11 hours Ago By Andrea Cox
Reviews and recommendations are unbiased and products are independently selected. Postmedia may earn an affiliate commission from purchases made through links on this page. In the ever-evolving landscape of design, a critical theme is emerging — designing for wellness.
Whether that means a home gym, a plunge pool, a prayer room, a steam room, a dry sauna or just painting an overarching sense of calm with colour and materials, this year’s wellness trends encourage us to slow down, reconnect and embrace balance. “People are wanting their homes to be sanctuaries where they can come home to a space and unwind from their busy lives. Since COVID, people are really thinking of their homes a little differently and realizing that making spaces in their homes that they can utilize for wellness is much more economical than say paying for a gym membership,” says designer Alykhan Velji of Alykhan Velji Designs.
He notes that built-in saunas and wet-rooms are becoming very popular, especially within the context of spa-like ensuite spaces and as an accompaniment to the home gym experience. “It’s really all about using the home to its full capacity,” says Velji. Wellness is about design and amenities, but it’s also about the intangibles — it’s about how a space makes us feel and how that in turn affects our physical, mental and emotional health.
Certainly, plenty of light is a big part of wellness, as is a sense of tranquility and peace. A case in point would be Baywest Homes’ 2025 Foothills Hospital Lottery Home in the award-winning community of Harmony. With its soaring cathedral ceilings, floor-to-ceiling windows and stunning mountain and lake views, not only does the home exude luxury and relaxed living, it’s also a wellness retreat located just outside of the city and positioned right on Harmony Lake with its own private dock.
The almost 4,900-square-foot, three-bedroom home designed specifically for lakeside living features a cosy and family-friendly open-concept floor plan that incorporates warmth and a sense of peace, a home gym with views of the lake and several outdoor decks and patios. Victoria Epp, Baywest’s show home lead says that the home’s design spins around light-filled moments. From the central living spaces, the $3 million home unfolds in layers with plenty of texture and natural materials like wood and marble, along with soft, nature-inspired colours, browns, shades of wheat and cream.
Hits of matte black and gold, along with glass feature walls tie the spaces together, while allowing light to shine through the entirety of the home. “The architecture plays a huge part, but when you mix different types of styles you can really achieve a lot of depth,” says Victoria Epp, noting that the large windows also showcase stunning views of lake, reflecting the visual richness of the surrounding landscape. Designing with an eye to enhancing the calm-inducing effects of the surrounding natural environment through plenty of viewscapes, as well as capitalizing on indoor-outdoor connections with features like sunrooms, sliding glass walls and three-season covered outdoor terraces allow full immersion and enjoyment of the natural world and sunlight — all part of the current trend towards incorporating biophilic elements into home design.
Biophilic design mimics the colours, textures and patterns found in nature — think shades of soft green, burnt orange, warm brown and sunshine yellow and plenty of wood and stone. It also includes layering plants and greenery throughout the home, adding living walls (mini-green walls are a big trend right now) and using technology to bring greater wellness to the space from more subtle lighting to mechanical ventilation, heat recovery systems and air purifiers to improve indoor air quality..
