Biophilic Design you can Taste - How Urban Farming is transforming Workplaces and Cities

How can our buildings become active contributors to healthier lives rather than passive consumers of resources? Our cities are grappling with climate change, biodiversity loss, employee wellbeing and the changing role of the workplace, for Patrick Dumas, Founder and CEO of Square Mile Farms, the answer begins with growing food.

His concept has evolved into one of the UK's largest networks of indoor urban farms, with more than 120 installations and over 75,000 plants growing inside workplaces and residential developments. Yet the plants, herbs and vegetables are only part of the story.

"We reconnect people with one another, with nature and with their own wellbeing," explains Patrick. "Food is simply the medium through which we do that."

Biophilic Design that People can taste

Biophilic design has long focused on bringing nature into buildings through plants, natural materials, daylight and views. Square Mile Farms extends this concept into something immersive.

Instead of greenery becoming passive decoration, employees become active participants. They watch herbs mature, vote on what will be grown next, harvest fresh produce together and swap recipes over lunch. The result is a multi-sensory experience that engages sight, smell, touch and taste simultaneously.

"The experience of biophilia is much richer," says Patrick. "It looks good, smells good, tastes good and you're using your hands. You're getting up close with nature before eating what you've grown."

This aligns closely with many of biophilic design's recognised patterns, including direct experience of nature, sensory richness, connection with natural systems and seasonal change. Watching food grow over weeks reconnects people with rhythms that many urban lives have lost.

Growing Community alongside Vegetables

Perhaps the greatest surprise has been that the farms' most valuable harvest isn't basil or salad leaves—it's human connection.

Harvest days have become social events. Employees queue to collect herbs, learn growing techniques from on-site farmers and exchange ideas about cooking and sustainability. Rather than another workplace amenity, the farms become magnets that naturally draw people together.

"We have people saying they come into the office because it's harvest day," he explains. "People stop buying basil from the supermarket because they know they can harvest it themselves."