INCULCATING ADVANCED AMENITIES IN DESIGN
While architecture design is experiencing a paradigm shift, under these tough circumstances, residential architecture is moving towards self-sufficiency and sustainability. Architects today are focussed on assimilating modular designs, transitional and filtered entrances, new material palettes, automation and smart home technologies, resulting in utilitarian and flexible homes. Therapeutic living has become a new trend for designers today, where green areas and garden rooftops, natural light and ventilation via balconies, courtyards and terraces, indoor greenery through plants, green walls and flower beds have a profound effect on the occupants well being.
Where these designers envisage new health-oriented parameters in their designs, people are busy rethinking about the needs and requirements for their intimate spaces with a newer perspective. Every individual is trying to re-evaluate their new normal. The Pandemic has definitely reinforced the need for open or outdoor-like spaces and substantial technological interventions but people today are also enthused with the outdoor amenities that they have missed the most during this lockdown period. Future has become a fertile ground for high-end luxury residential designers. It's time to refurbish basements and the rooftops to induce breathtaking views from the comfort of their premises.
Post-pandemic saw an accelerated need for varied understated spaces in residential projects, which would cater to every aspect of comfortable living. The inclusion of indoor/ open gymnasiums, saunas and spas, office workspaces, rejuvenation and recreational spaces, and home theatres, among other amenities in individual residential projects, became important for deeming a residence habitable. Juxtapositioning these elements with basic spaces along with breathable open volumes has become a need of the hour following the pandemic. Quiet and private spaces have become equally important for increased focus and productivity in homes. The pandemic opened up the option of ‘Work from Home’ and has become an excessively favoured option for working, thus, the availability of private, acoustically treated working spaces to increase an individual’s focus and productivity while being in the comfort of one’s home has become significant.
Flexible furniture in addition to flexible spaces is significant today for the increased functionality of homes. The transition of one space to another with simple, smart, flexible interior decor elements renders the space dynamic and utilitarian along with allowing free movement of in-house traffic. They improve circulation within the house, induce an airy feel to the space and foster a sense of connection among the residents, especially in homes with a smaller area. Outdoor, open spaces have been identified as critical spaces that better the quality of life indoors. Balconies, courtyards, and pockets of greens with various types of openings allow for the inflow of light and air, refining cross ventilation and thus enhancing the air quality of the indoor spaces. The utilization of smart technological innovations to ensure the hygiene of space keeping in mind its functions, following the pandemic is currently trending. Apart from using smooth, maintainable textures for platforms in homes, incorporating touch-free, sensor-driven devices in different rooms aids in maintaining their hygiene.
In addition to these, the provision of spaces for rejuvenation and recreation adds to the tonality of the residence. Provision of gymnasiums, saunas, spas, sports rooms, home theatre, terraces, and in-built bars, to name a few, accentuate the quality of life and increase engagement between the residents of the homes. Inhouse amenities play a crucial role in bringing positivity to the residents and aid in a stress-free and joyous life which everybody yearns to live in.
