Matt Morley 08/07/2021 Matt Morley 08/07/2021

Wellbeing interior design and biophilia at Can Ikigai, Barcelona

In this project we combine elements of wellbeing interiors and biophilic design in response to the existing Japanese influences present in the apartment in its unfurnished state.

Our wellbeing interior design for “Can Ikigai” is a haven of tranquillity and biophilia in Barcelona’s Gracia neighborhood

Wellbeing interiors and biophilia

In this project we combine elements of wellbeing interiors and biophilic design in response to the existing Japanese influences present in the apartment in its unfurnished state.

The use of solid oak sliding panels and flooring, combined with an abundance of natural light and an over-sized wrap-around terrace meant that we could keep the majority of the plants outside, leaving the interior space for a more minimalist, neutral palette of beige, white and grey-black.

Healthy home design

A living area has a Japanese futon paired with a quality mattress covered in a beige linen fabric cover sourced from our friends at La Maison in Barcelona. We then added a Libeco throw and some tonal cushions to ‘disguise’ the guest bed as a day bed / sofa, layering natural fabric over natural fabric.

Wabi-sabi design

An entire wall of bespoke shelving was decorated with objets d’art and tribal artifacts collected from around the world in particular Spain and the African continent, each one ‘imperfect’ in its own way and thereby creating a degree of visual consistency through materials and finishes. A reading lamp from Artemide then makes this a comfortable corner for reading, especially during winter months.

Biophilic kitchen

The kitchen is more of an architectural statement so required nothing more than some carefully displayed wooden chopping boards and designer kitchen goods for a keen chef to enjoy the cooking experience, such as a Vitamix blender and a classic Pavoni espresso machine. Plants, leaves and indeed fruit and vegetables themselves plat a decorative role off-set against the backdrop of a dark grey, rough ceramic wall finish.

Biophilia in a home office

A healthy home office set-up features a standing desk and stool combined with a floor pad for added comfort under-foot, a biophilic art installation on the wall by Flowers By Bornay, vintage Scandinavian side table in solid teak and a biophilic art print sourced from an at fair in South Africa.

Eco-friendly bathroom

Linen towels, reusable bottles for natural soap and shampoo, a plastic-free set of bathroom accessories and a smart lighting system for those dark evenings all ensure that this is a healthy bathroom experience that also does no harm to the planet as we removed all plastic completely. This requires proximity to a good eco-friendly store selling soaps and so on, in this case Barcelona had plenty to offer nearby!

Home gym design

Making use of the large outdoor space, we brought in a set of kettlebells, sandbags, dumbbells, medicine balls, bands and exercise mats to create a functional fitness training area with all the essentials, and just the right amount of design influence to ensure continuity with the rest of the property. A row of succulents lines the whitewashed balcony wall, keeping the connection to nature whilst working out.

TO ENQUIRE ABOUT OUR WELLBEING INTERIOR AND HEALTHY HOME CONSULTANCY SERVICES CONTACT US HERE

Matt Morley 26/03/2021 Matt Morley 26/03/2021

WELL Building Standard: Movement V10 Self-Monitoring

What does the WELL Building Certification Feature ‘Movement V10 Self-monitoring’ require and how should a real estate development or workplace respond to it?

a WELL consultant’s response to WELL Building Certification Feature ‘Movement V10 Self-monitoring’

What is the WELL Building Standard?

The WELL Certification process for WELL V2 is now widely established as the leading healthy building and wellness real estate standard in the world today. It is essentially a series of guidelines backed by rigorous scientific research, that when taken together, will guide a real estate project, whether new build construction or refurbishment and fit-out, towards a final product that is aligned with human health and wellness.

Sections of the V2 standard are dedicated to Air, Water, Nourishment, Light, Movement, Thermal Comfort, Sound, Materials, Mind, Community & Innovation.

What is WELL consulting?

A WELL AP or WELL consultant is there to assist a project team through the certification process, ensuring maximum points are scored along the way by offering expert advice not just on how to lock-in points but also the principles that lie behind them. As a result, the project has every chance of becoming a model of health and wellness in the built environment.

