Health benefits: wooden interiors

Students taught in a wooden classrooms have decreased heart rates and decreased perception of stress from interaction with teachers according to an Austrian study.

The 12-month Austrian study examined 36 high school students who were taught in either a classroom furnished with floors, ceilings, cupboards and wall panels made of solid wood or a classroom fitted with a linoleum floor, plasterboard walls and chipboard cupboards.

The findings showed that students taught in the wooden classrooms had decreased heart rates and decreased perception of stress from interaction with teachers. This is just one example of an increasing body of research that shows that being surrounded by wood at home, work or school has positive effects on the body, the brain and the environment.

Wooden interior at Råå pre-school in Sweden.