Beauty and the brain: How neuroarchitecture is changing the way superyachts are designed

From circadian lighting and natural materials to spaces designed to reduce stress, neuroscience is reshaping how designers think about life on board. Risa Merl explores how neuroarchitecture could transform superyacht interiors to support better sleep, well-being and the experience of owners, guests and crew.

The superyacht industry has often measured exceptional design by what can be seen: sculptural exteriors, dramatic atriums, floor-to-ceiling glazing, rare materials and flawless detailing. But emerging research suggests that the most successful spaces may not simply be those that look extraordinary, but those that are carefully designed around how people experience them. 

Beyond aesthetics, a new conversation is emerging around how our surroundings influence mood, behaviour and well-being – and whether the places we inhabit are helping us to relax, connect and recharge, or unintentionally contributing to stress, fatigue and sensory overload.

This new discipline, called neuroarchitecture, explores how built environments influence the brain, nervous system and behaviour. Drawing on neuroscience, psychology and physiology, it examines how light, acoustics, materials, colour, proportion and spatial layout affect everything from stress levels and sleep quality to social interaction and emotional well-being. 

Neuroarchitecture asks: “How do the spaces we inhabit shape how we feel, think, recover, connect and function?” says architect and researcher Cleo Valentine, affiliate lecturer at the University of Cambridge’s Department of Architecture.

Although the term neuroarchitecture is relatively new, the idea is not. Architects and designers have long understood that environments affect emotion. Japanese gardens, for instance, encourage contemplation through carefully framed views, while biophilic design – the art of integrating plants and natural elements into human-made structures – has championed the restorative effects of daylight and greenery for decades. 

What has changed is that neuroscience is beginning to explain why. Research over the past two decades has shown that our surroundings influence attention, mood and even brain plasticity. Meanwhile, organisations like the Academy of Neuroscience for Architecture bring scientists and designers together to investigate how built environments shape human well-being.

The science, in other words, may simply be catching up with good design. “The conversation around neuroscience and well-being is giving the design industry a new vocabulary for something that great designers have always understood instinctively,” says Claire German, CEO of Design Centre, Chelsea Harbour and judge for the BOAT Design & Innovation Awards (BDA). “Science is now providing evidence to support many of the decisions designers have long made based on experience and intuition.”

This growing understanding arrives at a time when, in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, well-being has become a priority for yacht owners seeking spaces that do more. Carla Guilhem, founder of Carla Guilhem Design, has witnessed this shift. “Owners are no longer asking only for beautiful interiors. They are asking how the yacht will improve their quality of life,” says Guilhem. 

“Neuroarchitecture means understanding that a space is not neutral – it affects the nervous system, the way we breathe, sleep, focus, connect and recover. On yachts, this is especially important because the environment is constantly changing: light, movement, sound, reflections, privacy and exposure to the sea. I have always designed intuitively around emotion and atmosphere,  but neuroarchitecture gives scientific language to something I believe deeply: luxury is not only what you see, but also what your body feels.”

For many designers, neuroarchitecture is scientific validation. “Throughout my entire career, I have always been aware that the environment I create aims to generate sensations and feelings that will have an impact on the mood and behaviour of the occupants,” says Terence Disdale. To Disdale, the objective isn’t to create a room that merely photographs well, but to create somewhere people genuinely enjoy spending time.

“My philosophy is to avoid the ‘wow factor’ but induce a feeling of good taste and subdued style, embraced with fine detail to entertain the eye and induce intrigue.”

Fiona Beenkens, founder of BetterAtHome and one of Europe’s leading specialists in neuroarchitecture, shared her insights on the topic as a speaker at the Superyacht Design Festival earlier this year. Beenkens says that humans are wired for safety and control, and as such, our brains are constantly assessing whether an environment feels safe. 

Open-plan environments can leave the subconscious continuously monitoring movement and activity, making it harder to fully switch off and enter a more relaxed, restorative state. The same principle applies at sea. “You’re in an environment where you can be approached from any direction,” says Beenkens. “If a yacht is completely open, surrounded by windows, there’s no refuge. Even in luxurious settings, the brain still craves somewhere that signals: ‘you’re safe here’.”

That may seem at odds at first with the Blue Mind theory, popularised by Dr Wallace J Nichols, which suggests that simply looking out at the sea can lower stress and promote calm. In reality, the two ideas complement one another. 

