Presence of Water

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        Have you ever thought why beach houses are so popular? Whenever we are planning for an outing on a weekend, one of the ideas that come in our mind easily is, LET’S HIT THE BEACH. What is at a beach that attracts us so much? It’s the sea. 


        The calming waves hit the shore making a certain sound with each wave has a certain impact on our minds. The light breeze makes us feel refreshed, lively and lightens our mood. When we are working our busy schedule in an urban environment, our mind gets tired and so on a weekend such a break will make us feel more refreshed and it boosts our energy for the next week. You must be thinking how it is even possible to take such a break every weekend, Right? So what if I told you that the same experience of a refreshing environment you can get on a daily basis in your built environment! Built environments like offices, home, hospitals and so on can have the a few qualities that can divert your mind for a while for good. 


        A built environment should try and incorporate a water element so that the people living there can take a little break and experience it. If the built environment has a naturally occurring water element nearby like a river, stream, ocean, pond, a wetland, or maybe a visual access to rainfall and flows and so on, we should make sure that those naturally occurring is used at its best and we don’t block it in any way, that is just a poor design. If the built environment does not have access to naturally occurring water element, one can always construct it in a form of a fountain, an aquarium, constructed stream, a water wall and so on.


        So now we know the feeling and we know how to construct it. But why do we need it? How is it beneficial for a human being to incorporate this element? This pattern has evolved from a research on what a person likes to see and how a person responds. It states that there are positive responses to environment containing a water element; it is one of the preferred views. It also helps to reduce stress, increases feeling of tranquility, lowers heart rate and blood pressure when exposed to water features. Apart from this, it also improves concentration, sharpens memory, and enhances our psychological and physiological responsiveness as multiple senses are stimulated simultaneously. Visual preference of a water feature is only preferred when the water body of any form, natural or constructed is clean and unpolluted. Auditory access and perceived access to water has also reduced stress. Presence of water is a condition that enhances the experience of a place through the seeing, hearing or touching of water. 


        The objective of presence of water element is to benefit from the multi sensory characteristics of water to enhance our experience in a way that is soothing, enhances mood and provides restoration from cognitive fatigue. While designing an environment to work or designing a home, one must prioritize a multi sensory water experience i.e. we can see, hear the sound the water makes while moving, and also touch, to make the most of the beneficial outcome. 




Also we need to take care that we don’t overdo it as high volume, high turbulence water feature could create disturbance, discomfort, difficulty in hearing and may also impact humidity levels in a built environment. 

In the next blog read about Dynamic and Diffuse light




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Location: Mulund Goregaon Link Rd junction with, LBS Rd, above Kotak Bank, Mulund (W, Salpa Devi Pada, Mulund West, Mumbai, Maharashtra 400080, India

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