How Wellness Is Reimagining Other Industries

Having spent some time exploring the different types of drivers impacting the trajectory of the wellness industry, including the consumer behaviours fuelling its growth, by now you should have a clear understanding of just how influential wellness has become within our everyday lives.

As we’ve already noted, today the growing expectation is that elements of wellness should be integrated into all of our daily touchpoints –– whether that be within our homes, at our places of work, or as part of the social activities we partake in.

And, as this unquenching thirst for ‘everything wellness’ continues to grow in importance for consumers, the notion that wellness should be part of the infrastructure, not an addition to it, is creating opportunities for other industries too.

Today, 73% of global consumers expect wellness to be an essential element of every brand’s strategy, with 52% suggesting that cars, banks, or airlines should offer wellness options too [1].

In response, companies operating within industries that haven’t traditionally been associated with wellness –– such as the real estate, finance, and automotive sectors –– are starting to reformulate and reimagine their products and services through a wellness lens. In doing so, they’re finding themselves able to boost their value and create differentiated offerings despite operating in competitive markets.

Altering everything from the design and materials used to the processes and marketing employed, wellness is having a profound impact on the real estate industry in particular.

Let’s take a closer look at that impact through some examples.

How real estate is getting a wellness makeover

Developed with people’s health and wellness at the centre of its design, wellness real estate – whilst still a nascent movement – has experienced rapid growth in recent years.

From high-spec apartments featuring air purification systems, vitamin C-filtered showers, and circadian lighting systems, to co-working spaces fitted with meditation pods and biophilic designs (as demonstrated in the examples below), features that support the health and wellness of occupants are on the rise in both commercial and residential builds.

But it’s not just healthy fixtures and fittings that are transforming the industry. As consumer interest continues to fuel the sector –– with an estimated 1.3 million potential buyers each year in the US for wellness-oriented homes and communities [2] –– hybrid buildings and communities created specifically with holistic wellness in mind are also redefining the way people live and work.

Equinox’ pioneering hotel in New York, for example, integrates elements of wellness including:

• Soundproofing and blackout blinds
• Natural-fiber mattresses
• Temperature regulating duvets
• High-performance breakfasts,
• In-room IV vitamin drips,
• A 60,000-square-foot Equinox Fitness Club
• A SoulCycle studio

Life Time Living locates its wellness-infused apartment buildings next to new or existing Life Time Fitness clubs –– with membership built into the monthly rent.

Co-living spaces, like UK-based Mason & Fifth, offer their residents daily fitness programmes, and healthy catering.

And wellness communities, like Serenbe and Amrit in the US, connect the dots between nature, healthy living, and environmental sustainability.

By trademarking the words ‘Wellness Real Estate’ and pioneering a “WELL” building standard –– a performance-based system for measuring, certifying, and monitoring features of the built environment that impact human health and wellbeing –– Delos is also helping to spearhead the transformation of the real estate industry in a more credible and recognised way. The company has already helmed 1,555 projects in 48 countries [3].

However, to fully realise its potential, the movement will need to shift from its current premium positioning to cater to a more mainstream market. This will require more accessible offerings, as demonstrated by affordable developments such as Via Verde and Breathe Easy Homes in the US, which are already on the rise.

What do you think?

Can you pinpoint any other examples of how real estate is being influenced by wellness?

How about the built environments you frequently come into contacts with, such as retailers, hospitality venues, hotels, and houses –– how are they evolving to become more wellness-focused?

What other forms of wellness would you like to see being integrated into commercial and residential buildings? What problems still need to be solved?

References

[1] The Wellness Gap

[2] Health & Wellness Lifestyle Market Study

[3] Mason & Fifth