In multi-family buildings, amenities like communal remote work facilities, smart building management systems, spacious mailrooms, pet facilities, and biophilic home environments were never top priorities before March of 2020 when there was a complete shift in societal norms. Construction projects for multi-family homes were typically only used to prioritize elements like high-quality framing in multi-family buildings and the key factors affecting construction costs.
Today, however, the multi-family construction industry is shifting to accommodate many residents’ needs for health and wellbeing when working from home, resulting in significantly more outdoor spaces and larger units. So if you’re planning to kick off your multi-family construction project, here are the eight trends in 2022 to bear in mind when designing a multi-family building!
More Shared Work-from-Home Facilities
Residents are needing more work-from-home facilities as countless companies are transitioning towards fully remote or hybrid work. Multifamily buildings should provide top-notch shared spaces like individual workstations and multipurpose business hubs that include private offices or co-working areas for team meetings.
Less Open Plan Layouts
As more family members stay at home together for longer periods nowadays, residents—especially those from large families—are looking for more individual rooms and less open-plan layouts so they can have peace and privacy whenever they wish.
More Biophilic Spaces Indoors and Outdoors
Biophilic designs are recognized for helping with stress relief, mental wellbeing, creativity, and productivity. As people spend much more time at home, it’s important to help residents connect to a natural, green environment to live, work and play in so that they can feel healthier and happier. Multi-family buildings should have outdoor areas like rooftop gardens, big courtyards, as well as large windows indoors to bring in lots of natural, therapeutic sunlight.
More Communal Pet Facilities
Multi-family buildings should become more pet-friendly now that remote work allows for increased pet ownership. Communal pet facilities, such as dog grooming areas and onsite dog parks, are extremely appealing to pet owners!
Greater Proximity to Key Amenities
A prime location is important for allowing residents to go for short walks and unwind anytime they want. Therefore, multi-family buildings should be constructed close to key amenities like supermarkets, cafés, and public transport.
More Health and Wellness Facilities
These days, residents need more than gym and fitness facilities to feel happy and healthy. Multi-family buildings would do very well to incorporate unique services and amenities like onsite childcare services, meditation and prayer rooms, counseling services or even online therapy by request.
Bigger Mailrooms for Bigger Parcels
The phenomenal increase in online shopping recently has a direct influence on multi-family building design—big, spacious mailrooms are no longer an afterthought but rather a key facility to plan for. Mailrooms ought to have bigger layouts to handle parcels of different shapes and sizes, as well as easy pickup zones for residents.
More Contactless Smart Systems
Multi-family buildings should have upgraded building systems that are intelligent and contactless, such as keyless security entries and hands-free house locks that only require a waving of cards, plus even some smart elevators.