Additionally, a WELL consultant’s skill set might include wellness interior design, biophilic design, knowledge in healthy buildings and consideration for sustainability / green buildings, a WELL building’s close cousin, as well as expertise in health and fitness, or as WELL like to call it ‘Physical Activity’, ‘Movement’ and ‘Nourishment’.

What does this WELL healthy building feature focus on?

A developer, employer or landlord provides wearable fitness monitors for physical activity and healthy behaviors at a subsidized cost to all employees / regular building occupants.

What good is a wearable in promoting a healthy building? It provides reliable, or at least more reliable than ‘self reported data’ from building occupants on how active a lifestyle they lead during the working week.

This is not to pry into their personal lives but simply to gauge whether the facilities provided within the healthy building, such as physical activity spaces are being put to good use.

What can tech do in promoting physical activity in a healthy building?

Yes, this can seem an intangible argument and clearly an apple watch or Fitbit alone is not going to make much difference by itself however within the context of a suite of measures that combine hardware and software, physical activity programming for workplace wellness as well as an on-site fitness room with fitness equipment, the wearables can be a valuable part of the package.

To answer the privacy concern head on, WELL Feature V10 suggests selecting a piece of tech that has adequate privacy measures in place - to be clear, the purpose is not for individuals to upload their data for the HR department or external workplace wellness consultant to review, although we believe that there are potential gains in some form of gamification of workplace activity with, for example, prizes for those who take more than 10,000 steps inside the building in a month, etc.

The point here is not any one individual’s performance, quite the opposite, we’re simply looking to use the wearables to promote activity and monitor successes at an individual level, there is no requisite to share this info at all within the WELL standard. Each business / employer is then free to take additional steps as they see fit, or indeed employees may choose to form their own social groups for sharing limited amounts of data amongst themselves, assuming they all have the same piece of tech or software.

How to use wearable tech in WELL V10 self-monitoring

The WELL standard specifies that ALL eligible employees should be provided with a wearable fitness monitor device with the following requirements:

Available at no cost or subsidized by at least 50%.
Allow users to monitor their own metrics over time (i.e., provides a dashboard where individual metrics are aggregated).
Measure at least two physical activity metrics (e.g., steps, floors climbed, activity minutes).
Measure at least one additional health behavior (e.g., mindfulness practice, sleep).

As WELL consultants, how do we respond to this feature?

At least in its current format, the problem we have with this feature of the WELL healthy building standard is that it is better suited to smaller scale buildings or workforces, assuming that no allowance is made for a project looking to take a random sample of the workforce as a trial to test the impact of their investment in wearables.

Many people will already have their own wearable tech, or use smartphone apps that do some or all of the same work for them. One question we’d raise with WELL on that basis is whether we could use a hybrid approach of a client sponsoring wearables only for those people who do not have suitable tech already.

Going one step further, we would in future like to explore opportunities to take a sample of data from amongst a workforce to analyse the impact of new active design features in a building for example (with each individual’s consent, or perhaps while wearing the monitor only in the office).

We have heard of problems at other organizations where wearables given to staff were seen as a way to monitor them, or check if they were working at their desks, so there are many hurdles to overcome here in order to leverage occupant movement data in a way that respects privacy.

We shall continue to explore this theme and propose creative solutions to our clients!

We hope this article has proven useful! Contact us here to discuss how we can help you with workplace wellness programs and the WELL Building Certification process

Matt Morley 17/02/2021 Matt Morley 17/02/2021

Introducing the World Green Building Council Health & Wellbeing Framework

Our review of the Health & Wellbeing Framework, it’s benefits and uses in real estate

Six Principles for a Healthy, Sustainable Built Environment

WorldGBC's Health & Wellbeing Framework.jpg

Neither a green building nor a healthy building certification as such but rather an umbrella framework for thinking about both sides of the coin, this welcome model from the World Green Building Council strikes a conciliatory tone, making it eminently practical, user-friendly and comfortably aligned with current industry trends. In other words, we like it!

So what exactly is health and wellbeing in this context and how can it help guide sustainable development in the real estate industry?

