Green Healthy Places

How can evolutionary history provide insight into building better buildings today for the generations to follow? What lessons can real estate professionals take from evolutionary psychology and anthropology to ensure cross-generational karma? Here I discuss Indoor Air Quality, Healthy Materials, Biophilic Design, Active Design and Restorative Spaces - all evolution friendly design adaptations for modern buildings.

Welcome to episode 077 of the Green Healthy Places podcast in which we discuss the themes of wellbeing and sustainability in real estate and hospitality today.

I’m your host Matt Morley and in this episode I’m in London talking to James Fry, Founder of Beyond Apartments & Aparthotels.

Having launched in 2021, Beyond are the UK's leading sustainable serviced apartment, aparthotel, and BTR operator. The brand now has a pipeline of aparthotel projects across the UK, partnering with future-focused owners, developers, and investors. Current sites are located in London’s Fitzrovia, Waterloo and the West End.

Carbon neutral, low waste and low toxicity, these are billed as healthier spaces in which to stay, live and work. They also have a concept of ‘sustainable wellness’ that we explore in more detail during our conversation.

James has over 12 years of experience in the hospitality industry, and was previously Managing Director of Base Aparthotels in Switzerland, he has plenty of pedigree in other words. Here is James Fry of Beyond Apartments & Aparthotels.

• www.beyondapartments.co.uk
• LINKEDIN FOR BEYOND
• LINKEDIN FOR JAMES FRY
• BEYOND ON INSTAGRAM
• www.greenhealthyplaces.com

Welcome to episode 076 of the Green Healthy Places podcast in which we discuss the the of wellbeing and sustainability in real estate and hospitality today. 

I’m your host Matt Morley and in this episode I’m in Milan, Italy but the tables have been turned. This time around I’m on the other side of the microphone, answering the questions.

In front of me is Stefania Lorenzi from the marketing department of the Bolton Group. 

This recording took place in their via Pirelli offices, close to the Central Station in Milan, where I’ve been working with their executive team and  project architects on implementing a range of green, healthy office strategies over recent months.

The Bolton Group is a family-owned, Italian multinational with over 11,000 employees in 60 different offices. 

They are present in 150 countries with over 60 household brands in the portfolio, from products for the home, to food, adhesives, personal care and beauty care.

We discuss the basics of nature-inspired biophilic design, its relationship with sustainability, the benefits of a nature-infused indoor work environment and some tips on how to integrate a little biophilia into our daily routines at home.

This is just a 15-minute chat, nothing complicated but hopefully relevant as a basic primer on the key principles I’m working with when creating a green, healthy office building.

Thanks to the Bolton Group for sharing the audio, this is a company with a strong sustainability program and genuine interest in implementing a healthy building strategy at their company headquarters, so kudos to them! 

• https://www.boltongroup.net/
• https://www.greenhealthyplaces.com/ 

Welcome to episode 075 of the Green Healthy Places podcast in which we discuss the themes of wellbeing and sustainability in real estate and hospitality.

I’m your host, Matt Morley and in this episode I’m in Amsterdam in the Netherlands talking to John Harrison, President of A Sustainable Production (ASAP), a woman-owned global sustainability and wellness consulting firm that specializes in implementing the LEED green building and WELL healthy building standards at scale.

He’s also Strategic Advisor for BEE Corporation out of Hong Kong, another big LEED certification company specialized in the retail sector.

John is a LEED Fellow, a licensed architect and one of the world’s experts on applying sustainable strategies at scale in the real estate sector.

While at Starbucks he played a pivotal role in implementing over 1,600 green certified stores in 22 different territories and all 50 US states, making it one of the most successful green building programs of its kind in the retail world.

John also spent 13 years at Mithun in Seattle, one of the leading sustainable design practices in the US and a practice to have on your radar if you’re even remotely interested in green building architecture.

GUEST:

• https://sustainpro.org/company/ 
• https://www.linkedin.com/in/johnharrison-faia/ 

HOST:

• https://www.greenhealthyplaces.com/ 
• https://www.linkedin.com/in/mattmorleylux/ 

Welcome to episode 074 of the Green Healthy Places podcast in which we discuss the themes of wellbeing and sustainability in real estate and hospitality.

