Bringing Nature and People Together in Joyful Outdoor Spaces

Biophilic design reconnects humans with nature through the built environment—integrating natural materials, borrowed organic forms, and orchestrated views of greenery in service of human wellness, productivity, and comfort. But what if the true user of biophilic design isn’t just humans, but the entire ecosystem itself—and what if the two could thrive together, creating joyful, living spaces that reconnect people and planet?

Vestre, known for its functional, durable outdoor solutions, has expanded biophilic design’s mandate with a radical proposition: furniture that serves biodiversity as intentionally as it serves people. One of the Norwegian furniture manufacturer’s collections, HABITATS, doesn’t merely coexist with living landscapes—it actively creates them, transforming urban furniture from passive objects into pieces of ecological infrastructure.

Furniture That Nurtures Nature

The collection, a collaboration between designer René Hougaard (Arde) and Alexander Qual (Qual Design/Rethink Studio), features insect hotels with species-specific hole sizes, bird boxes positioned for optimal nesting success, planters that can accommodate stone, wood, and organic material to support diverse invertebrates, and log benches designed to hold decomposing logs where bacteria and fungi perform the work of nutrient cycling.

To ensure that research-based knowledge informed every design decision, the team collaborated with two specialists—paleontologist Lene Liebe Delsett and biologist Katrine Turner—whose expertise grounded each design in science. HABITATS addresses increasing extinction rates through distributed micro-habitats embedded in the everyday furniture of urban life. It’s a scalable intervention that is now commercially available for specification across projects, creating habitat networks rather than isolated green islands. They have been deployed in notable projects including Denargo Market in Denver, Colorado; University College London’s Gordon Square campus in London, England; and Operaparken in Copenhagen, Denmark, as part of an installation for 3 Days of Design.

Timeless Design for Thriving Ecosystems

Vestre has long championed biophilic design, integrating natural materials, organic forms, and ecological systems into the built environment and across its product lines. This commitment extends beyond aesthetic consideration to understanding that biodiversity requires temporal stability—habitats that remain viable across seasons and years, not just photogenic installations that degrade quickly. By sourcing sustainable timber from Norway and Sweden and utilizing fossil-free steel, Vestre helps cities and communities infuse greenery into urban spaces while maintaining the durability that these urban environments demand. Timber comes with a 15-year anti-rot warranty, hot-dip galvanized steel offers lifetime anti-rust protection, and powder coating lasts 80 years.

Vestre’s functional, durable designs demonstrate how thoughtfully crafted furniture can harmoniously coexist with—and enhance—living landscapes. Through designs that nurture biodiversity and inspire human connection, Vestre reimagines outdoor furniture as a bridge between people and the living world.

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• Landscape

• Biophilia
• Dinky Asrani
• Vestre