Welcome to the age of the “wellness home”.
A new luxury “wellness home” apartment building went up on the lower eastside of manhattan in 2014. It provides nearly 50 different details aimed at living well and mindfully. Imagine leaving your shower healthier than you were before! I know, you’re thinking you already know about vitamin-C infused showers that apparently neutralize chlorine and enhance your shower water with essential nutrients and antioxidants. But, we’re talking way more than little embellishments in the shower.
I think of it as a kind of smart home on steroids.
So, twin brothers, architects and designers Paul (CEO) and Peter Scialla (COO), executives of Delos Living, designed the lower-east-side building. The brothers say the “wellness home” is based on real science, according to The Real Deal, July 2014 issue. The luxury building boasts UV lighting that sterilizes. Plants are picked to filter volatile organic compounds, better known as smog. Plus, artificial light, and an automated lighting system with blackout shades. The cork flooring flexes slightly to provide lumbar support. Additionally, kitchens have a juicing station, herbarium, and a steam oven where antioxidants and vitamins, supposedly, are not destroyed in the cooking process. And if you are looking for advice on how to best utilize your extra cash for philanthropy, just use the “altruistic concierge” who will also plan seminars and classes.
Fast forward to 2017.
The twins are working with Deepak Chopra. He owns one of Delos’ $14.5 million lower-east-side co-ops. And, he is helping to design a new luxury building in Florida that is listed for $18.5 and $19.5 million. Of course, Florida! After all, lots of aging baby boomers are looking to age-in-place in warm climates.
Everything is monitored and measured.
Your “wellness home” in Florida will monitor and measure the air, light, and water in your home. As well as your circadian rhythms, your balance, and your walking gait. Mirrors will identify health issues of the skin. And, your toilet will alert your physician if your fluid balance is off or if it detects blood in your urine. In addition, a medicine dispenser combined with a smart toilet, will make medication adjustments and, they say, reduce trips to the emergency room. Thank goodness, this will help the fraction of us that can afford multi-million dollar “wellness homes”.
To Have or Not to Have.
Not surprisingly, Joe Colistra, an architect with the Center for Design Research at the University of Kansas, is looking at this a little differently. He and his colleagues would like to see mass-produced “wellness housing” that doesn’t create have’s and have nots. Wouldn’t that be nice? Maybe.
