Is Digital Detoxing the Hot New Real Estate Feature?

As we grow more and more aware of the physical and psychological effects of being connected 24/7, the popularity of digital detoxes has also increased. That can take many forms, from a dedicated retreat to a more personalized, human-scale approach. Whether you’re traveling for a digital detox or being especially mindful of your devices, the goal is the same: to regain some awareness of what the essential parts of life are like.

Now, it seems, there’s another option for people looking to disconnect from being connected, and it involves high-end real estate. In an article for Curbed, Kim Velsey described the amenities at 505 State Street, a fully electric skyscraper that’s the first of its kind in Brooklyn. Velsey’s reporting focuses on one feature of the building in particular: the Grow Room, a sizable green space where cellphones are not permitted.

“Transport yourself in an immersive, tech-free space filled with plants and designed to offer a moment of respite,” the building’s website declares. It also offers a range of suggested activities for the Grow Room, including conversing with friends or bringing a book along to read.

Velsey referred to this room as “in some ways a miniature of the already popular detox retreat,” and notes that it’s part of a larger trend of adding indoor green spaces to prominent buildings all over the world. That feature doesn’t just apply to residential spaces: corporate offices have also experimented with a wide range of plant life to alter the character of a given room.

This European Island Is Cultivating a “Phone-Free” Environment

They want tourists to enjoy the surroundings technology-free

While the ubiquity of cellphones is only a few decades old, the idea of taking a break from the modern world goes back far longer. Patrick Leigh Fermor’s book A Time to Keep Silence describes the author’s experience taking part in silent retreats at a host of monastaries across Europe; it was first published in 1953. Digital detoxes might be a recent phenomenon, but the mindset behind them has endured for much longer.