“First we shape the buildings and then they shape us”. This quote by Winston Churchill gives words to the fact that the built environment is more than an empty shell. On the contrary, it provides certain atmospheres through sensory stimuli, and influences how people perceive, function and behave on a conscious as well as subconscious level. The research group uses tectonic theory as a basis for generating knowledge about this relation in both the indoor and urban spaces. The research bridges the fields of engineering and architecture, and aims to inform early phase design processes by explicating how certain ways of constructing the built environment influence our sense of wellbeing.