I’m your host, Matt Morley, and this week I’m in Denver, Colorado talking to Angela Harris, CEO an Principal of TRIO.

Angela is an American interior designer, product designer, industry board member and she has a Masters in Sustainable Design.

She’s been building TRIO over the past 25 years or so and her team now designs everything from master planned communities, to commercial, hospitality and residential developments.

GUEST:

• https://triodesign.com/
• https://www.linkedin.com/company/designbytrio/
• https://www.byangelaharris.com/
• https://www.bodeandwell.com/

HOST:

• https://www.greenhealthyplaces.com/
• https://www.linkedin.com/in/mattmorleylux/ 

Welcome to episode 073 of the Green Healthy Places podcast in which we discuss the themes of wellbeing and sustainability in real estate and hospitality today. I’m your host, Matt Morley and today I’m in the Caribbean talking to Alejandro Leo, a hotel wellness, spa and sustainability expert.

Alejandro is a hotel wellness professional working for luxury resorts like the Oetker Collection’s Jumby Bay Island Resort in Antigua where he managed the spa and sustainability program. 

Prior to that he was Global Head of Wellness for HABITAS, an innovative new hotel group, and previously worked for Azulik in Tulum, Mexico as well as stints at brands such as Six Senses, Belmond and Rosewood.

• ALEC Wellness Consulting (LinkedIn) 
• Alejandro Leo (LinkedIn)
• Oetker Collection, Jumby Bay Island
• Habitas Hotels
• Azulik, Mexico
• Six Senses Resorts
• Green Healthy Places

Welcome to episode 072 of the Green Healthy Places podcast in which we discuss the themes of wellbeing and sustainability in real estate and hospitality.

I’m your host, Matt Morley and I recently put out a trend report on the new breed of recovery, biohacking and longevity clinics.

It’s completely free, 40-odd pages and packed with inspirational reference images. The link is the episode notes for you along with links to all the studios and clinics I mention.

So in this episode of the podcast, I’m going to take you through the key concepts within the trend report.

We will cover the definition of ‘recovery’, as well as ‘biohacking’ and ‘longevity’, then look at some of the specific activities and treatments that fall within this new corner of the health and wellness industry, such as infrared saunas, ice baths, cryotherapy and so on.

We will then look at my selection of the top studios and clinics to know, unsurprisingly all located in LA, New York and London.

From there we examine a further sub-segment of this trend, the designer bath house, pinning down its core components and exploring three of the most inspiring examples of this concept right now from Australia, Canada and the US.

Finally, I cover the F&B aspect of these facilities with a notional Performance Health Bar, a concept I expect to see come to market within the next 2-3 years as a natural extension of performance drinks and these futuristic wellness clinics.

Their F&B offering has remained comparatively sleepy but the seeds are already germinating of a completely new genus of health bar.

• https://www.greenhealthyplaces.com/recovery-biohacking-longevity-studios-spas
• https://bellecellclinic.com
• GaiaNoMaya.com
• https://www.intomesea.com/
• https://pausestudio.com
• https://remedyplace.com/
• https://s10training.com/
• https://upgradelabs.com/
• https://www.othership.us/
• https://sos-senseofself.com/
• https://www.abathhouse.com/
• https://biofilico.com/ 

Welcome to episode 071 the Green Healthy Places podcast in which we discuss the themes of wellbeing and sustainability in real estate and hospitality.

Today I’m in Australia talking to Stewart Moore, Founder and CEO of EarthCheck, the world’s leading scientific benchmarking certification and advisory group for sustainable travel and tourism.

EarthCheck helps tourism businesses and destinations become more sustainable through certification, consulting, training and software solutions. Their mission is to provide the tools needed to measure environmental impact, and ultimately to make business decisions that save money, resources and the planet.

Their clients range from leading destinations and multi-nationals to local governments and small business owners. A few of the more recognizable brand names to give you an idea, would include Melia, Banyan Tree, Kerzner International the owners of One & Only, amongst many others.

Stewart has over 30 years of experience in a wide range of disciplines from policy development, tourism destination management and marketing, sustainability, risk management and corporate and social responsibility.

EarthCheck.org

GreenHealthyPlaces.com

Welcome to episode 070 of the Green Healthy Places podcast in which we discuss the themes of wellbeing and sustainability in real estate and hospitality.

