ISPA Conference & Expo
ISPA Conference & Expo
ISPA Conference & Expo

The last word

Mia Kyricos

Hyatt Hotels Corporation has committed to developing wellbeing initiatives for both guests and the people it employs. Its global head of wellbeing explains why Well Home matters


As someone who’s worked in wellness for the last two decades, I can’t help but think that we’re living in amazing times.

Wellness is no longer a fad which is dictated to us on the cover of a magazine. It’s a global movement which the hands of time have no chance of turning back.

It’s about a shared desire to live healthier, longer and more fulfilling lives than those before us. It spans multiple generations, and fortunately, is fueled by a greater awareness and understanding of the science behind it.

I’ve been watching this shift for quite some time. Earlier in my career, I was focused on the luxuries of travel, including the development and operation of spa facilities around the world.

It was there I learned about health and wellness and began to contemplate what the implications might be for all of us, if only we had access to the same support.

Later I gained insights into the health and wellness of sedentary people, partnering with the executive teams of corporations who were driven by the desire to reduce employee healthcare costs.

Our focus was on the nutritional, physical, emotional and mental health of each individual, but we paid less heed to the environments within which people worked and lived.

Fast forward to 2013 when I had the privilege to work alongside a small group of individuals at the Global Wellness Institute who identified and defined “wellness tourism” – travel associated with maintaining or enhancing your personal wellbeing – as a sector of the economy that was growing twice as fast as global tourism.

While this was a great moment in time for those of us who worked in travel, I began to wonder what would happen if we shifted our focus from where people would only visit, to where they call home.

Now, years later, we’ve started to look at the houses, buildings, and communities within which we all live, and as it turns out, I haven’t been the only one thinking along these lines.

For years, I’ve watched the team behind Well Home bring magazines to market and the forefront of our industry that have been professionally and personally meaningful to me – from spa and wellness and health and fitness to architecture and design. I’ve looked to them to help make sound business sense from advancements in these fields, complemented by changes in society at large. Today is no different.

Well Home has been designed to showcase and explain what it means to live well, with care for the environment that surrounds us and respect for the fact that how we move, fuel, play and think are not the only things that affect our wellbeing.

We’re now smart enough to know that it’s the environments we choose to surround ourselves with that impact our health and wellness, and thanks again to our friends at Leisure Media, who will now help to teach us how.

So sit back, grab a healthy beverage and enjoy the magazine. And let’s toast to a well world together.

Mia Kyricos is senior vice president and global head of wellbeing for Hyatt Hotels Corporation and founding chair of the Wellness Communities Initiative for the Global Wellness Institute.

Mia has also served as Senior Leader and strategic advisor for wellness-driven hospitality, tourism, travel and healthy lifestyle companies globally.

Follow her on Twitter @mkyricos

company profile
Company profile: Painting With Light
Painting with Light is a team of professional lighting and multimedia experts who design and produce visual experiences that dazzle & shine.
Try cladmag for free!
Sign up with CLAD to receive our regular ezine, instant news alerts, free digital subscriptions to CLADweek, CLADmag and CLADbook and to request a free sample of the next issue of CLADmag.
sign up
features
Well designed spaces can encourage social interaction
Tom Lindblom
"Public spaces support the widest diversity of experiences"

At last concrete proof that design is the critical factor that turns good experiences into great ones says Gensler’s Tom Lindblom

The museum is largely underground, with the roof forming a new public space
Konieczny studied at the Silesian University of Technology in Gliwice. He launched KWK Promes in 1999
"Many buildings nowadays look interesting, but when you analyse deeper, there’s nothing more than the form"

On designing the World Building of the Year

Mahdavi designed pastel interiors for the recently opened Laduree store and cafe in Tokyo
After working for Christian Liaigre in Paris, Mahdavi launched her practice in 1999
"I never thought it was a talent. I just did it very naturally, without thinking"

The ‘queen of colour’ on her nomadic childhood, being fearless and choosing the exact right shade of pink for the Sketch Gallery restaurant

Catalogue Gallery
Click on a catalogue to view it online
To advertise in our catalogue gallery: call +44(0)1462 431385
features
SHL managing director Sanne Wall-Gremstrup (right) and Perkins+Will CEO Phil Harrison
"Most clients are very focused on how buildings are used and experienced as the primary design driver"

