Feng Shui as Design Medicine: Nick Sunderland on Energy, Space, and Wellbeing
When Nick Sunderland talks about design, he isn’t talking about throw cushions or paint swatches. He’s talking about energy.
For nearly four decades, Nick has combined interior design with the ancient practice of feng shui — creating homes that don’t just look good, but feel good. From London penthouses to family homes, his work sits at the intersection of aesthetics, psychology, and health.
His mission is simple: to prove that how we arrange space can change how we live.
From Farmland to Penthouses
Feng shui literally means wind and water. Its roots stretch back 6,000 years, when Chinese farmers studied the flow of sun, water, and mountains to choose the most fertile land. The principles that once determined harvests and burial sites now guide how Nick places walls, windows, furniture, and even metals within a home.
“Whether it’s a medieval castle or a New York skyscraper, the rules don’t change,” he explains. “It’s about how energy flows through the land and into the building.”
Energy Made Visible
To many in the West, feng shui can sound abstract or even mystical. Nick grounds it in physics.
Everything vibrates. Water, wood, fire, metal, and earth — the five classical elements of feng shui — each carry distinct energetic qualities. Nick uses them like an acupuncturist uses needles: carefully placed to release blockages and restore flow.
He tells the story of a London couple — a nurse and a financier — both broken by stress during Covid. By introducing exposed steel beams and metallic finishes into their extension, Nick shifted the energy of the house. “They calmed down. They relaxed. Eventually, their whole outlook on life changed,” he recalls.
Design for the Skeptics
Sunderland is no stranger to doubt. He remembers working on a 40-storey penthouse for a hard-nosed Yorkshire businessman. The client dismissed feng shui as “nonsense” but agreed to let Nick try. When the project was complete, he toured the finished space in silence before declaring: “I didn’t think you could do it. But you have.”
The skeptic not only kept the apartment but made it his permanent home.
Light as Life Force
For Nick, light is the bridge between feng shui and modern science.
He compares poor lighting design to stagnant energy — shadows in corners, glare from overhead panels, or corridors stripped of warmth. Brightness lifts energy. Darkness settles it. The wrong balance can strain the body, while the right one restores calm.
In feng shui, the entrance to a home should be open and bright — a “ming tang” that welcomes positive flow. In practice, that might mean natural daylight, or soft layered lighting that avoids both harshness and gloom.
“Lighting is medicine,” Nick insists. “Too much, and it fries the brain. Too little, and it drains you.”
Why It Matters Now
For decades, feng shui in the West was seen as superstition — lucky cats and three-legged toads. Nick has worked to strip away those clichés and reveal the design logic beneath.
The result is a system that resonates with modern concerns about wellbeing, stress, and health. Post-Covid, hotels and workplaces are asking him how to integrate feng shui into their spaces for staff and guests alike. Schools and hospitals, he argues, could benefit most.
“It’s not about changing your design style,” Nick explains. “It’s about seeing differently — how colours, materials, and layouts influence energy. Once you see it, you can’t unsee it.”
The Call to Action
We spend our lives inside buildings. If those buildings don’t support us, they slowly erode us. Feng shui offers a way back — a method for designing spaces that nurture rather than drain.
Nick’s work is a reminder that design is never just visual. It’s visceral. It shapes how we breathe, feel, sleep, and heal.
“Every space holds energy,” he says. “The question is whether it works with you or against you.”
Final Thought
Design with energy in mind, and homes become places of restoration. It isn’t a style — it’s a way of seeing.
This story is part of Light Tribe by Phos — exploring how energy, light, and materiality shape human wellbeing.
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