Architecture For The Mind, Body, and Soul: Alex Zagrebelny, Founder and CEO, R.Evolution Alex Zagrebelny, founder and CEO of R.Evolution, on how his real estate developments blend luxury, sustainability and total wellbeing.
By Tamara Pupic
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Alex Zagrebelny, founder and CEO of R.Evolution, a high-end boutique real estate developer with offices in Riga, Barcelona, and Dubai, is at the forefront of the real estate wellness sector. As a sub-section of the USD$5.6 trillion global wellness economy, real estate wellness refers to developments that are proactively designed, built, and operated to support the holistic health of their residents, and it is growing at a fast rate- nonprofit Global Wellness Institute (GWI) reports its 18.1% annual growth rate, from $225.2 billion in 2019 to $438.2 billion in 2023.
Zagrebelny, however, foresaw this trend long before and spent nearly 25 years piecing together the details of his unique approach to real estate development. "We are a part of the evolution of real estate with a revolutionary view on it," he says. "The goal of my projects is to show that homes, offices, or spaces where you spend time can change your life. It is important for me that people know that we over-deliver in all our residential, office, or hospitality projects in the sense that we go beyond a beautiful architectural design and think deeply about how our buildings can change one's life. Ever since I learnt the ancient knowledge of yoga, Ayurveda, Vastu, and other related practices, I decided that all of them must be implemented in the development of real estate."
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Zagrebelny's masterpiece in Dubai will be Eywa Tree of Life, a 19-floor tower located on the Dubai Water Canal in the Business Bay area of Dubai. Each of its 48 apartments has been designed to appeal to the senses and to promote wellbeing and longevity for its residents. He points out that its sustainability and wellbeing focus starts with his architectural inspiration for the building- the Banyan tree (Tree of Life) that symbolizes a constantly renewing and reviving ecosystem. He adds, "It also starts with building materials which, we believe, must contribute to improving your health, not doing the opposite. The problem is that today's cities have lost the connection with nature, and so the poor quality of air and water starts killing people overtime. Or energy inside the buildings is misbalanced. Those are the cases when people start feeling bad inside a building, or start getting ill, and they don't understand that it is actually because of the environment where they live, sleep, work, etc. We check each material to ensure that it does not create any toxic radicals in the air. We also check the radiation, even in the concrete, because we know that stones from mountains can have high radiation which eventually creates poison inside a building. Then, we have special treatments to protect our buildings from mold and fungi that are poisonous, and so on."
Eywa Tree of Life will be a 19-floor tower located on the Dubai Water Canal in the Business Bay area of Dubai.
Source: R.Evolution
Eywa collaborates with the best brands, best architects, and best consultants and uses the latest technologies and most energy efficient solutions to craft a living experience that has a minimum negative impact on the environment and people's health. All Zagrebelny's developments have received the highest distinction for sustainability, innovation and advancing human health and wellbeing- the certificates from the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) green building program, administered by the International WELL Building Institute (IWBI), and the WELL Building Standard (WELL), developed by the U.S. Green Building Council. "To achieve this result, we had to think how our buildings could consume less energy from the Earth than other buildings," he says. "It leads to clients having to pay less, not too much, but still the overall positive impact on nature is huge. I'm happy that a lot of our clients have started to respect this. The idea is that the building itself is like the Mother Earth, but the mother who is also a knowledgeable guardian, a guru. I believe that our task, as developers is to be responsible for the quality of our future residents."
The R.Evolution approach is further developed to unify all six human senses and five elements of nature. Zagrebelny's first-of-a-kind positive energy structure, consisting of 1,450 crystals, geodes and precious stones, is embedded within the building in strategic directions and at strategic locations in order to be in complete alignment with the ancient Indian system of architecture Vaastu Shastra. "I first introduced crystals in a building where I lived with my family and tested it for five years. In 2019, I decided that the same system will be implemented in all my buildings," Zagrebelny says.
