Cities like Mumbai teach you a simple lesson: nature rarely arrives on schedule. Yet the places where we work and live still depend on the cognitive calm, sensory richness and human scale that only nature provides. The real opportunity for India is not in inventing new forms of architecture, but in folding nature into the tight, vertical, high-density fabric we already occupy in ways that are purposeful, sustainable and grounded in everyday use.
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It’s within this context that Forbes India presents Interface Design Guild turns its attention to biophilic design - the art and science of reconnecting built spaces with nature to support sharper thinking, lower stress and greater wellbeing.
The shift from décor to design intelligence
Biophilia in India isn’t about filling rooms with plants. It begins much earlier with the structure of a space and the intentionality behind it.
Siddharth Aryamane, Architect at Concept Consilio, puts it simply: “Giving access to natural daylight… is step one in biophilia.”
In cities like Mumbai where space is a luxury, this mindset is powerful. By placing enclosed rooms inward and freeing the perimeter for light, designers build a foundation that allows nature to become part of the space; not an afterthought. Small architectural moves end up dictating how calm, restorative or cognitively sharp a space feels.
Nature through materials - the unnoticed layer shaping behaviour
India’s biophilic opportunity lies heavily in materials. Textures, surfaces, and floors have become a medium for reconnecting occupants with nature without demanding more square footage.
Agradeep Mondal, MD – India & SAARC, Interface India, explains Interface’s pioneering role: “We were the pioneers to bring in biophilia in carpet tiles.”
Flooring inspired by pebbles, moss, sand or stone gives people subtle sensory cues that change how they feel in a space; grounding them, energising them or calming them. Because modular carpet tiles can be replaced, rearranged or refreshed without structural work, they also make biophilic retrofits possible in older buildings where intervention options are limited.
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This is a crucial point: in India, nature often enters not through large gestures but through textures, lines, edges and surfaces that quietly reshape mood and behaviour.
Biophilia pays off…
A compelling indicator of biophilia’s impact comes from workplaces. In recent Indian projects, employees naturally gravitated toward biophilic zones - lounges, pantries, double-height receptions even more than traditional workstations.
The reason is emotional, not ornamental. As Aryamane puts it: “Design is all about increasing the happiness quotient.”
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When a space feels better, people use it more. And when people use it more, organisations begin seeing the ripple effects in productivity, workplace culture and retention; turning biophilia into a performance strategy, not a soft aesthetic.
Mondal reinforces this from a business lens: “Your employees being happy means it’s a great place to work… they’ll be more energetic and more productive.”
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For commercial India, now a global back office with campuses running into hundreds of thousands of square metres, that shift matters.
Retrofits - where India’s real transformation lies
Much of India’s built environment is not new. Legacy buildings form the bulk of offices, institutions and residences. Biophilic retrofits, therefore, represent the highest-impact, lowest-disruption design opportunity.
The principles are straightforward:
Keep interventions non-structural and mobile
Use surface finishes, textures and modular flooring
Avoid heavy suspensions or installations that burden old structures
Make choices that are easy to maintain
It’s a pragmatic model of biophilia; one that fits Indian constraints without compromising on psychological benefits.
Affordability, culture and the path to mainstream adoption
Challenges remain: cost sensitivity, maintenance concerns, and unfamiliarity with the concept. But the shift has begun.
Post-pandemic priorities have altered expectations. Employees want healthier environments; organisations want workplaces that people feel attached to. At the same time, manufacturers are localising innovation to match India’s cultural and climatic diversity. Mondal describes India’s design complexity well: “Every 100 kilometres… you have a new color, a new everything.”
This localisation, combined with technologies such as 3D printing, advanced materials and sustainable manufacturing, is making biophilic choices both feasible and appealing.
The future - biophilia as everyday infrastructure
Biophilic design is expected to become mainstream in the next few years, not because it is trendy but because it resolves a fundamental tension in Indian cities: the need to build densely without stripping people of nature’s psychological, emotional and cognitive support.
The next decade of Indian buildings will depend less on decorative greenery and more on ecosystems of light, texture, modularity, and sensory intelligence - a future where you may not always be able to tell what’s natural and what’s man-made, but you’ll feel the difference immediately.
The pages slugged ‘Brand Connect’ are equivalent to advertisements and are not written and produced by Forbes India journalists.
