Wellness by Design: Part 1
A few months ago, Maeve Henderson asked me to join her in Mykonos for a week away.
Obviously I said yes – Greece is one of my favourite countries and I had no doubt we would have the best time together.
Maeve is an amazing friend and a phenomenal architect, and lucky for me she took care of all the bookings for our trip to Greece (can I just say, it has been SO long since anyone has booked an entire trip for me!!).
She has exceptional taste and high standards, so she made sure to do her research when she booked our accommodation. Perfection doesn’t come close. We ended up staying at a glorious guesthouse with an unforgettable view over Ornos. This place was so perfect we hardly left!
When I asked Maeve for her take on environmental wellness, I was so interested in her response. She has so much knowledge on how and why certain spaces feel relaxing, happy, warm, and bright, while others feel overstimulating, chaotic, and energetic.
Cities and buildings can be built for wellness by design, but different cities may have vastly different effects on our well-being.
Wellness architecture is an actual thing (!) and is used to “promote a harmonious balance between physical, emotional, cognitive and spiritual wellbeing while regenerating the natural environment”. How amazing is that?!
Part 1 of this blog dives into the basics of what makes an environment calming or exciting, which can be particularly useful when we are planning a holiday.
We go even deeper into how this can be used in your own home in Part 2!
Leading up to our trip, I was thinking a lot about how wellness shows up in my life.
One of the people I admire for facing wellness head-on is without a doubt Maeve. If you know her, you know she is incredible - she takes initiative, sets boundaries, and makes connections. Not only is she self-aware with a good sense of who she is and what she needs to do for herself to stay physically and emotionally healthy, but she loves her job, makes time for herself and her family, and literally designs houses for people, meaning she is directly involved in creating the very spaces that significantly impact the way we take care of ourselves.
It didn’t take long for me to ask for her thoughts on environmental wellness; What is it about the way certain places make you feel? What should we consider when we want to relax and unwind?
We were walking between white and blue buildings scattered along a brown landscape in Greece. Why was this place so relaxing?
Take a moment to visualise yourself walking alongside us in Mykonos. The shining sun is warm on your skin and the ocean meets the sky out in the distance as you gaze over the calm water and take a deep breath in, feeling calm and relaxed. The buildings are blue and white and smooth. The landscape is brown and rough.
Now imagine blinking and opening your eyes to the skyscrapers of Times Square in New York city or the neon lights of Tokyo. I’m guessing that deep breath in would turn to a gasp, that calm feeling would turn into a sense of busyness or being rushed, and you might not be relaxed but rather energised, perhaps even overstimulated.
Lets say you blink again, and this time when your eyes open you are in an open meadow, with tall grass, bright flowers, and a lively river nearby. There is a gentle breeze and the sunlight touches everything in sight. You let the slow, calm, relaxed energy sink back in as you touch the grass below you and admire the mountains in the distance.
Why is it that our surroundings have such an impact on how we feel? What exactly is it about one city that makes it stimulating, and another that makes it relaxing?
We can break this down into three different elements to start: colour, texture, and material.
What is comes down to is the variety of colour and texture, and use of natural materials. The less variety, more repetition, and more natural materials used, the more calming an environment tends to be.
Maeve explains this preference for repetition as being a natural attraction:
“It’s how we operate. We are symmetrical. Our heart beats. We are made up of limited things. It’s not infinite newness but familiar patterns and repetition that make up beautiful things. I think that humans can connect with that.”
When you think about very beautiful cities - such as Venice, Paris, Rome, patterns are repeated and palettes are very limited. That’s why people think they are so beautiful. In Rome, for example, the entire city is made of pretty much the same material – the same type of stone.
In Santorini and Mykonos, there are three colours everywhere you look – the white and blue buildings, and the brown surroundings. When you look at texture, the buildings are smooth while the surroundings are rough.
When you think of something that’s over stimulating, like Times Square in New York, it’s the opposite. There is continuous new-ness. New colors. New textures. As well as unnatural material - like the overuse of plastic and neon signs. These hard shiny surfaces are not common in nature.
You don’t go to times square to feel calm. You go to feel stimulated – it’s all new, constantly changing.
We can think about this on a smaller scale as well. Consider the differences between a casino or an arcade and a spa or an upscale restaurant. The same principles apply - the differences are in the colours, textures, and materials.
Overstimulation is not necessarily a bad thing – it just might not be the best option for when you need to decompress or relax your mind and distract yourself in calm and quiet after stress at work or home. But if you feel like you need a bit more pep in your step and want a distraction in chaos, that overstimulation could be perfect for you.
When we’re planning a trip away, we can use this information to decide where we want to visit. If we’re in need of some R&R and want to be somewhere we can unwind and recoup, perhaps we take off to a place that has loads of natural materials and repetition. If we are looking for some stimulation and want to get fired up and do all the things, maybe somewhere with bright lights and loads of variety is what we need.
Sure, you can find a relaxing spa in NYC, and a wild club in Mykonos - but if you know the intent of your trip, perhaps you can optimise what you get out of it by utilising the power of your surroundings.
Check out Part 2 where we dive into how we can apply these same things to our home .
Maeve Staunton Henderson is director of architectural practice of the same name, Staunton Henderson. She is qualified from the prominent architecture school in London, the Architectural Association. Previous alumni include Sir. Richard Rogers, Sir. Norman Foster, Dame Zaha Hadid.
The practice is a two time AIBF Business All Star winner for trust, performance & customer-centricity. Maeve is an RIAI member.
Maeve was raised in Longford, studied in Dublin & London. She has worked in London, New York and in Cambodia for a Yale research project. She is currently building her dream home in Sligo for her family.
You can learn more about Maeve and her work by visiting her website or following her on instagram
