer enough to say, “This space feels nice.” We need to know why and how to design with intention. “Designers today are leveraging the principles they learned in school and aligning them with the neurodesign, neuroaesthetic and biophilic principles in everything from floor plan design to finishes to lighting, and even the furnishings,” Kafka says.
Financial Costs
You may be wondering, as I was, whether adding these neuro-based design principles adds to a project’s cost and timeline. “No, quite the opposite,” Farrow declares. “It allows us to really focus on what enhances our mind health, and discard things that add cost, but don’t enhance mind health.”
Petricone agrees: “It certainly does not add cost to a project. Extra time to create the project? I think it might in so far as it requires more ‘pre-design’ time to study and research the site, sun patterns, microclimate, the program, the context and to have many conversations with the end users to fully understand the way they want to live, their desires, their passions, all before even starting to design anything.” Once those are set, the project proceeds with clarity and focus.
Kafka point out that “Better lighting, ventilation, or reducing sound transmission may come at a cost, but other things like color, decorative elements, simplifying the layout or reducing sensory input don’t.”
From my own work in wellness design, I can share that some choices can decrease your health-related costs. For example, adding plants and eliminating clutter can reduce stress; circadian lighting can help you sleep better, improving your productivity; tailored floor plans can help reduce trip and fall risks.
Financial Benefits
Real estate professional Zev Freidus works with both buyers and sellers in Boca Raton and across South Florida and touts the benefits of these neuro-based concepts to his clientele. “While I don’t always label it ‘neurodesign’ in listings, I actively highlight features like biophilic elements (large windows with greenery views, indoor-outdoor transitions), natural textures like stone and wood, soft lighting, and layouts that support calm movement and flow. I’ve also emphasized scent, sound, and air flow when staging homes because these less-visible elements often shape how a buyer feels in the space, which impacts decisions.” This can increase the sales price of a home, he says. “In one recent example, a waterfront home with soft natural finishes, minimalist interiors, and panoramic views sold nearly 8% higher than a comparable nearby. The feedback I received was consistent: it just ‘felt better’ inside. Buyers may not always know the neuroscience behind design, but they absolutely feel the results.”
While buyers don’t know the neuro-based terminology, Freidus says he’s having buyers in their 30s to 50s ask for “wellness architecture or mention things like circadian lighting and calming color palettes.” While they’re not using the language, “They know they want homes that feel peaceful and help them unwind. It’s less about square footage and more about how the space supports daily life,” he notes.
This trend will keep growing, he predicts. “As more buyers become aware of how their environment affects their mental health and productivity, homes that support emotional well-being will command a premium.”
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