The MD of Schmidt Hammer Lassen and the CEO of PerkinsWill tell us why their merger will help create smarter buildings driven by human behaviour

The Hilton Innovation Gallery showcases the company’s latest brands, products and vision
"Millennials are pushing us architects to design hotels with distinct personalities"

Sameness is out, authenticity is in when it comes to designing for millennials says Greg Keffer

CopenHill is a “crystal clear example of hedonistic sustainability,” says BIG founder Bjarke Ingels
"It was born from the sheer anxiety of having to submit something brilliant in a very short timescale"

How a moment of desperation led to BIG’s CopenHill, the clean power plant that’s doubling as a skiing and leisure destination. Magali Robathan speaks to the architects that made it happen

features
Linda Boronkay grew up in Budapest. Her father was an architect and her mother was an antiques dealer and collector
"Nick Jones and I are both passionate about design. When we see the same thing twice, it bores us. It’s risky but interesting creatively"

At the end of a very busy year for Soho House, the group’s design director talks us through her plans

The two firms collaborated on the design of the Dubai World Expo 2020 bid master plan
Bill HellmuthCEO, HOK Sport + Recreation +, Entertainment
"It’s a great time to be back in sports – it’s a piece of our practice we’ve sorely missed"

HOK re-enters the sports market

The Chaoyang Park Plaza project topped out in June 2015. The project is located in Beijing’s Central Business District and reaches a height of 120m
Chinese architect Ma Yansong
"We as humans can learn from nature and then move beyond it"

The founder of MAD on nature and urbanism, the Harbin Opera House and battling conservatism

cladkit product news
Mather & Co and ITV unite to create Coronation Street Experience
Mather & Co has transformed the visitor centre into the ultimate haven for ardent Coronation Street viewers
Magali Robathan
Experience designers, Mather & Co, have orchestrated a remarkable collaboration with ITV to unveil the new Coronation Street Experience, a ...
Eden project uses drones to spell out climate change warning
Magali Robathan
Almost 300 drones were used to signal an environmental message above the Eden Project’s biomes, during the UN Climate Change ...
Alberto Apostoli and Newform collaborate to launch the A.Zeta showerhead
The showerhead offers two modes; rainfall or waterfall
Megan Whitby
Italian architect Alberto Apostoli has renewed his partnership with Newform – an Italian wellness company – and designed A.Zeta. A.Zeta ...
cladkit product news
Jaffe Holden helps bring Academy Museum of Motion Pictures alive
Jaffe Holden provided architectural acoustics for the Academy Museum
Magali Robathan
Acoustical consulting firm Jaffe Holden provided architectural acoustics and audio/video design services for the recently opened Academy Museum of Motion ...
Alberto Apostoli designs tech-forward Wellness Therapy furniture collection for Varaschin
The furniture collection draws on absolute geometries, pure lines, neutral colours and strong references to nature
Megan Whitby
Furniture manufacturer Varaschin has unveiled the new Wellness Therapy range, designed by Italian spa and wellness architect and designer Alberto ...
Fabio Alemanno Design uses elegant semi-precious stones to create memorable spa experiences
Alemanno believes the stones are well-placed in the spa environment thanks to their capacity to positively support physical and mental health
Megan Whitby
Fabio Alemanno Design has expanded its collection with semi-precious stones to enhance spas, wellness facilities, hotels and private residences. The ...
cladkit product news
Siminetti unveils iridescent decorative panelling range inspired by plants
The Clematis design
Megan Whitby
The Botanicals is Siminetti’s newest Mother of Pearl decorative panelling collection, inspired by the distinctive patterns found in botany and ...
Codelocks develops new glass door smart lock
The new lock model allows facilities and building managers to create and manage access via an app or online portal
Megan Whitby
Codelocks has launched its first glass door smart lock to bring intelligent access control to modern spa, leisure, fitness and ...
Koto Design introduces wood-fired hot tub
Koto is known for crafting modular, energy-neutral cabins and homes
Katie Barnes
A striking wood-fired hot tub has been unveiled by Koto, an architecture and design studio which has a passion for ...
ISPA Conference & Expo
ISPA Conference & Expo