How BINYAN is returning wellness in design to top of the priority list

Look around. What do you notice about your surroundings? How does it make you feel? Does it give you energy or take it away? Is it physically and psychologically comforting?

Growing up in the Soviet Union on the outskirts of Moscow, Andrei Dolnikov saw monotony embedded in his surroundings. Living amongst six identical buildings, 365 identical apartments and on a street devoid of belonging and individuality.

Consideration of colour, design and layout for wellness was absent and remains the case today. Despite shifted mindsets, wellbeing has continued to slowly slip through the progression of modern interior and architectural design as aesthetics take absolute priority.

Now the founder and CEO of BINYAN, an integrated content agency specialising in creating a sense of place and belonging, Dolnikov is captivated by the details that give life to a space beyond its design. The hint of dappled light from a window, shadows of the trees, and open space become textural objects in a space that add humanity and life to design. These are the details that foster belonging.

For BINYAN, it’s been their mission since 2007 to bring together creative innovation and wellness, in real estate to curate prestigious spaces that push the limits in architecture for the world’s most iconic landmarks.

Ensuring wellbeing is central in all projects begins at the ideation stage by understanding the place and country of each project and identifying the unique textures, colours and attributes that can be included to create harmonious spaces. Through Adobe Substance, scanned textures can be imported to mirror the feeling that transports you to an environment before it has even been built. Intuitive connection with space and nature breathes room for design in real estate to push the boundaries. By creating a world in harmony with the outside world, nature and humans can coexist seamlessly.

Blurring the lines between the physical and digital experience, BINYAN’s virtual tours of their projects in Sydney, Dubai, San Francisco, Singapore, Jakarta and more are intrinsic in sharing an accurate story created for humans of a new world that can identify emotion in a space. Imperfections and detail go hand in hand in making this experience. Going beyond the virtual, using technology to achieve wellness has grown BINYAN into an award-winning agency in their field.

When we separate the layers and add the details, it becomes obvious when a wellness mindset is missing. Through Substance – and the broader Adobe suite – BINYAN is able to ensure this approach is embedded in their entire creative workflow. Importing and using assets, materials and lights based on true life allow you to paint and modify space in 3D to capture the real world.

From ideation to end-product, the user is kept front of mind throughout the entire creative process to ultimately change how humans experience the modern world, one space at a time.

The art of collaboration and hyper-personalisation in design technology has allowed wellness in new spaces to become a progressive point of difference in recognising what makes a space healthy in bringing the outside world in.

Look around again. What colours do you notice in your environment? Are you confined? Or free? Notice how it makes you feel.

Together we can use technology to make our world a healthier place for belonging - both around us and in the space behind our mind’s eye.