Three essential principles for designing indoor environments for mental wellbeing: an integrative review

A growing body of research highlights the vital role that indoor environments play in occupant mental wellbeing. However, the basic psychological needs that underpin mental wellbeing remain understudied in the indoor environment literature. This paper draws on basic psychological needs (BPN) theory and its three pillars of autonomy, competence, and relatedness to address the question: What essential principles can help architects design indoor environments for mental wellbeing? Office environments provided an illustrative design context as they are a significant focus of BPN research, and work is a consequential life domain for promoting and maintaining mental wellbeing. An integrative review of the multidisciplinary literature identified twelve conceptual and twenty-one empirical papers addressing the BPN. Synthesis of the conceptual and empirical findings identified three common-sense essential principles for designing indoor office environments for mental wellbeing: designing diverse settings and sensory experiences supports autonomy; designing adaptable, personalisable, and comprehensible settings supports competence; and designing settings for positive social interactions alongside spaces for retreat supports relatedness. The discussion also demonstrates the relevance of these principles to non-workplace indoor environments. Applying BPN theory to indoor environments addresses a gap concerning essential design principles that can help architects intentionally design for occupants’ mental wellbeing.