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Research · Nervous System Design™ · Royal College of Art

Research that ends in a building.

Turn the dial · one body, every scale

Homes shaped around how each person sleeps, rests and recovers.

A bed set inside a timber-lined plaster alcoveConcept · Studio Snoop · sleep alcove

Ten systems a space acts on.

01 · Nervous System Design™ · tap a segment

BreathAirLightSoundTouchWaterRhythmMovementConnectionLiving matter BreathAirLightSoundTouchWaterRhythmMovementConnectionLiving matter
Stone faces breathing out mist

Rooms that invite the breath to slow.

The one part of the nervous system we can steer.

Biology in, design out.

02 · Domestic Recovery Standard · press a key, pull a lever

P-08 · Home

A bathing ritual, built in

Water as a daily way down.

The biologyWarm water draws heat to the skin; the core then cools, signalling sleep.
How we measure itA 40–42.5 °C bath, one to two hours before bed (Haghayegh et al., Sleep Medicine Reviews, 2019).
A round plunge bath under a plaster archConcept · Studio Snoop

Eight of the patterns, each tied to a mechanism in the body and a measure on site. The full standard is shared with collaborators.

Open question 01 / 06 · Physiology · air

Can a room lower a heart rate as reliably as a medicine?

Work on it with us

How we read a body.

03 · Methods

Amanda, eyes closed, holding a stone to her earListen.
Amanda in a motion-capture suitMeasure.
Two people in a balloon breath testTest.
Gus, a grown mycelium stool, on a grow rackBuild.

Running now.

04 · Lab status

Living lightBioluminescence grown in water, under light, warmth and music.Ongoing
Biological BriefsPrivate briefs for households and design teams.In progress
The grown lightA giant bulb form, grown rather than made.Growing soon
BREATHEA room that slows the breath. RCA, July 2026.Exhibited
The Clovelly airA heart rate from 145 to 75 BPM.Finding
The hum testHum for 28 seconds and the room answers with wind.Exhibited

Try it · SS-B-02 · the hum test

Hum for 28 seconds.

A long hum lengthens the out-breath and slows the heart. At the RCA, visitors hummed into a microphone; hold it for 28 seconds and four fans switched on. Here, press and hold.

On the shelf.

Substack journal ↗
In progressBuilt to Heal
Murdoch BooksHappy
Korean editionHappy
Cover of Rethink: the way you liveBuy ↗
BookletsNSD Capsule Series
RCA · 2026BREATHE
MArch thesisDesigning for regulation