Read on to find out more as we break down each section into bite-size chunks within the framework of sustainability health and wellbeing.

This is applicable to workplace health projects as well we employee wellbeing framework requirements and wellbeing strategy for residential developments, or indeed for those looking to maximize wellbeing benefits in mixed-use real estate developments.

If there are any up and coming health and wellbeing guardians looking to implement wellbeing initiatives in their organization, this is also a great place to start.

principle 1 / PROTECT HEALTH: Air Quality, Water Quality, Mental Health and Infectious Disease in Buildings

Indoor Air Quality: This feature looks at air pollution and airborne diseases in the context of human health and public health, specifically household pollution from solid fuel combustion, household pollution from gas appliances, pollutants such as VOCs present in fabrics and materials, and finally biological contaminants.

Ambient Air Pollution: Issues such as the manufacture of building materials contributing to black carbon emissions, the construction process itself and its carbon emissions and more generally the operations of buildings via heating, cooling and lighting, with their corresponding energy demands.

Raising awareness of these issues relating to wellbeing health is a valuable initiative, no matter whether led by the World Green Building Council or the World Health Organization.

Water Quality: Testing for contaminants, regular cleaning schedule in communal areas, Legionella management plan.

Mental & Social Health: Biophilic design, acoustic comfort, shared communal spaces, access to and views of nature, active space for exercise, post-occupancy surveys.

Reduce Transmission of Infectious Diseases: Integrate sensor activations in buildings, HVAC maintenance schedule, use of UV lamps, high touch surface disinfection plan.

principle 2 / Prioritise comfort: Thermal Comfort, Lighting, Acoustics, Visual, Ergonomic and Inclusive Design

Thermal Comfort: Airtight building envelopes and suitable ventilation, thermal massing, use of beneficial solar gain, insulation and glazing, retention of existing trees, Passive House design strategies, integration of traditional or vernacular design. These are fundamental well being principles common in any healthy building plan.

Natural and energy efficient lighting: Maximize natural light in a building whilst reducing glare, avoid using glossy finishes, specify light-coloured opaque shading systems

Acoustic comfort: Use of sound-absorbing interiors products, sound masking, vibration isolation devices

Multi-sensory comfort: Olfactory comfort (avoid unpleasant odours), ergonomic furniture and visual stimulation via aesthetics

Inclusive design: consideration for those with physical or mental disabilities as well as the vulnerable or ageing populations

principle 3 / harmony between natural and built environments

Occupant access to nature in buildings: biophilic design features, landscaping features, natural patterns and textures, opportunities for human interaction with nature

Occupant access to nature outside and biodiversity within the site: Green infrastructure such as green roofs or courtyards, native plant species, rehabilitate degraded land on site

principle 4 / healthy behavior

Active design: attractive stairwells, end of trip facilities (showers, bike storage, etc), access to nearby public transportation

Hydration, nutrition and social connectivity: Clean water provision, communal dining facilities, healthy food options (cafe/restaurant), food prep areas

principle 5 / social value

Protect human rights related to health: Social and demographic equity within project and construction team, inclusion of human rights and labour provisions in supplier tendering, Human Rights Impact Assessment and Supply Chain Mapping

Health of construction workers: Responsible construction practices, protection of worker rights, health & safety measures, educational programs

Improve local quality of life: Engage with the local community early on, reduce impact of construction site on local community wherever possible, implement organizational strategies to help support local economy (e.g. restaurants)

principle 6 / take climate action

Commit to net zero emissions: Improve lifecycle energy efficiency / reduce building energy demand, aiming for net zero operational carbon emissions in all new buildings by 2030, and net zero embodied carbon in all new buildings by 2050, measure and disclose carbon, generate power from renewables where possible and off-set the rest, use passive design measures, opt for low Global Warming Potential (GWP) refrigerants

Design for Resilience: Plan for resilient systems, carry out environmental assessments, use vernacular natural ventilation strategies where possible, specify products and materials that will not off-gas in the event of a natural disaster, design for reduced dependence on complex building controls and systems for when the worst happens

https://worldgbc.org/health-framework

To discuss how we can help you implement this framework into your business, contact Matt directly here.