A Toolbox for Building Happy Homes
A collaborative research project between Henning Larsen, Ramboll and The Happiness Research Institute, Happy Home is a new publication laying out the building blocks for happiness in the home.
The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) encourages its member countries to use happiness as an indicator of progress. The term encompasses a wide range of experiences and emotions, such as joy, a positive outlook on life, and a sense of purpose.
Danish think tank, The Happiness Research Institute, discovered that how happy we are in our homes accounts for 15% of our overall happiness. Our home environment has a direct impact on our mental health, so how can the sustainable cities of the future provide the framework for quality of life and well-being? To design with impact and create sustainable societies we need to unlock how to design for happiness.
Happy Home is a new publication from Henning Larsen, Ramboll, and The Happiness Research Institute. The result of research devised to raise awareness about what drivers influence happiness in our homes and communities, Happy Home is a crucial first step on the path to ensuring happiness is considered in design by providing a much-needed blueprint for building homes and communities that are truly receptive to the needs of their inhabitants.
Focusing on social sustainability, and drawn using case studies in Copenhagen, Denmark and Birmingham, UK, this new publication provides a set of evidence-based drivers, recommendations, and a toolbox outlining which qualities and elements in a home and neighborhood can increase happiness.
If we are happy in our homes and neighborhoods, we can improve sustainability outcomes holistically. This is not only relevant to ongoing home and city construction and design, but it is becoming increasingly urgent as the climate crisis forces us to radically rethink our physical infrastructure.
Thanks to our contributors Ofri Earon, Sarah El-Abd, Rebecca Dillon-Robinson, Frederikke Strøbech Fürst, Onor Hanreck Wilkinson, Christine Lunde Rasmussen, Sigrid Marie Lassen, Adam Selvey, Gorona Shepherd, Amanda Chan, Destiny Kam, Lisa Ha and Meik Wiking.
Special thanks to Realdania and Ramboll Foundation for supporting the project.
Want to learn more? Read the Happy Home publication here.
