NeuroArchitecture

A Revolutionary Approach: Decoding the Human Impact of Spaces

Neuroarchitecture is a discipline grounded in science to optimise architecture. It deciphers and designs spaces that genuinely and objectively—scientifically—meet human needs.

Why is this crucial? Because a building, a place, or a neighbourhood designed without understanding its impact on people can harm their health and well-being.

Beyond affecting residents’ lives, this also leads to significant economic losses. For example, a building that negatively impacts its inhabitants will foster detachment, leading to reduced maintenance or even degradation. Research shows that when people feel unwell in a building, home, or neighbourhood, it not only affects their health (stress, weakened immunity, poor sleep, depression, etc.) and behaviour (withdrawal, incivility) but also their social and professional lives (increased unemployment).

In healthcare facilities, these impacts slow healing and prolong recovery times. In schools, they affect academic performance and student behaviour. In offices, they diminish workers’ cognitive performance, creativity, and concentration. In retail spaces, they influence the desire to enter and linger, as well as impulse purchases. For individuals with neurological disorders or diseases, they disrupt spatial orientation, vision, and wayfinding.

These numerous and significant impacts on our lives are neither mastered nor objectively anticipated by professionals (architects, interior designers, urban planners, designers, decorators, etc.). Despite their professionalism and goodwill, they lack the training to bridge the gap between science and architecture—a challenge that requires deep expertise in both fields, as well as in research.

Our mission is to build this bridge, drawing on over 16 years of experience and research in both science and architecture. We are committed to sharing our knowledge and making it accessible to as many people as possible. That’s why, in addition to studies, consultations, and project implementations, we also offer training.

How Does It Work?

Neuroarchitecture relies on a scientific and tailored approach, adapted to each project and its specific challenges. Every study follows a customised methodology, combining analytical rigour with innovative solutions to address users’ real needs.

Our approach is structured around three key pillars:

1. The Human Factor: Contextual and Behavioural Analysis

• Decoding expressed and unexpressed expectations and needs, through psychological and neuroscientific analysis of the issues.

• For interior spaces: Assessing individual and collective needs, and analysing the impact of environments on well-being, concentration, and social dynamics.
• For urban projects: Examining spatial and cognitive dynamics, circulation flows, and collective perceptions to optimise public health and social cohesion.
• Methods used (depending on the project): On-site observations, individual or group interviews, qualitative and quantitative surveys, specific methods for multi-stakeholder consultations, and behavioural mapping to identify perceptual biases and latent expectations.

2. The Building: Analysis of Visual and Spatial Components in Architecture and Urbanism

• Study of existing or planned spaces (on-site or via plans/visuals).
  • Current state assessment: Observation and analysis of the environment.
  • Identifying neurophysiological and behavioural impacts: How users respond to the current or future space. Analysis of impacts on their physical and mental health, behaviour, and cognitive functions.
  • Decoding design intentions: Aligning the goals of designers or clients (e.g., a homeowner seeking comfort, a developer aiming for a serene and attractive environment, or an urban planner fostering social cohesion and public health) with users’ perceptions and experiences.

3. Scientifically Validated, Tailored Solutions

• Differentiated approach: Each project—whether a private home or urban development—benefits from specific methods and tools, such as targeted interviews, neuroscientific analyses, and co-design processes.
• Empirical validation: Recommendations are based on studies in environmental psychology, human geography, sociology, and neuroscience, as well as active, analytical listening to users to ensure relevance.
• Project confirmation or adjustments: Does the design meet or will it meet the objectives of the space? Proposing solutions.
• Feasibility and implementation: Proposed solutions integrate technical, budgetary, and regulatory constraints to ensure viability and effectiveness.

Expertise in Visual and Spatial Elements

Our specialisation in analysing and optimising the visual components of architecture and urbanism is built on a fundamental insight: what is often considered “subjective” or a “matter of taste”—aesthetics—actually has objective, measurable neurophysiological and behavioural impacts.

These visual or aesthetic elements shape our daily environment: the colour and form of a façade, urban amenities, the layout of an interior. They influence our spatial experience far beyond what we consciously perceive. In fact, only 5 to 10% of visual information is processed consciously by our brains. The rest unconsciously shapes our emotions, decisions, and behaviours, determining, for example:

• The desire to stay in a place—or to leave it.
• Feelings of security or insecurity.
• The instinct to enter or avoid a building, street, or room.

While traditional studies avoid these aesthetic dimensions for fear of bias, we address them directly:

• The subjectivity of preferences (liking/disliking, finding something “beautiful” or “ugly”) is influenced by individual cognitive construction, experience, and cultural biases. These perceptions vary from person to person, making them complex to grasp.
• Yet their impact is objective: Brain responses to visual elements are measurable, predictable, and universally documented by neuroscience.

Our scientific approach enables us to:

• Analyse these biases: Identify how differences in perception (cultural, cognitive, social) influence spatial experience.
• Explain them: Decipher the underlying neurophysiological mechanisms.
• Objectify them: Transform subjective data into concrete design criteria using rigorous methods (perception studies, neuroscientific analyses, behavioural mapping).
• Integrate them: Propose solutions that account for individual preferences while addressing collective and universal human needs (physiological, psychological, and cognitive).

Thus, where others see merely a question of style, we see a scientific lever for designing truly adaptive spaces—considering both personal biases and objective effects on well-being and behaviour.

Neuroarchitecture: An Essential Discipline, Many Names, One Expertise

Whether you call it human-centred design, cognitive architecture, applied neuroscience in architecture, or evidence-based design, it all refers to the same approach: designing spaces that work for the people who use them—not the other way around.

Why choose us? Because 16 years of experience at the intersection of science and architecture allow us to do what others cannot:

• Anticipate invisible impacts (health, behaviour, performance) before costly mistakes are built.
• Transform subjective data into concrete, science-backed solutions tailored to your challenges.
• Save you money (renovation costs, loss of value, deterioration + public savings: health, maintenance, site attendance, etc.) while enhancing the well-being and efficiency of your spaces.

Do you have a project? Whether you are an individual seeking a home truly adapted to your needs, a business aiming to boost productivity and employee well-being, or a local authority looking to create healthy, inclusive neighbourhoods—don’t leave the impact of your spaces to chance.

Contact us for a study, consultation, or training—and give your spaces the power to change lives.