Today I’m in the US talking to Neal Collins, Co-Founder and CEO of Latitude Regenerative Real Estate, a holistic real estate business based around the five key concepts of health and wellness; sustainability; community; ecology and spirit.

This conversation goes a little differently and in fact weighs in at double the usual running time, effectively because Neal and I decided to go toe-to-toe, interviewing each other and publishing the results on both of our podcasts.

So you’ll hear much of of me than normal but you’ll also hear about his journey from non-profits to real estate broker and on into the world of regenerative real estate, we look at wellness real estate, healthy buildings, traditional wisdom, social justice and sustainability rather than one at the expense of the other, why we shouldn’t neglect community values and also the role of ESG funds in the property sector today.

https://chooselatitude.com/nealcollins

Welcome to episode 069 the Green Healthy Places podcast in which we discuss the themes of wellbeing and sustainability in real estate and hospitality today.

I’m your host, Matt Morley, and today we’re talking to Marc Myers, Hospitality & Project Director of EXTREME Destinations.

He’s currently based in Norway and has an extensive professional background in Sustainability and Tourism.

Marc previously worked in Durban, South Africa for Umhlanga Tourism as well as his own sustainably farmed ingredients business, he’s managed safari lodges in Uganda, helped reintroduce heritage grains into the sustainable food economy in Norway and today is charged with the Extreme brand’s mission to drive positive change through extreme and adventure sports, specifically via the development of adventure sports parks, themed hotels, lodges, camps and centers of excellence.

• https://www.extremeinternational.com/
• https://www.facebook.com/Extreme/
• https://www.instagram.com/extremeofficial/
• https://www.tiktok.com/@extremeofficial
• https://www.linkedin.com/company/extreme/
• https://stolenfocusbook.com/

Welcome to episode 068 of the Green Healthy Places podcast in which we discuss the themes of wellbeing and sustainability in real estate and hospitality.

Today I’m in the UK talking to Laura Wood, Head of Marketing at Fusion Group, where she oversees letting strategy, PR and communications as well as student welfare and experience for a residential developer brand based around ‘positive living’ in the student accommodation sector.

Laura has more than a decade of PR and marketing expertise and is something of a Purpose Built Student Accommodation, or ‘PBSA’ expert.

Full disclosure, Fusion are currently my client (Biofit gym design), so we’ve been working together for the past six months or so designing their leisure spaces, gyms and wellness facilities in Nottingham, Manchester, London and Birmingham.

We’ll obviously touch on that in our conversation but I also want to look at the wider themes of sustainability and wellbeing within the purpose built student accommodation sector in the UK.

LinkedIn / Fusion Students

Welcome to episode 067 of the Green Healthy Places podcast, in which we explore the themes of wellbeing and sustainability in real estate and hospitality. I’m you host Matt Morley and in this episode in in my home town of Barcelona, Spain talking to Guy Morley, no relation.

Guy is the Co-Founder of Upraising an organic coffee brand powered by nootropics and adaptogens (we’ll get to what these terms mean shortly).

He previously built the iced tea brand Kailani and before that worked as a music and entertainment lawyer in London, UK.

So before I bring Guy in, let me establish some context here.

The health and wellness industry has been witnessing a paradigm shift in recent years. 

As more people become conscious of their overall wellbeing, inside and out, mental and physical, mind-body and spirit, the demand for hospitality concepts tailored to this shift to a quasi biohacking approach is slowly becoming more mainstream.

One such innovation is the emergence of a new breed of performance health bar, a unique wellness concept that focuses on offering a diverse range of health-promoting products and services.

The objective here is very specific:

1/ to help clients prep themselves for performance

2/ assist them in maintaining performance whilst in action

3/ promote recovery post activity, helping them get back out there, ready to go one more time.

The future of health bars in my opinion lies in incorporating cutting-edge ingredients and technologies, combined with biophilic design, to create a holistic wellness experience maximized for its positive impact on overall health.

This includes the use of adaptogenic mushrooms, nootropics, supplements, and nutritious beverages to support various aspects of health.

Additionally, the adoption of sustainable and eco-friendly interior design practices, such as biophilic design and a strict sustainable, non-toxic materials policy in the fit-out, ensures the aesthetic context is aligned with the concept. ensuring the health bar has been maximized for its wellbeing properties.

