While the pandemic served as a wake-up call for many to focus more on their well-being, it also emphasized the significant role that homes, communities and cities play on one’s health. Thus today, homes and communities are seen to represent one’s most important investment in health.
In its 2020 White Paper Series, the US-based Global Wellness Institute (GWI) pointed out that “our homes and communities are essential foundations to build healthy lives, because the built environment directly and indirectly impacts our wellness.” It noted that unfortunately, some buildings can spread diseases, indoor air pollution can be two to five times worse, while poor outdoor environments can pose a major health risk.
According to GWI, a healthy built environment suited in a post pandemic era should be one that provides free and accessible spaces for active recreation; green spaces and contact with nature to improve mental, emotional and physical well-being; spaces that promote better sleep, rest and stress reduction; and areas that encourage a sense of community, among many others. In a nutshell, it should be a community that inspires and allows you to live well and be well.
Healthy living
In the country, SM Development Corp. (SMDC) is currently creating that kind of community that inspires healthy living and well-being even while in the midst of a thriving urban center.
Its latest project, Mint Residences, answers that growing call and preference to have health and wellness as the focal point even while being located in one of the busiest cities in the metro. Set to rise along Chino Roces Ave. in Makati City, Mint Residences is poised to become a green urban haven where 64 percent of the amenity deck area will be dedicated to lush open spaces, designed to provide that much needed breathing room for its future residents.
For one, Mint Residences’ innovative architecture and design will infuse green solutions with modern natural materials and lush greenery, meant to bring residents closer to nature.
Its biophilic design will allow future residents to live, work and play in healthy spaces—from its hotel-like lobby, decked with wood, marble, concrete and refreshing shades of green, to the soothing water walls that blend with a series of vertical gardens with lush flora as well as the meticulously manicured green spaces.
“Now more than ever, we have proved that people feel more comfortable and at peace somehow when surrounded with plants. The much added foliage in a home improves the air quality of the air and provides cooler atmosphere. But aside from the technical importance of landscape architecture of adding value to the property, a designed space or garden setting in a home will help to inspire healthy living and well-being in a sense that we feel closer to nature even in a manicured setting,” said Carol E. Jingco of Belt Collins, the landscape designer of Mint Residences.
Community of wellness
Choice amenities on its fifth floor amenity deck were curated to encourage activity, meditation and connection, thus ensuring that wellness can be achieved at all fronts—physical, mental, emotional, social and spiritual.
Its swimming pool and pool deck, fitness facilities, kids’ play area, lounges and jogging paths will allow one to stay fit, while the meditation and reflection rooms offer one the luxury of having some quality quiet time alone, away from the frenzy of the city.
The expansive and lush lawn areas and well manicured gardens offer an extravagance of spaces that give you fresh air and more room to move about even in the comfort of your community. Apart from allowing you to commune with nature, these spaces also provide a healthy venue to socialize and foster ties with family, friends and neighbors in your SMDC community.
“The Mint Residences’ unique characteristic is its best use of spaces. Its provision of dedicated spaces for leisure, relaxation, kids play ground and ample spaces for family get together. It has these spaces arranged in a nice sequence using its concept of continuous lines to connect those areas,” Jingco explained.
Nature and city life will truly meet here at Mint Residences because beyond offering a welcome respite, it places you at a highly distinct vantage point. That Mint Residences is located in Makati City means you are within the thriving neighborhood west of a dynamic central business district, near shopping complexes and commercial centers, premium grade offices, leisure hubs as well as key establishments and institutions.
From its architecture and design to the choice of amenities and features, Mint Residences will no doubt be your bastion of health and wellness in Makati City.
For more information on Mint Residences, visit https://smdc.com/properties/mint-residences.