Paul Scialla Getting down to green business with Delos

If Frank Lloyd Wright ever met Hippocrates, Delos Living would be their offspring. (After, perhaps, a meeting with Warren Buffet since la vie en green does require appropriate funding.)
Delos Living is putting the “real” back in real estate with more natural solutions for homes, offices, schools and hotels that merge la haute technology with a healthy lifestyle.
At first glance, Delos’ office spaces appear to be taken from a futuristic film set.
Think: circadian lighting, virtual biophilia and chromatherapy.
Delos fuses medicine and science with architecture and design to completely reinvent how we all should be living…and working.
The company designs everything from residential homes to office spaces to hotels like the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, all with their signature WELL-certified stamp.

Delos was founded by Paul Scialla who spent 18 years on Wall Street, most recently as Partner at Goldman Sachs, before leaving for a walk on the greener side of the street to run Delos Living.
Scialla took time from his jet-setting schedule to talk to BWB about merging health with wealth in his (literally) ground-breaking line of work.

Why the jump from Wall Street to Healthy Avenue?

My career in Wellness Real Estate began a few years ago when I was renovating my loft in New York City’s Meatpacking District. I wanted to enhance my living space by adding wellness features, but after doing some research, I quickly discovered that no one was offering this type of solution for homes. At the time, there was a large focus on green building and environmental sustainability, but I wondered if we could push the envelope to focus on human sustainability as well.

I soon sought out the help of the top researchers and doctors from leading medical institutions, as well as architects, engineers and contractors to help develop this idea. After six years of thorough research, development and collaboration with these leaders, Delos founded the WELL Building Standard.

WELL Certified office spaces are designed to actively enhance the health and well-being of employees through evidence-based health and wellness designs and ultimately increase productivity, energy and efficiency.

What are the first things you look for when building a healthy office space?

The office is a place where people spend a lot of their time, and investing in employees – and especially in their health and well being – is one of the most important things a company can do.
WELL Certified office spaces are designed to actively enhance the health and well being of employees through evidence-based health and wellness designs and ultimately increase productivity, energy and efficiency.

How do you think a healthy work environment contributes to efficacy?

When people feel better they are naturally happier and more productive.
Mind and body comfort is a guiding principle behind our designs and with everything from juicing and hydration stations to ergonomic furniture to provide comfort and posture support, the CBRE office is design to help reduce stress and create comfortable work environments.

Small adjustments can include adding hydration stations, short breaks throughout the day so that employees are less sedentary and encouraging the use of stairwells versus elevators.

What can a CEO or employees do to ameliorate the “well” factor in an office space for those not lucky enough to have Delos design their space?

Small adjustments can include adding hydration stations, implementing short breaks throughout the day so that employees are less sedentary and encouraging the use of stairwells versus elevators whenever possible.

Tell me about Delos’ offices. How do they differ from other office spaces you’ve built? Is there anything top secret / extra-special about Delos’ own space?

Delos’ office has the same healthy living features and designs as the other offices that we have built – there are no top-secret wellness features that we are keeping for ourselves!
Health and wellness are fundamental rights and as and as soon as new discoveries, technologies and building designs are developed, Delos has been eager to add these new elements into our large pipeline of new projects across the residential, hospitality, and commercial sectors.

A holistic health guru seems like an unlikely partner for a real estate company. How did your collaboration with Deepak Chopra come about?

Initially, we met Dr. Chopra through mutual friends and immediately connected. He is very supportive of our efforts to improve mind and body well-being through the built environment, as he recognizes the great implications and significance of what we are doing – which is to passively deliver preventative medical intentions into people’s homes, offices and schools.

You travel a great deal for your job. What are your tips for fighting jet lag?

