Testing Reliability of Biophilic Design Matrix Within Urban Residential Playrooms

Abstract

Playtime in urban cities has become an indoor activity for children due to limited access to natural outdoor environments. This product of urbanization makes the case for the introduction of biophilic design. However, playrooms are often neglected as a possibility in designing a natural space indoors. Interior designers and other specialists lack a reliable tool to identify and incorporate biophilic features into the design of these indoor environments in urban settings. The Biophilic Interior Design Matrix (BID-M) developed by McGee and Marshall-Baker quantifies 52 of Kellert’s biophilic design attributes to assess their presence and absence within interior spaces. We expanded its use by testing the matrix in a new type of space, urban playrooms, and coded images of 45 children’s playrooms within Manhattan residential buildings in New York City, including assessing a larger sample and reliability rate compared to McGee and Marshall-Baker’s research. Inter-rater reliability of the overall design matrix and individual matrix items was measured with percent agreement and free-marginal multirater kappa. Reliability testing showed overall good reliability of the overall design matrix. Several matrix items had low reliability between raters. Our findings show that the BID-M needs to be modified to better assess urban interior spaces for children.

An Exploration of Biophilic Design Features within Preschool Interiors

“…Marte et al tested the BID-M in urban playrooms by coding photographs from 45 children's playrooms in Manhattan residential buildings. They evaluated overall and component inter-rater reliability, finding high overall reliability but low reliability in some components [7]. Designers' perceptions of biophilic design were explored by developing an updated Biophilic Interior Design Matrix (BDM) as a design tool.…”

“…To detect and evaluate biophilic elements, a reliable technique is required. The six elements include environmental features, natural shapes and forms, natural patterns and processes, light and space, place-based relationships, and human-nature relationships [7].…”

“…Twenty of the original seventy-two features were left out of the matrix. This was due to their inability to be visually analyzed and their lack of connection to the interior space [7]. The BID-M was created by McGee and Marshall-Baker [8] in order to evaluate the impact of biophilic features on playrooms in child healthcare facilities on wellbeing [7].…”

“…This was due to their inability to be visually analyzed and their lack of connection to the interior space [7]. The BID-M was created by McGee and Marshall-Baker [8] in order to evaluate the impact of biophilic features on playrooms in child healthcare facilities on wellbeing [7]. Because evidence-based design has been more popular as an interdisciplinary method of gathering and sharing knowledge since the beginning of the 1980s, designers have had more and more reasons to incorporate biophilic design into interiors [9].…”

Exploring the Links Between Biophilic and Restorative Qualities of Exterior and Interior Spaces in Leon, Guanajuato, Mexico

“…However, there are some limitations on capturing the diversity of restorative places and the specific qualities linked to restorative outcomes in such areas. The studies on the impact of the biophilic elements that extend the restorative effects of outdoor and indoor spaces are not fully developed (Shen et al, 2019;Marte et al, 2020). We focus on a study conducted through mobile crowdsourcing to explore the quantitative relationships between environmental variables (which include biophilic variables) and their associations with restorative features of 65 exterior and interior spaces in a city located in central Mexico.…”