The psychology of space - How design shapes mental wellness
Forbes India presents Interface Design Guild
Last Updated: Jan 30, 2026, 16:26 IST4 min
Prefer us on Google
Advertisement
In Indian cities, stress rarely announces itself. It settles in gradually; through noise, glare, crowding, and spaces that demand constant alertness without offering relief. For years, design responded by optimising efficiency: more seats, more openness, more movement. What it rarely asked was a more fundamental question - how does this space make someone feel, minute by minute, hour by hour?
That question now sits at the centre of design conversations.
As Forbes India presents Interface Design Guild, the focus turns to the psychology of space; an idea that recognises buildings not as static containers, but as active participants in human emotion, behaviour, and performance.
For Megha Verma, Design Director at Table Space, calm is not a visual style. It is a condition created through balance.
“Calmness isn’t just about softness,” she explains. “It’s about clarity, sensory harmony, and how instantly your body feels comfortable.”
This distinction matters. In a design culture that often equates wellness with muted palettes and minimalism, Verma challenges the assumption. A room wrapped in deep red, softened by light oak and ambient lighting, can feel just as grounding, if not more; than one dressed in pale neutrals. Calm, she suggests, is not about colour restraint but about material balance, proportion, and coherence.
The subconscious choreography of movement
Most people experience stress in buildings long before they can name it. Harsh lighting, poor acoustics, confusing layouts; the body reacts even when the mind doesn’t articulate why.
“A well-planned space,” Verma says, “is one where you intuitively know where to go.”
Clear sightlines, visual anchors, and defined zones reduce cognitive load. When movement feels obvious, the mind relaxes. When it doesn’t, tension creeps in. Acoustics play a similar role. A noisy, reverberant environment heightens alertness; a quieter, acoustically balanced one allows the mind to settle.
Even proportions matter. Spaces that are too compressed or overwhelmingly tall can feel unsettling. Human-scaled environments, where elements sit at eye level and volumes feel legible, restore a sense of control. These are not dramatic gestures, but subtle calibrations that quietly determine whether a space soothes or strains.
Designing connection without forcing it
If calm is about individual comfort, community is about how people encounter one another. And here, design exerts a subtle but powerful influence.
In shared environments like lobbies and lounges, planning becomes social choreography. Sofas facing one another invite conversation; backs turned shut it down. A coffee counter tucked into a wall keeps interactions transactional. Introduce a generous island, and suddenly people pause, gather, exchange greetings.
“Culture doesn’t live in mission statements anymore,” Verma observes. “It lives in the collisions and conversations that happen every day.”
Importantly, these spaces are not designed for constant engagement. Instead, they offer choice. High tables for brief interactions. Nooks for intimate conversations. Communal tables where people drift in and out. Verma calls these low-commitment spaces; environments that let individuals decide how much social energy they want to invest.
The result feels organic, but it is anything but accidental.
When wellbeing becomes measurable
Scepticism often follows conversations about wellness-led design. Can calm be quantified? Can connection justify cost?
Verma approaches this through three lenses.
The first is human: are people more comfortable, less anxious, more engaged? The second is behavioural: which spaces are actually being used, and how often? Are breakout areas active? Are quiet rooms occupied? Data, today, can track these patterns with surprising precision.
The third lens is business.
“When people feel good in a space, they stay,” she says simply.
Lower attrition, stronger engagement, and consistent usage patterns signal whether a space is working. In this sense, wellness is no longer abstract. It becomes visible in behaviour, retention, and performance; turning design into a strategic lever rather than a visual upgrade.
Materials, memory, and cultural intelligence
People don’t just see spaces; they feel them. Touch creates memory. Texture shapes emotion. Materials, therefore, become emotional tools.
“We explore space through our senses,” Verma explains. “When we touch, we feel; and that creates memory.”
Wood introduces warmth. Overuse of glass or high-gloss surfaces can feel cold or unsettling. Colour, too, carries cultural weight. In India, colour is often associated with comfort and energy. In Japan or Scandinavia, restraint and muted palettes signal calm. Climate plays a role as well: regions rich in natural light can carry deeper tones; darker climates crave brightness.
The principle, Verma says, is universal - but the expression is not.
“The intention is universal. The expression is local.”
After the pandemic, purpose replaced efficiency
If there was ever doubt about the relationship between space and mental health, the pandemic erased it.
“What shifted wasn’t just how we design,” Verma reflects. “It was the focus on how we want someone to feel.”
Homes became offices. Offices became optional. People became acutely aware of light, noise, corners, and comfort. Workspaces, once optimised for density, began to prioritise layered experiences; places to gather, places to retreat, places to focus.
Today, people enter spaces with awareness. They notice how environments affect their mood, energy, and sense of belonging. Designing without sensitivity to this awareness is no longer viable.
Design is no longer just visual. It is emotional, psychological, and profoundly human. The spaces we build can either drain us or restore us; sometimes without us realising why. They support wellbeing as an everyday experience. And in a world where performance and mental health are increasingly intertwined, that may be the most valuable role design can play.
The pages slugged ‘Brand Connect’ are equivalent to advertisements and are not written and produced by Forbes India journalists.
First Published: Jan 31, 2026, 13:40
Subscribe Now- Home /
- Upfront /
- Brand-connect /
- The-psychology-of-space-how-design-shapes-mental-wellness
Latest News
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement