The Importance of Interior Design in Higher Education Environments
By Formica
Since we typically spend about 90% of our time inside buildings, a stuffy and stilted environment can have a negative effect on physical health due to issues like poor indoor air quality and artificial lighting. But there’s also a psychological impact: All that time spent in monotonous environments can have an impact on students’ mental health, working against their academic achievement.
The traditionally boxy and institutional classrooms found in colleges and universities are no exception, typically offering very little in the way of appealing aesthetics. Yet with students spending as many as 1,000 hours a year in these spaces, it’s been discovered that enhanced design elements can actually improve cognitive performance.
In response to this increasing awareness of how our surroundings affect our mental state, interior designers are now turning their attention to materials that are not only utilitarian, but also provide a more wholesome aesthetic to built environments such as institutions of higher education.
FENIX® Innovative Surfaces
One game-changing surface that’s ideal for higher education classrooms is FENIX®, which offers a remarkable matte surface that’s easy on the eyes due to its very low light reflectivity. It’s also soft to the touch and doesn’t show fingerprints. It can be used in both horizontal and vertical applications, such as desktops, wallcoverings and bookshelves. Cleaning is a simple matter, usually requiring only a wipe down with warm water or a non-abrasive cleaning solution.
FENIX® is available through Formica Corporation in North America and was created by Arpa Industriale, an Italian surfacing company. It comes in a variety of colors that can add character to a classroom, with a palette that includes neutral tones that can blend with the traditional hues of an educational décor; biophilic hues of browns, blues and greens; or brighter primary tones that can liven up an otherwise dull-appearing classroom.
Its durability, softness to the touch and matte finish derives from its interesting microscopic structure that scatters light and resists scratching. If the surface does acquire small superficial scratches, it may be possible to thermally heal it.
Advancing New Technologies
FENIX® innovative surfaces utilize new technologies that deliver durability, a super matte visual and attractive material aesthetics, which make them ideal for higher education interiors,” says Formica Corporation’s creative director Meghan Howell. She adds that these new approaches to materials offer not only high-end design options, but durable performance capabilities that make Formica® and FENIX® products perfectly suited to the demands of higher education work surfaces.
Innovative new products like FENIX® address the often-overlooked visual aesthetic of learning spaces. Students who have access to buildings and classrooms that are open, well lit, comfortable and visually stimulating maximize their learning potential with positive impacts on focus, engagement and overall cognitive function.