Guide to Movement Concept, WELL Building Standard for Healthier Spaces
By Matt Morley, 2025 WELL Movement Concept Advisor and Founder of Biofilico
Introduction
The WELL Building Standard is a holistic framework designed to enhance health and well-being within the built environment. It focuses on factors such as indoor air quality, lighting, and thermal comfort to improve the physical, mental, and social health of occupants.
A central component of the WELL Standard is the Movement concept, which integrates design and policy strategies to encourage physical activity. By promoting movement, the concept helps reduce sedentary lifestyles and fosters healthier habits in building users.
For real estate developers, hotel operators, and office tenants, incorporating movement-friendly features is crucial. Creating spaces that promote physical activity not only supports occupant health but also meets the increasing demand for wellness-oriented environments in the market.
Understanding the Movement Concept in WELL
The WELL Building Standard defines movement not just as traditional exercise but as a broader, integrated approach to promoting physical activity within built environments.
This includes encouraging occupants to incorporate movement into their daily routines through active design and creating spaces that make movement more accessible.
The interplay between movement, active design, and physical accessibility is crucial. WELL focuses on designing spaces that support natural movement patterns—such as stairs that are easy to access, walking paths, and spaces that encourage standing and walking during work or leisure time.
This approach fosters a more dynamic environment and reduces the negative effects of prolonged sitting.
The key benefits of this concept include improved physical health, such as reduced risk of cardiovascular disease, enhanced mental well-being, and increased productivity.
In workplaces and hospitality settings, this leads to healthier, more engaged employees and guests, contributing to a more positive and productive atmosphere.
The Role of the WELL Concept Advisories in Shaping Movement Strategies
IWBI Advisors are experts who shape the WELL Building Standard and its initiatives, ensuring a performance-based system that promotes human health in the built environment.
The ten WELL Concept Advisories, including Movement, focus on refining design strategies that promote physical activity.
Matt Morley, a member of the WELL Movement Concept Advisory for 2025, advises on how to integrate movement strategies in real estate, workplace design, and hospitality. These efforts foster intentional spaces that encourage healthy behaviours and contribute to better occupant well-being.
The WELL certification process includes performance verification and post-occupancy surveys, ensuring that buildings meet health and sustainability goals.
Key Features of Movement in WELL-Certified Spaces
Active Design Strategies: Encouraging movement through stairs, open spaces, and ergonomic furniture, designed to support both physical and mental health. These features are key to improving human health and are an integral part of the building design.
Accessible and Connected Environment: Offering walking paths, cycling facilities, and proximity to transit, ensuring that occupants can easily integrate physical activity into their daily routines. This contributes to a holistic approach to wellness in all project types and project areas.
Encouraging Physical Activity: Providing on-site fitness areas, wellness programmes, and active workstations. These WELL features promote physical health and productivity, enhancing occupant well-being and helping building owners create spaces that support human health.
Sedentary Behaviour Reduction: Implementing adjustable desks, walking meetings, and fostering a wellness-focused work culture. These strategies are vital in reducing the impact of sedentary behaviour and supporting healthier, more engaged WELL users.
Movement in Different Sectors
Residential Developments
In real estate projects, movement can be integrated through biophilic design, community spaces, and walkability. Project owners can create environments that support people’s health by promoting outdoor activity and integrating walking paths.
These initiatives not only improve human health and well-being, but also align with evidence-based strategies that enhance the performance of existing interiors and encourage active lifestyles.
Hospitality Spaces
Hotels can enhance health and safety by integrating wellness programmes, active guest experiences, and well-designed gym facilities. These features, supported by the WELL Health-Safety Rating, ensure that guests can enjoy active and healthy stays.
Hotels can also offer dining spaces that promote healthy choices, creating an environment where guests' physical and mental health is supported.
Workspaces
In office environments, flexible layouts, ergonomic furniture, and active commuting incentives are essential to promoting movement. Project teams can integrate monitoring features to track movement habits and thermal comfort, helping ensure the space supports human health.
The WELL Core Certification further ensures that the space meets the highest standards of health and wellness, making the environment safer and more productive for occupants.
Case Studies and Best Practices
Biofilico’s experience in wellness real estate and interior design highlights the importance of integrating movement within the built environment. Our approach incorporates biophilic design and active design strategies to create spaces that support physical and mental health.
Through a series of case studies, we’ve demonstrated how effective design can transform existing interiors into wellness-oriented spaces.
For instance, incorporating ergonomic furniture, walkable spaces, and accessible cycling facilities into office buildings encourages movement, improving overall health and well-being.
Our projects follow best practices outlined by the WELL Building Standard, ensuring that each design enhances human health, supports well-being, and meets health safety ratings.
By focusing on evidence-based design, we create environments that support both the physical and mental health of occupants, boosting productivity and engagement in the process.
How to Implement Movement Strategies in Your Space
Implementing movement strategies in your space involves key actions for developers, hotel operators, and office tenants:
Active Design Integration: Encourage movement by integrating stairs, walkable routes, and ergonomic furniture. In hotel spaces, ensure access to fitness facilities and walking paths. In office environments, adopt flexible layouts that facilitate standing meetings and active collaboration, ensuring the space performs to its full potential.
Accessibility: Provide cycling facilities, showers, and easy access to public transport to support a range of diverse needs. This ensures that everyone, from employees to guests, can incorporate movement into their daily routines.
Wellness Areas: Include intentional spaces that promote movement, such as wellness rooms or areas for physical breaks. For owner-occupied spaces, ensure there are areas that encourage movement without compromising the building’s design or productivity.
Alignment with Wellness and Sustainability Goals: Incorporate movement strategies that align with wellness and sustainability goals, enhancing human health while meeting environmental targets. By using biophilic design and ensuring optimal light levels, you support the well-being of occupants and foster a healthier space.
Overcome Common Challenges: Address the challenge of balancing space efficiency with movement promotion by using adjustable desks, open layouts, and providing well-thought-out walking routes. These solutions ensure the building performs efficiently while supporting physical activity and maintaining a customer-focused environment.
Third Party Certification: Achieving WELL certification ensures your building meets the highest standards in health and wellness. With third-party verification, International WELL Building Institute (IWBI) confirms the space supports occupant health and well-being, making it a part of the global community striving to improve human health worldwide.
Conclusion
Prioritising movement in the built environment delivers long-term benefits, enhancing human health and well-being. Integrating active design strategies within project design can reduce sedentary behaviour and promote better physical and mental health, improving overall productivity and engagement.
The WELL certification plays a critical role in guiding developers, project teams, and building owners in creating spaces that meet rigorous health standards.
Whether you’re working with the first version or the new version of WELL, the framework offers a technically robust approach for ensuring that spaces are designed to support health and wellness.
Third-party verified, WELL certification provides the assurance that design choices truly impact human health in a positive way.
Taking actionable steps to integrate movement-friendly design into your projects will lead to healthier, more productive spaces.
WELL APs, project owners, and design teams can all contribute to a future where buildings are not just places to work or live, but environments that actively support well-being.