Designing With Wellness and Sustainability in Mind
Designers at TRIO actively focus on shifting the industry toward a more sustainable legacy
By Angela Harris
It’s no secret that the pandemic underscored the connection between home and wellness. With more time than ever spent at home over the last two years, finding ways to create spaces that bring happiness and a sense of wellness have become a priority for most people.
At TRIO, we always approach design with the “why” behind “the what,” which is why we put a tremendous amount of thought into the community features of our projects, like creating design spaces that encourage socialization and a sense of community. Community truly is the most integral amenity. Plus, designing spaces with an indoor-outdoor connection and incorporating more sustainable furnishings are just a few ways TRIO is working to design with wellness and sustainability in mind.
Living well at home is a foundational component in my role as CEO and Principal at TRIO, where I focus on not only the design, but the functionality of the home. When designing a restorative space, our designers think about creating environments that promote better sleep, rest and stress reduction.
We work to incorporate an abundance of natural light to harness nature’s power to improve mental, emotional and physical well-being. From the wellness pods featured in Alas Over Lowry to the expansive, indoor-outdoor fitness hub at Citizen W10, features that promote authentic and thoughtful design are top of mind at TRIO and beyond.
Color, too, can create a powerful emotional response, and in wellness spaces, we lean into the natural, earth-tone colors like white, clay, linen and charcoal to evoke feelings of calm and connectedness.
The story behind a product, specifically its environmental credentials, are just as important as the aesthetics of it. We find products made of renewable materials, such as bamboo, or include something that was repurposed or recycled and produced using renewable energy.
By partnering with some of the best and most thoughtful manufacturers in the industry, we can offer an exclusive collection of lifestyle products that improve the standard for quality and craftsmanship. We urge manufacturers to reduce their dependence on toxic materials and harmful chemicals. We design with wellness in mind and are actively focused on shifting the industry toward a more sustainable legacy: to do better today than we did yesterday and move the design experience beyond form or function.
No more is “wellness” a buzz word—it’s very much here to stay. 80-90% of our health outcomes depend on environmental factors in our wellness ecosystem, defined as a complex web of external factors including access to health care, socioeconomics and our natural and built environments.
Global Wellness Institute reports that 20% of consumer spending is on our homes, which equates to $8 trillion spent per year. Of that $8 trillion, $134 billion is spent on wellness (growing at 6.4% annually). Homes and public spaces designed around sustainability and wellness are only going to become more of an expectation in the industry.
The challenge is clear and the opportunity is here… the designed environment must intentionally and positively affect all areas of well being in a lasting and meaningful way.
Angela Harris is CEO and Principal of TRIO. An American interior designer, product designer, CEO, mother and industry board member, Angela has spent over 20+ years working directly with the nation’s most prominent builders, developers, product designers and merchandisers.
