Watch: Improving life and wellbeing through sustainable design

Carlos Bausa Martinez, Lee Won Hoe, and Ratish Namboothiry share with Kohler how to design sustainably with water for wellbeing

Amy Frearsonand of Dezeen is joined by experts to discuss the topic of wellbeing and design in this KOHLER Bold Talks “Wellness, Water, and Design”.  

Carlos Bausa Martinez, the sustainability team leader at Zaha Hadid Architects, believes water can be dealt with in a sustainable way and used as a source of inspiration.  

Incorporating organic forms in design has always been a huge part of Zaha Hadid Architecture. Martinez says that the company is trying to improve the connection with local environments and mimic nature with artificial products.  

“It’s about creating a connection between two worlds (artificial and natural) to improve significantly all the conditions for people and the end-users,” he added. “We need to focus on creating solutions that are going to improve the life and well-being of people inside of the buildings or spaces.”  

Lee Won Hoe, the executive director of wellbeing at Banyan Tree, shares that ‘democratised well-being’ is the company’s mission. Nature is the heart of Banyan Tree, and the firm strongly believes that there is a way to harness nature, its availability, and its elements including water to improve one’s wellbeing. 

“Sustainability has always been our core,” says Lee. In-house designs develop structures, policies, and guidelines to guide future designs that improve not only the wellbeing of guests but of Banyan Tree’s staff as well.  

Moreover, Lee says that Banyan Tree is highly conscious about sustainability, and “business being more than just a business, but an advocate for good”. The challenge isn’t in establishing sustainability values in their staff, but rather educating guests and getting them to join the movement.  

Ratish Namboothiry, the director of innovation for good and sustainability at Kohler Co., the official platinum sponsor of PropertyGuru Asia Property Awards for numerous years, gives insight into the lens Kohler uses to make their strategic decisions. 

“Our mission is to contribute to a higher level of gracious living for all those who experience our products and services.”  

More: Watch: Architecture and design have the power to create wellness for all

Ratish shares the three pillars Kohler employs: 

• Better Planet. Environmental sustainability strategy – reducing environmental footprint across operations and creating environmentally favourable product designs and launching them in the market.  
• Better Community. Supporting growth and economic development of communities.
• Better Lives. Strategies that help improve people’s lives by bringing them access to the very basic human needs like safe water, safe hygiene, etc.  

Design matters to consumers, to function, but also to the environment. Kohler believes there are ways to bring design and sustainability together without compromising one or the other. 

Ratish says the key is embedding sustainable thinking into product design. “We empower project teams to think about making design decisions for products that are favourable to the environment without making significant trade-offs.”