How Health and Wellness Has Made Its Way Into Architecture

There are many uniquely modern problems that people face daily, such as sedentary lives, unhealthy diets, stress, social isolation, pollution and nature deprivation. Consumers are increasingly demanding that the architecture of a broad range of public spaces, from hotels to hospitals and airports, help in tackling these problems includes wellness as a key design parameter by including wellness as a key design parameter.

According to a survey conducted, the wellness lifestyle real estate and communities market is worth $119 billion and growing at 9% a year, and is expected to reach $153 billion by 2020.

Why Wellness in Architecture needed?

Considering the amount of time a person spends indoor, abysmally designed buildings can have an adverse effect on our wellness, even for those who lead a healthy lifestyle. With looming threats of climate change and global warming now ever present, we need to build in a more considerate way.

By incorporating wellness into architecture, our buildings will be designed to make us healthier and happier right from the blueprint stage.

Increasing Productivity

The 7 key principles of a ‘well’ building include air, water, nourishment, light, fitness, comfort, and mind. Integrating wellness into building design can help increase the productivity of an individual. The quality of air and light plays a crucial role when it comes to wellness.

Architects are now factoring in natural light as a fundamental consideration in their designs and are including toxin-removing plants to clean up the air.

They are also using the most innovative new concepts (such as algae-based biofuel cells) in incredible ‘living buildings’ for air purification. This will help in boosting the wellness of building users as respiratory and other medical issues are no longer worsened simply by spending time indoors. Thus, increasing the productivity of the person living there.

Leisure and Public Buildings

Initially, health and wellness were limited to specific buildings such as gyms, leisure centres and hotels. Now, as the industry becomes more pervasive, wellness is making its way into other areas.

 In a bid to increase footfall, retailers and department stores that aren't typically rooted in this sector are increasingly jumping onto the wellness bandwagon by redesigning their offerings. Amid increasing competition from online shopping, declining foot traffic and rising vacancies, mall owners are attempting to draw customers in by including gyms.