Wellness may just be the new luxury with consumers placing more importance on health and wellness than they are on material possessions. Some people are spending thousands of dollars on crystals to boost energy and relieve stress and salt lamps to iodise the air. Science combined with architecture is a new and foolproof way to enrich the home and work environments, inside and out, without buying into the fads.
With individuals spending thousands of dollars to increase their overall happiness, it is no surprise ‘wellness’ is being named the next trillion dollar industry. We are constantly looking at ways to improve our social, physical, creative, occupational, digital, environmental and financial wellness, with the majority of people primarily seeking out health retreats and health professionals, from therapists to nutritionists.
While we have many strategies in place to remove everyday stress and increase our health, whether it be yoga or that green juice we despise, it’s time to start looking at the areas we spend the most of our time. We spend a whopping 90 of our time indoors, so it is no wonder that the space in which we live, work and play has a vast impact on our overall health and wellbeing. Wellness architecture is built with health in mind and takes a holistic approach to enhance wellbeing, without the crystals.
Wellness architecture combines elements of art and science to design and build apartments that offer a blissful oasis and harmonious atmosphere. The idea is to live in an environment that enhances health, instead of jeopardising it. Desirably, the balanced environment will promote emotional, cognitive, physical and spiritual well-being, with the trend based on the Well Building Standard.
The Well Being Standard looks at air, water, pollution, nourishment, light, fitness, comfort and mind as the 7 key considerations of healthy living. Wellness architecture intends to eliminate factors that usually cause stress and frustration by replacing them with various technologies and designs that boost health and mood. We’re all well aware that certain colours and spaces can influence mood. Cool colours having a calming effect, while bold colours can aggravate senses or stimulate productivity.
Additionally, we know that cluttered spaces can mean a cluttered mind, but wellness architecture is more than nice decorations and tidy spaces. It looks to enhance experience and radiate wellness from within.
The illumination of apartments through the use of natural light is a priority in wellness architecture due to its natural mood-boosting effect and aiding an increase in our level of focus. However, if you are looking for more controlled lighting; dawn stimulation technology will be offered to minimise interruption to the body’s circadian rhythm and promote healthy sleeping patterns, going hand in hand with noise buffering technology for minimum interruption.
Other components of wellness architecture will support healthy eating, improve the quality of air, purify and filtrate water and try to optimise the number of healthy choices we make. Wellness apartment buildings also include state of the art gyms, pools and spas, create spaces that encourage physical activity and provide other ‘feel good’ amenities that are put in place to boost your mood.
You can enhance your space further with warm tones, cosy spaces, and vertical gardens.
Wellness apartments and architecture are being contracted around the globe to keep up with the increasing wellness trend; however, they are yet to make their mark in Australia. While apartments aren’t readily available, architects are catching on to how their designs can increase mood and happiness with spaces already being designed to help you feel better.
We all want everyday health benefits without having to consciously think about it, and wellness architecture provides just that so it’s no wonder this trend is here to stay.