Rather than abandoning the panoramic glazing that has become synonymous with contemporary yacht design, this way of thinking suggests balancing openness with moments of enclosure: window seats, reading alcoves, subtly sheltered lounges or furniture positioned against solid walls. Small interventions like these can profoundly alter how secure and grounded a space feels.

Every surface, sound, scent, material, transition and source of light on board contributes to the overall experience. Vast expanses of reflective material, glare, highly repetitive patterns, excessive symmetry, visual clutter or very high-contrast finishes can all place strain on the way we perceive and process our surroundings. “A superyacht is a fascinating typology because it is highly controlled, often immersive and can be inhabited continuously for days or weeks,” Valentine says. “A space can be striking at first glance but fatiguing or stressful over time.”

Patrick Domnanich, director of innovation, operation and strategy at luxury interiors manufacturer F/LIST, believes materials play an important role. Natural materials create a direct connection to nature; their grain, texture and imperfections provide visual richness without overwhelming the brain. 

“There is a substantial body of research that natural materials such as wood, stone, water, plants and natural textures have positive psychological effects,” Domnanich says. “Genuine materials such as marble, granite, limestone and slate are often perceived as more honest, permanent, trustworthy and valuable.”

These ideas are supported by Roger Ulrich’s Stress Recovery Theory and Kaplan and Kaplan’s Attention Restoration Theory, which suggest that natural environments can reduce stress, restore attention and support mental clarity – benefits that are increasingly relevant to onboard workspaces.

“Comfort also comes from texture – touch and feel is important,” says Disdale, whose vast portfolio holds many examples of interiors ripe with natural materials. His design for the 114.5-metre Lürssen Pelorus features rough-hewn timbers, raw stone and woven elements, such as hand-braided palm fibres, to help absorb sound and soften structural geometry. 

Meanwhile, his “beach house, not penthouse” design for the 81.8-metre Abeking & Rasmussen Kibo (now Grace) had bamboo flooring, raw linen curtains and soft hemp materials, all chosen to put guests at ease.

Some of the most successful designs engage the senses as much as they support them. With soft lighting and furniture that seems to float from the walls, the Perini Navi Katana, for instance, is both serene and captivating. “The visual lightness created by the floating furniture, together with carefully considered lighting and a restrained material palette, contributes to an interior that feels calm, open and inviting,” says Gillian Brooks, vice president, global marketing and brand strategy at Metrica, which created the custom interiors designed by Rémi Tessier for Katana. 

“While those decisions weren’t necessarily driven by neuroarchitecture, they demonstrate how exceptional design naturally considers the way people will experience and inhabit a space.”

Light is one area where science is catching up with what designers have long understood intuitively. Sally Storey, founding director of Lighting Design International and a BDA judge, says that rather than treating lighting as decoration, it should be seen as fundamental to human biology. 

Today, increasing attention is being paid to circadian lighting that mimics the changing spectrum and intensity of natural daylight to support healthy sleep, hormone regulation and alertness. Gentle shifts in colour temperature throughout the day can reinforce natural circadian rhythms, while carefully controlled evening lighting encourages melatonin production and prepares the body for sleep. For guests battling jet lag, those physiological benefits are even more valuable.

“Light is the main aspect driving the human response and body clock… affecting bodily functions including the release of hormones, cell regeneration and growth, metabolism and the sleep-wake cycle,” says Storey. “Research tells us that the best practice for our circadian health is to get bright, blue-rich light within 30 minutes of waking. The lights should then be dimmed and shift to warm tones two to three hours before bedtime. Circadian lighting meaningfully supports sleep quality and energy levels.”

Storey says this can be achieved without affecting aesthetics by integrating light sources into blinds, furniture, joinery or the ceiling, while decorative lamps should always be dimmable. This level of care and detail should ideally extend to crew comfort. Storey, for instance, created a lighting plan in a crew laundry that mimicked the sky and changed throughout the day.

One person attempting to translate these principles into measurable standards is Kelda Lay, founder of the advisory service Well Yachts and the only WELL Accredited Professional currently working in the superyacht sector. As such, she’s an expert in WELL Building Standards, which specialise in human health, safety and well-being in built environments. 

With a background in environmental psychology and neuropsychology, Lay believes the industry has often mistaken wellness for a collection of amenities rather than an overarching design philosophy. Rather than thinking of the spa as the wellness hub on board, the entire yacht could be contributing to the “passive wellness” of everyone on board. 

