Disconnection by Design: Why ‘Untech’ is the Next Big Amenity

The average Australian spends around 5.5 hours on their phones each day—around 33 per cent of their waking hours. So completely unplugging might make some people’s palms sweat. But digital disconnection is a growing health and wellbeing trend that developers and operators are increasingly taking seriously, particularly in purpose-built sectors. Speaking at The Urban Developer ’s Urbanity conference this year, Scape chief executive Anouk Darling coined the term ‘untech’. “Untech is going to be a thing,” she says. “[That means] spaces where you destress, disconnect. We’re thinking about how we build those quiet spaces, those wellbeing spaces, as well as tapping into the high-tech environments, where it’s gaming and access and always being on. “It’s about understanding human needs.” And while student living has led the way, disconnected community spaces are not just for Gen Z and the incoming Gen A. Sector-specific disconnection Rothelowman principal Ben Pomroy says that for purpose-built typologies, such as student and seniors living or build-to-rent, disconnected spaces can be integrated from the outset. “[And] interestingly, they’re almost always embedded within the communal offering,” Pomroy says. “In development models for other sectors, where amenity is not always a primary driver, incorporating disconnected spaces requires city shapers to re-think traditional floorplans to allow space for disconnected areas, particularly in projects with wellness priorities.” So while purpose-built sectors may be leading the way, the rest of the industry could learn a few tricks. ▲ Rothelowman principal Ben Pomroy: disconnected spaces can be integrated from the outset in purpose-built developments. “In PBSA, which has dense occupancy-per-square metre rates, disconnected spaces might take the form of private study nooks, digital detox garden groves, or meditation rooms embedded within communal or public zones,” Pomroy says. “They allow students to step out of their rooms and into a shared environment while still offering a private experience.” Senior living has also informed the design process. “The cross-sector experience and learnings at our project Amberfield, with LDK in the ACT, have informed the design of a memory care garden [designed] not only for the residents to safely move through, but also as a curated and secure natural environment,” Pomroy says. ▲ Bo-DAA architects’ Treehouse Co-Living project at Gangnam-Gu, South Korea. “For build-to-rent and build-to-sell, there is a real opportunity to apply this thinking more broadly, striking a balance between community connection and personal retreat.” The trend is taking root internationally, he says. Pomroy highlighted the Treehouse Co-Living project in Gangnam-Gu, South Korea, designed by Bo-DAA architects. “In a dense urban environment, with high occupancy per square metre ratios, the architects have crafted communal and disconnected spaces that allow for both social interaction and opportunity for solitude in a restrained but dynamic design,” he says. Untech in action UniLodge chief executive Tomas Johnsson says there has been a noticeable shift in recent years for students seeking time out of their own room, but not always in large and noisy social environments. “Many of our properties have placed emphasis on creating flexible communal spaces that allow residents to self-regulate, switch off from tech, recharge, study by themselves or with others, or connect in calmer ways,” Johnsson says. Students are becoming unrecognisable from years gone by, when partying was the primary aim of the student experience, and UniLodge is applying this new approach to its student accommodation. ▲ UniLodge chief executive Tomas Johnsson: students increasingly are seeking time away from their rooms but not in noisy social environments. It invested in sensory boxes at its UniLodge Canterbury site, with tools such as fidget items, noise-reducing earmuffs and mindfulness prompts in shared study rooms and craft spaces. Its quiet rooms include indoor greenery, “drawing on research that plants reduce stress, improve concentration, and create calmer atmospheres,” Johnsson says. Art rooms and mindfulness craft stations—as found at UniLodge’s Twin Dolphin Hall site in Perth—and veggie gardens, that have been rolled out across UniLodge’s Western Australian residences, allow residents to come together. “These environments give students the choice to be active, creative, reflective, or social, in ways that support their mental health. “[They] aren’t about being completely offline, as reliable internet remains essential across all our residences, but rather about creating balance, choice and healthier ways to socialise and self-regulate,” Johnsson says. The philosophy behind disconnecting Johnsson says that unplugged spaces in PBSA settings support student wellbeing. “By providing dedicated areas for quiet connection, creativity or greenery, we’re helping provide residents with environments that help reduce stress and overwhelm,” he says. ▲ The rooftop gardens at UniLodge Kensington. “This contributes to resilience-building, while supporting healthier lifestyle choices.” These spaces complement, rather than replace, traditional social spaces like games rooms and the standard student common room areas, Johnsson says. Pomroy says that it is a trend that focuses on creating places which draw residents out of their own homes and connect with the community. “Disconnected spaces are not about isolation as a negative connotation, but a positive one: Still being part of the communal experience but achieving solitude where appropriate,” he says. ▲ UniLodge Twin Dolphin Hall at Curtin University in Perth. “They’re about creating moments of pause within a project’s circulation and flow and, importantly, pause in a resident’s daily life. “Delivering these more nuanced opportunities to associate within a form of community that embraces the varied and evolving needs of residents has been crucial as a point of difference for recent projects.” Projects coming through the gate now are sometimes years out from delivery, but disconnecting in development is something all developers should be considering now. “The greatest public spaces on the planet are ones where you feel safe on your own, or with one thousand other people,” Pomroy says.

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Clare Burnett
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