Eywa will also be an environment where the five elements of nature are celebrated and enhanced. The building will also have its own water system features- special filters and crystals rinse the supply of chemicals, additives and impurities, instead enriching it with beneficial substances and minerals, raising it to its ideal composition. "It's not only about filtration, because clean water is like a basic standard, but about ensuring that you get the quality of water that can heal you, so that even water in your home becomes your medicine," he explains.
For the fire element, the building will have a permanently-lit open fire in the main hall and candle lights throughout its public spaces, while for the air element, it will be saturated with air thanks to its high ceilings, state-of-the-art air purification filters, and a specially-selected, custom-made aroma of natural essential oils. An array of installations throughout the building will highlight the stone and wood elements. Alex explains that combining five natural elements and six senses into one sacred integrity is aimed at creating a full-fledged sense of space to boost people's inner sensations and their ability to coherently experience every sense.
"In this way, I have created a holistic system, the Eywa Movement, that helps increase your longevity, your well-being," Alex says. "It's all very detailed, because for me, God is in the details. This is why I say that our team and I are not only real estate developers, but magicians and sages at the same time."
There are also other important features, such as the so-called Apartment No.1 which is a communal space for all residents that includes the Club House, Spa, Gym, show kitchen, dining spaces, private dining/conference rooms and library/ music zone. "We focus on the community because it indeed is people's medicine too," Zagrebelny explains. "Our other offering is a special service that we call a longevity concierge who is there to support you on your journey to health. We have a contract with the best Ayurvedic clinic in Dubai. If you want Panchakarma, we have a fully equipped room for that. You don't need to spend your time to go to Kerala, but you can stay with your family, run your business, do your work, and still have time for Panchakarma."
Apart from Eywa Tree of Life, R.Evolution is currently focused on a few other projects across the UAE, as well as a special real estate development in the Maldives. "In the Maldives, we are working on a mix of hotel and residential properties, like a villa community with the hotel management and longevity and Ayurveda clinic," he says. "Above all, we have big plans for Dubai- I want to create the Eywa Villa community. I want to build office buildings. In the next phase, I want more people to live in my buildings, so I will create something more affordable."
In achieving these goals, Alex is supported by a team of 45 professionals. "We have a mix of people who have been with us for 15 or 17 years as well as new people who have experience in the UAE local construction industry," he says. "I call my team real estate Jedis, because we are actually changing the world and the people's lives with our creations."
In addition, his projects in the UAE get the full support from the Riga office of R.Evolution, which is Zagrebelny's hometown and where he started his career in real estate. "I've been in real estate development for 25 years during which 23 projects were delivered successfully," he says. "We built a lot in the center of Riga, Jurmala, which is for Riga what Santa Monica is for Los Angeles. In 2014, I started with our second office in Berlin, and in 2018, our third office in Barcelona. Our office in Barcelona is still active. In Berlin, we have finalized all our projects."
Alex Zagrebelny is the founder and CEO of R.Evolution, a high-end boutique real estate developer with offices in Riga, Barcelona, and Dubai.
Source: BNC Publishing
Some of the notable projects in Riga include Legend, super luxury residences in Jurmala; Hoft, a 5 story building, which is a historical monument from 1881, that was transformed into a 7-story modern courtyard building, or Philosophers Residences, a 2-tower residential complex dedicated to the 18th century German philosophers Johann Gottfried Herder and Johann Georg Hamann, who once lived and worked in a house located on the plot. In Barcelona, R.Evolution developed Eywa 22 Palms, a complete transformation of a 1967 building into a safe, environmentally friendly, and modern business centre, and Eywa Bac De Roda, an energy-efficient office centre that is a blend of Catalan cultural values, innovative technologies, and revolutionary architectural solutions.
Zagrebelny believes that architecture is an important component of a city's image, and from now on, his visionary work will help shape the future identity of Dubai. "I like that in Dubai everyone supports you, especially when they see that you want to create value for the city and its people, and that you will put Dubai on the world map of the most sustainable, wellbeing-oriented cities," Alex concludes.
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