“The hardest part has been talking about well-being on board without the conversation descending into discussions around bean bags and sound baths – not that there is anything wrong with those, but neuroscience offers so much more than that in terms of design,” says Lay.

“Our focus is on thinking about how the yacht’s built environment works for the people that inhabit it, equal parts owner, guests and crew,” she continues. “Going through the certification process with us also highlights any gaps in a project that are an easy, but very effective fix. This can provide a roadmap for a refit or yard period. Rather than thinking about the minimum that needs to be done, Well Yachts is focused on the maximum that can be achieved.”

Many of the interventions are almost invisible. Low-VOC materials reduce off-gassing, HVAC systems are designed to improve air quality rather than simply regulate temperature and acoustic treatments minimise background stress. Crucially, the Well Yachts protocol doesn’t distinguish between guest and crew well-being. The design of the spaces and materials can be different, of course, but “the air is still the air, regardless of where you are on the boat,” Lay says. 

“And crew are the ones most likely to see an improvement in their physical and mental health if the WELL strategies are implemented.” This includes ensuring that lighting and air quality is optimal to support watches on long passages, an increasingly important consideration as the industry continues to grapple with crew retention. Lay notes that WELL-certified spaces have been linked to a  24 per cent reduction in employee health costs  and a 27 per cent lower staff turnover.

Lay also believes there is an opportunity to rethink some long-established conventions in yacht design. Endless corridors with nowhere to pause could be interrupted with lounges or alcoves. She also warns against guest cabins that also serve as an office and living room. In crew areas, she advocates simple interventions, such as a dedicated “third space” separate from both cabin and crew mess, or greater access to daylight. Many of these ideas are not expensive or technologically complex, but require a shift in priorities.

As Jim Dixon, head of Yachts & Aviation at Winch Design, observes, the meaning of well-being has expanded. “Ten years ago, conversations about well-being on a yacht were largely confined to the gym and the spa menu,” he says. “Today, clients are asking about electromagnetic fields, VOC levels in finishes and sleep optimisation.”

For the 44.3-metre Cantiere delle Marche Nasiba, Winch Design built the entire material palette around health credentials. Every finish was assessed against its VOC content, electromagnetic field impact and ecological sourcing. The design used natural clay plaster walls – non-toxic, breathable and free of polymers or formaldehydes. Flooring came from an Austrian producer known for VOC-free wood floors, with a three-dimensional wave pattern designed to engage the feet and provide physical grounding as you move through the interior. 

Wardrobe interiors were lined with pressed alpine hay and flowers by Organoid, bringing natural scent and texture to the most private daily rituals. Light fixtures grown from grass roots into structured, zero-waste organic forms and Sericyne silk lamps introduced materials that have a biological relationship with the natural world. The result is a warm, tactile interior that layers in natural materials to create an atmosphere that feels cosy and visually compelling.

On another Winch project, the 67-metre Heesen Sparta, the brief called for a wellness spa that fostered connection and socialising. The key was sinking the large central spa pool into the floor so that bathers could converse with guests relaxing in the loungers, who could in turn chat with those using the adjacent gym.

“That single layout choice changed the character of the entire space,” says Dixon. “It also dictated the structural arrangement of everything around it, which was demanding from an engineering standpoint – but the result is a spa environment people genuinely want to be in, not one that photographs well and sits unused.”

There is a danger in turning neuroarchitecture into the latest buzzword. Like “sustainability” before it, the term is increasingly appearing in marketing materials. Beenkens cautions that there is no universal formula for a calming interior: our responses to colour, texture and space are shaped by memory, culture and personal experience. 

Blue may suggest serenity to someone raised beside the Med and coldness to someone from Northern Europe. Good neuroarchitecture is therefore less about prescribing specific colours or layouts than designing with greater awareness – understanding that every decision, from material choice to spatial flow, influences how people experience a space.

For superyachts, where owners and guests may spend weeks or months at sea, that awareness has the potential to redefine what luxury means. As Dixon puts it, “A guest who sleeps poorly, feels unsettled in a corridor or finds a saloon strangely tiring to spend time in… these are design failures, even if visually the interior looks beautiful. Neuroarchitecture has helped sharpen our thinking around why those failures happen and how to prevent them.”

First published in the October 2026 issue of BOAT International. Get this magazine sent straight to your door, or subscribe and never miss an issue.