Page 21 - Decor & Lifestyle 2025 Issue 1

LIFESTYLE

Connection Over Control Low-Impact Luxury
A good building doesn’t force itself Quiet technologies – solar capture,
onto the land. It collaborates. greywater systems, thermal massing
– are being designed invisibly into
It knows where the light comes from homes that still feel effortless. The
and how the wind moves. It opens result? Spaces that perform without
when it needs to, closes when it must. shouting. That tread lightly, and live
It doesn’t fight the seasons – it moves long.
with them.
Architecture That Blends, Not
This isn’t sentimentality. It’s spatial Dominates
intelligence. The most powerful buildings aren’t
always the loudest. They sit into the
We're seeing more architects return to earth. They follow contour. They read
a kind of vernacular wisdom – designing like they were always meant to be
with terrain and climate in mind. there. A low profile. A soft footprint.
Spaces shaped by solar arcs, shaded An ease in the environment.
thresholds, passive airflow. Materials
that feel local, tactile, human. A Philosophy in Practice
Architect and spatial thinker [name,
Not everything needs to be imported or implied] puts it like this:
or polished to be beautiful.
“A home should belong to the land
Sometimes, beauty is knowing when to just as much as the people inside it. If
leave something alone. it improves the place it’s built on, it’s
succeeded.”
Wellness in the Bones
Wellness is often used as shorthand It’s a philosophy that’s shaping a new
for lifestyle – spa bathrooms, scented kind of prestige – one that prioritises
candles, a yoga mat in a corner. But in restraint over display, purpose over
conscious architecture, it starts long polish. Homes that fold into ridgelines.
before the styling. That open to wild gardens. That
use the rhythm of nature not as a
It’s structural. backdrop, but as blueprint.
• Orientation that supports natural
rhythm. These are not houses built to be seen.
• Openings placed not for views alone,
but for breathing. They’re houses built to be lived with.
• Materials chosen to support clarity,
ease, health. Reframing What High-End
Really Means
Walls that don’t trap heat. Floors that The old definition of luxury – more
hold warmth. Spaces that calm simply marble, more metres, more statement
by being. – feels tired. What’s emerging is
quieter, wiser, more awake.
Wellness, here, isn’t a layer. It’s a
foundation. A home that knows where it is.

The Principles of Conscious That uses what it needs and no more.
Design
Biophilic Design That carries beauty without burden.
Not token greenery, but a true
integration of natural systems into Because the most intelligent homes
architecture. aren’t just designed for now.

Views of green space. Materials that They’re designed to matter.
retain the memory of the earth. Light
that shifts with the day. These choices The most intelligent homes are the
reconnect the inhabitant to something ones that honour their surroundings as
older and deeper than style. much as their inhabitants.

19 | DÉCOR & LIFESTYLE Issue 1 2025