My best tip would be to book one of Delos’ Stay Well rooms. The lighting system in the Stay Well rooms is very advanced and features our patented lighting technology that helps improve the body’s internal clock, assisting in the regulation of melatonin production and helping to reverse jetlag.
For those unable to stay in one of our Stay Well rooms or suites, my best tips would be to ensure you stay hydrated and have plenty of water on the flight and once you’ve arrived at your destination. Staying active is also very important and maintaining your normal physical activity habits while on the road is crucial to feeling good and helping reduce jetlag.

WellShield™: Is a photo-catalytic coating on all surfaces prevents the spread of germs and bacteria within the office.

Dream job? : Delos essentials for a healthy office environment

There are more than 50 groundbreaking health and wellness features included in Delos’ state-of-the-art office spaces, but here are some of our favorite features !

WELLShield™: This feature is like having your office’s own personal bodyguard against bacteria, viruses and volatile organic compounds. A photo-catalytic coating on all surfaces prevents the spread of germs and bacteria within the office.

Advanced Air Filtration: Make sure to take a breather during the day, especially when we’re talking the most purified breath around. Delos’ advanced air purification system reduces allergens, toxins and pathogens, creating better air quality and breathing.

Advanced Lighting: Think your boss needs to lighten up? This high-tech lighting system helps to minimize disruption of the body’s circadian system and enhance worker productivity.

Dietary and Nutrition Info on Display: “Step away from the chips!” This info provides nutrition awareness and promotes healthy eating habits.

Hydration Stations: Welcome to your H2Office! Water stations are placed every 100 feet with highly filtered, cold water to help encourage employees to hydrate throughout the day.

Exercise/Stretching Zones: Don’t forget to do your OMwork. Feel free to get your downward dog on or do a split during your lunch break in the stretching and relaxation areas for employees on each floor.

Cardiovascular Equipment: You no longer have an excuse to skip the gym because you’re at work. In-house fitness equipment like Treadmill desks improve cardiovascular health and encourage employees to be less sedentary.

Inviting Stairways: This feature is quite literally a step above the rest. Carefully-designed staircases encourage employees to use the stairways through unique and enticing artwork, as well as through enhanced lighting, design and biophilic elements, which make stairways inviting and pleasant to use.

Cleveland Clinic WELL Tip of the Day: “Hey Joe, did you get the memo? Eat your greens!” Each day, healthy advice is disseminated via office technology and email distribution channels to educate employees on healthy living.

Biophilic Air Treatment: This plant-powered feature assists filters the air and provides a source of fresh oxygen.

Ergonomic Furniture: they provide comfort and posture support.

Juice Station: Oh yes, Delos-designed offices have their very own juice bars. True story.

Ergonomic Furniture: “Sit down, relax and enjoy the… office?” You’ll be at the edge of your seat with this furniture that provides comfort and posture support for users with varying physical backgrounds to help reduce stress and to provide varying and adjustable work environments.

Have you done anything in the way of philanthropic sustainability or do you plan to?

Absolutely—the future of global health lies in our ability to build in alignment with how we imagine the world in which we want to live. Delos has several philanthropic projects in the pipeline, including the LEED and WELL certified orphanage and children’s facility in Port-au-Prince, Haiti.
Officially named the William Jefferson Clinton Children’s Center, this project will house a health clinic, a training center to educate local women on women’s health issues, as well as housing for 25-30 orphans, and will be a culturally relevant model of sustainable and resilient construction replicable throughout the nation. Delos also founded Project Phoenix, a non-profit foundation launched through a Clinton Global Initiative 2011 commitment to directly impact developing communities and the lives of children globally by creating bold, innovative, solutions to sporting facilities. Project Phoenix’ goal is to level the playing field by providing children in need worldwide the opportunity to play sports, imagine a better life and compete in the global arena. Project Phoenix’ inaugural project, Phoenix Stadium, is a 12,000-seat professional soccer stadium complex that will be built in Cité Soleil, Haiti. Other altruistic initiatives include plans to WELL certify the Estrada Courts Affordable Housing development in Los Angeles and the funding for construction of 200 affordable homes in Haiti that will be built over a four-year time period.