Today, I am joined by a man on the forefront of creating the type of functional beverage products that will, I believe, come to populate this new generation of wellness bar concepts that I’m betting represent the future of F&B offerings at premium boutique fitness studios, health clubs and wellness oriented members clubs.

Guy thanks for joining us on the podcast!

Welcome to episode 66 of the Green Healthy Places podcast, in which we discuss the themes of wellbeing and sustainability in real estate and hospitality today.

I'm your host, Matt Morley, and today we're in Bolzano, Italy talking to Carlo Battisti, President of Living Future Europe.

Carlo qualified as a Civil Engineer from Milan's prestigious Polytecnico University and now specializes in sustainable innovation and project management. He is certified with LEED for green buildings, and WELL for healthy buildings, amongst a host of other professional accreditations.

Here we discuss the connection between biophilic design, beauty and wellbeing from the perspective of the International Living Future Institute.

We also look at the concept of restorative real estate developments, and even at how the Alto Adige - South Tyrol region of Italy that he is in has carved out a role for itself as a sustainable innovation hub within Italy.

This is a dense but extremely dynamic conversation. I really felt I was in the presence of someone who has completely mastered his art and is now committed to giving back to society by sharing that knowledge through a range of different mediums, including but not limited to podcasts!

GUEST: Carlo Battisti, https://carlobattisti.com/ 

HOST: Matt Morley, Biofilico healthy buildings

Welcome to episode 065 of the Green Healthy Places podcast in which we discuss the themes of wellbeing and sustainability in real estate and hospitality today.

This week I’m in the Netherlands talking to Marielle Romeijn, Co-Founder of One Hundred Restrooms, an innovative brand disrupting the public toilet market by focusing on environmental consciousness and wellness benefits.

Their custom design modules can be found in shopping malls, railway stations and roadside service stations around Spain, Belgium and Sweden as well as their home country.

We discuss the birth of the brand, their business model, how modular design allows them to customize each experience according to the location, the integration of Internet Of Things technology, alignment with United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, how they use multi-sensory design to upgrade the toilet break experience and their relentless pursuit of ever higher hygiene standards.

Marielle’s company is an example of how concepts from green building and healthy building design are filtering down the value chain. Have a look at the design of their restrooms, it really is a breath of fresh air, so here she is Marielle Romeijn.

GUEST: MARIELLE ROMEIJN, CO-FOUNDER, ONE HUNDRED RESTROOMS

• https://onehundredrestrooms.com/
• https://www.linkedin.com/company/onehundredrestrooms/ 

HOST: MATT MORLEY

• https://biofilico.com/
• https://biofit.io/

Welcome to episode 064 of the Green Healthy Places podcast in which we discuss the themes of wellbeing and sustainability in real estate and hospitality.

I’m your host Matt Morley and in this episode I’m talking to Gregorio Esteban, Founder of Miraval Holdings, a sustainable real estate developer committed to delivering high-quality, housing solutions for the Latin American market. 

As you’ll see, they are also big on Environmental, Social and Governance issues, known as ESG, with a particular emphasis on the social angle, given that they have five projects currently in Colombia, each at different stages of planning, construction and delivery.

Colombia has an acute housing shortage, so Miraval aim to help plug that gap with sustainable middle-class housing.

• GUEST: Gregorio Esteban / https://www.miraval.com.co/
• HOST: Matt Morley / https://biofilico.com/ 

Welcome to episode 063 of the Green & Healthy Places podcast in which we discuss the themes of wellbeing and sustainability in real estate and hospitality.

I’m your host, Matt Morley of Biofilico wellness real estate and in this episode we’re in Amsterdam talking to Nicholas White, Co-Founder and Managing Partner of the Smart Building Collective, a smart building and prop-tech business with its own certification framework focused on leveraging technology to measure how a real estate asset is performing.

It covers key metrics such as the building usage, its performance, the building environment, health and safety, user behavior and connectivity.

We discuss how a smart tech is at the heart of both sustainable green buildings and healthy buildings nowadays, as well as playing a role in real estate ESG strategies.

We also look at some of the more innovative real estate developments that he’s  been a part of recently that give a sense of where the world of adaptable, smart and future-proof buildings are going.

https://smartbuildingcollective.com/

Welcome to episode 062 of the Green & Healthy Place podcast in which we discuss the themes of wellbeing and sustainability in real estate and hospitality today.

