Holistic Hospitality: How To Conduct A Wellness Check On Your Space

Holistic Hospitality: How To Conduct A Wellness Check On Your Space

Over the past month for national self-care month, Nova Interiors have been focusing on ‘holistic hospitality,’ which incorporated good practice for design with health and wellbeing in mind. To conclude our holistic hospitality blogs, we have created a checklist for you to conduct a wellness check on your space. 

If you haven’t already, check out our holistic hospitality series here. 5 Ways Furniture Can Influence Wellbeing, FurNATURE Inspiration and Hygge For Happiness. Feel free to print the following checklist out and conduct a wellness check on your hospitality space.

1. Colour

When creating spaces with positive emotions/wellbeing at the forefront, basic colour psychology is inspiringAt Nova, we recommend choosing furniture with hues of yellow, blue, and green. Yellow, known by researchers at The University of Manchester as the ‘happiest colour’ represents creativity, happiness, and warmth. Blue, the colour of choice for logos used by the largest Global brands, represents trust, loyalty, and peace. Finally, green, the colour of nature, is well documented for its healing properties.

Instead of choosing a colour pallet by popularity for your next project: choose the emotion. How do you want your guests to feel in the space? Use this emotion as a driver to select the furniture and environment colour palette. Contact our furniture experts at Nova Interiorswho would be more than happy to alter your furniture for you to match your colour scheme. 

 

2. Fabric

The WELL Building Standards, a guide for positive health and wellbeing within buildings, documents the risks to health from Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) and chemicals found in upholstery textiles/foam. Chemical classes and compounds such as orthophthalates (plasticizers), halogenated flame retardants (HFR) and fluorinated compounds (PFCs) are proven to pose health concerns to human health.

These chemicals sometimes contribute to sick building syndrome, causing a plethora of side effects in humans (headache, fatigue, sickness etc). Here at Nova Interiors, we can guide you into sourcing ‘healthy’ fabricswhich do not emit large VOCs into the environment.  

 

3. Seating Area

Cinema screen with upholstered seating area

Seating areas can be a portal to creating feelings of hygge and bring togetherness into spaces. Are you providing a mixture of deep upholstered lounge chairs, sofas and dining spaces for your guest to enjoy and relax? 

 

4. Quality

What is the quality of your hospitality space like? Energy can be depleted by poor quality spaces (i.e. crumbling paint, damaged upholstery etc.) We recommend keeping up to date with your snagging list and ensuring furniture is kept in excellent quality. Nova Interiors offer a reupholstery service to keep your favourite pieces looking fresh.  

 

5. Nature

Banquette seating with plant pot incorporated

Biophilic design, the study of human connection between the built environment and nature, is widely accepted as an essential part of the design process to promote positive wellbeing in spaces. How do you incorporate nature with furniture though? We love this case study  Project Sphinx designed by Office Principles.

Nova worked with Office Principles design team to deliver a range of social and wellbeing environments, including quiet libraries, coffee lounges, a winter garden and wellness rooms. Nova manufactured all the slatted wall panels, bespoke coffee bars and fixed seating, including booths which double up as planters to incorporate nature into the built environment. 

 

6. Ergonomics

Ergonomics, or the study of human engineering, focuses in on how humans interact with their surroundings. Furniture designed with inadequate ergonomics, can affect posture negatively. Prolonged exposure to poor furniture may lead to back pain, neck strain, ice shoulder, fatigue, and sedentary behaviours for the user. This pain over time can lead to poor physical and mental health. Have you considered the ergonomic factors of your furniture?  

 

7. Accessibility

Ensure your space is inclusive for all guests. Have you considered ramps to compliment steps? Walkways wide enough for a wheelchair turning circle? Bathrooms with accessible turning circles? Signage and way finding large enough for all guests to see? Having poor accessibility in your hospitality space can alienate guests with accessibility needs and make them feel unwelcome.  

 

8. Clutter

Mollie's Motel & Diner

Whilst we have highlighted how furniture can maximise a space, too much can cause clutter and overstimulation in guests. Keeping spaces tidy and access wide enough for a wheelchair turning circle can keep your space appearing clean and visually stress free. 

 

9. Smell

The reciprocal, and causal relationship between smell and emotion is well documented in design literature. Certain smells can evoke memory, positive feelings and relaxation. Similarly, how bad smells can have the opposite effect. As smell is subjective to the guest, smell is a difficult theme to incorporate into hospitality spaces. Consider adding subtle artificial smells into your hospitality space by adding a few drops of essential oils to air conditioners/purifiers/ventilation systems.  

 

10. Lighting

How much natural lighting are you optimising in your space? Whilst budgets do not always cover new, larger windows, there are subtle ways to increase the natural lighting of your space. Using mirrors, strategically placed, can bounce the light around surfaces creating lighter appearances.  

 

11. Storage

Image of Room2 Hometel

Bleisure, a blended hybrid of business and leisure, is on the rise after the COVID-19 pandemic. The need for a ‘home from home’ is now on the rise and have you got enough storage for guests to home their personal belongings? We love these personalised spaces at Room2Hometel and Point A Hotels.

 

WHICH METHODS WILL YOU USE TO ENHANCE POSITIVE WELLBEING IN YOUR NEXT PROJECT? LET US KNOW WHAT YOU CHOOSE FOR YOUR NEXT PROJECT BY CONTACTING OUR TEAM AT [email protected]