Origins of stress are difficult to identify and its impact is hard to measure, but we can see its effects in rising numbers of working people with mental illness. 

Many disciplines have studied stress, recovery and restoration at many scales. Knowledge has not translated effectively into design because either different aspects are studied or different terms are used to explain the same phenomenon.

This study investigated stress recovery and its facilitation through design. It identified specific attributes of places that support recovery at work, providing designers with an easy-to-apply model to create restorative places at work. This trans-disciplinary study links research from Biological Science, Environmental Psychology, Organisational Psychology, Neuroscience, Environmental Design and Architectural Design. It also involved detailed expert interviews and workplace surveys in three countries.

Design processes are complex and require synthesis of multiple and often competing factors. Simple models or frameworks such as this, which can be applied at many scales, locations and project types, have a larger potential for uptake by the design industry.