I’m your host, Matt Morley of Biofilico wellness real estate and in this episode I’m in Ibiza talking to Chris Connors, Founder and Creative Director of OPO, a wellness tech studio applying the principles of mindfulness to daily life via psycho-acoustics, neuro-aesthetics and awareness practices. 

Belfast-born Chris is a psychotherapist, leadership coach and master in zen meditation. He has previously created projects for the likes of Prada, LVMH, Nike, Aesop, Kering and Net a Porter.  

Amongst other things, we discuss everything from their nature-based mindfulness portals scattered around various mixed-used developments in London, their multi-sensory quiet room in a coworking office and the meditative moments they create during the guest journey for luxury resorts and hotels.

https://www.opo.world/

Welcome to episode 61 of the Green & Healthy Places podcast in which we explore the themes of wellbeing and sustainability in real estate and hospitality.

I’m your host, Matt Morley, founder of Biofilico wellness real estate, and this week I’m in Athens talking to London-based Phanos Hadjikyriakou, Co-Founder and CEO of 2050 Materials, an online database of sustainable building materials and intelligent tools that help architects and designers in their efforts to create low-carbon, circular buildings and interiors.

We discuss the genesis of the company, the unmet need it addresses and the problems it tries to solve, such as toxic building materials and those that are especially damaging to the environment when viewed from a Life Cycle perspective, considering its extraction, use phase and disposal options at its end of life.

We also cover some of the many sustainable certification systems out there now for building products as well as how Artificial Intelligence could start to leverage this type of database to propose sustainable, healthy solutions to architects and designers in the not too distant future.

Check out 2050-materials.com while you’re listening along, you can find me at biofilico.com now let’s talk sustainable materials…

https://www.linkedin.com/company/2050-materials/ 

Welcome to episode 060 of the Green & Healthy Places podcast in which we discuss the themes of wellbeing and sustainability in real estate and hospitality. 

I’m your host Matt Morley, Founder of Biofilico wellness real estate and in this episode I’m in Australia talking to Suzie Barnett, CEO of Junglefy, a full service living infrastructure specialist focused on bringing more plants into our cities.

The company began life as a landscaping business and evolved over the last 13 years into one of the world’s leading green wall, green roof and urban greenery businesses.

We discuss the all-important ‘why’ behind integrating this type of abundant greenery into a building or public space; their involvement in scientific research studies quantifying Return On Investment on indoor breathing walls in terms of productivity, feelings of wellbeing and improvements in air quality; why it’s so important to consider upfront not just the initial investment cost on a living wall system, irrigation and lighting as well as ongoing maintenance; their ideas for sharing outdoor living facade maintenance costs with local councils in reflection of their community benefits and the outputs of their tech-enabled product development process in collaboration with the University of Technology Sydney.

Suzie is on the Board of the Living Future Institute of Australia, Chair of the Biophilic Design Initiative and was pivotal in establishing the Green Building Council of Australia. She’s an industry powerhouse in other words and this conversation didn’t disappoint.

GUEST / SUZIE BARNETT

• https://www.junglefy.com.au/
• https://www.instagram.com/junglefyourcities/
• https://www.linkedin.com/company/junglefy-pty-ltd/

HOST / MATT MORLEY

• https://www.mattmorley.net/   
• https://biofilico.com/ 

Welcome to episode 59 of the green & healthy places podcast in which we explore the themes of wellbeing and sustainability in real estate and hospitality today.

This time around I’m in London talking to Tom Kendall, Associate Director of Wayward Plants, a London based landscape, art and architecture practice with a strong botanical bent.

Born and raised on a farm in Cornwall, Tom studied Architecture at the Bartlett School of Architecture (BSc) and the Royal College of Art (MA)

Our conversation covers their work creating biophilic public benches that convey a message about inner city air quality, large scale plant donations as an ethical business practice, designing botanically inspired playgrounds, their work designing a botanical memorial for Nelson Mandela in Liverpool and their nature-inspired sustainable interior concept for a Stella McCartney store.

• https://www.wayward.co.uk/
• https://www.instagram.com/waywardplants/
• 
  https://biofilico.com/ 
• https://www.mattmorley.net/