People’s relationships with their living spaces have been changing. Our collective awareness around wellness and other mental and physical health-related issues has been sharpening over the last decade. And it has only increased due to the pandemic. First, co-working redefined the style of office work. Now it’s time for coliving and hospitality sectors to reflect the shift away from homeownership and apartment rentals towards the shared economy and a residential model based on membership and focused around wellness. Hence the rise of wellness coliving. It combines the wellness real estate trend with a lifestyle component that elevates your daily wellbeing through design, technology, and community experience.
B-Hive Living is one of the pioneers and a model example of the wellness coliving movement. The following are the primary modern issues the brand addresses in the scope of the wellness coliving trend, and the solutions it offers for a more fulfilled lifestyle of residents.
Issue: Unhealthy living environment
The living environment we find ourselves in is usually harmful to our health and wellbeing. When B-Hive Living started operation, 1 in 3 rented homes was in fact deemed unfit for human inhabitation in the UK. Hidden costs, absent landlords, inflexible contracts and poorly maintained spaces were all part of a self-servient culture of disregard for the health, wellbeing, and convenience of users. In these hectic and costly times, we are often also forced to compromise on living standards. We have no time or simply forget to take care of our immediate surroundings.
Solution: Wellness-oriented design
Since people spend more than 90% of their time in the built environment, wellness coliving is a true opportunity to impact the society in a positive way. It supports the holistic health and wellbeing of a growing generation of renters. B-Hive Living constantly improves the wellness-oriented biophilic design of the homes, and gives the Hivers comfortable control over their space by introducing smart technology throughout the premises.
Issue: Loneliness/burnout
In the times when we had no smartphones or social media, people connected with one another face to face. Socialising and even doing business depended on dinners together, nurturing relationships, and initiating meaningful interactions. Currently we are in a state of tech-enabled isolation, and many of us find ourselves feeling lonely. These feelings of loneliness are grounded in science – community is vital to our wellbeing. According to Campaign to End Loneliness, feeling lonely comes with multiple physical and mental health risks. That’s why today millennials are transforming their lives to prioritise wellness. The technology follows, with a platitude of exercise and meditation apps, organic food delivery services, etc. And so follows the wellness real estate market.
Solution: Community experience
Communal living offers a solution to the loneliness problem. The togetherness and community experience can be life-changing to many. Combined with upscale facilities, both supporting togetherness (recreational green area with a community firepit, kitchens for multiple users, shared living and dining areas) and privacy (en-suite bedrooms and private corners), this model implemented by B-Hive Living provides for affordable yet very comfortable accommodation.
At the Hives, the community experience is designed by dedicated specialists. It includes an event calendar, useful wellness content, and consultations with wellness experts. A dedicated community app facilitates your connection with like-minded Hivers. It encourages passion for mindfulness and fitness, and makes sure people get to know each other, spend time together, and inspire each other with their energy, ultimately elevating their quality of life.
Issue: Rising urban living costs
With urban sprawl and growing economy, there has been an immense demand for affordable housing in the heart of urban areas. Meanwhile, the supply is constantly shrinking. We are increasingly facing the choice between a longer commute from the suburbs and building up or densification of central building development. The former solution takes away the much valued sense of freedom and flexibility. And the other is hugely cost- and time-consuming. A third choice, less obvious, yet meeting the needs of the modern generation, is innovation involving wellness real estate. The existing real-estate is transformed into affordable but comfortable luxury coliving homes that offer benefits beyond location and savings.
Solution: Sharing economy
There is a general transition away from ownership by millennials. It is exemplified by the huge success of Uber avoiding car ownership, and Netflix shifting from content ownership to access. The trend is disrupting every industry, and the trillion-dollar industry of residential real estate is proving to be no exception. Offering the flexibility of short- to long-term membership options, wellness coliving pools resources such as community space, gym, laundry, and recreation facilities, along with services and other benefits, to offer a luxury lifestyle at an affordable price. The average resident age proves the elevated urban lifestyle and accommodation can now become reality just as you mature into your thirties.
The rise of the global wellness economy stood at $4.4 trillion in 2020, even amidst the pandemic. According to the Global Wellness Institute, wellness real estate (including residential, commercial, and institutional properties such as office, hospitality, mixed-use/multi-family, medical and leisure) that incorporate intentional wellness elements in their design, materials, building, as well as amenities, services and/or programming – ‘has maintained the highest growth rate in the wellness economy, both before and during the pandemic.’
Wherever the economy turns in the upcoming years, it will support the shift towards membership-based wellness real estate. That’s why wellness coliving is on the rise and here to stay. By elevating the lifestyle of resident after resident, it drives social change that’s needed and inevitable. Millennials and Gen-Z will continue prioritising wellness over materialism.They will become increasingly aware of the benefits wellness co-living brings in that context.
B-Hive Living is a wellness-focused coliving brand operating properties in Oxford and Bicester, UK, and now expanding internationally. We drive social change by exploring and promoting the concept of living well. We place it at the heart of our coliving design for a more connected, healthy, and fulfilling lifestyle for our residents. Apply to live with us here.
