Design for Motion: Rethinking Rooms to Promote an Active Lifestyle

By Ruth Tiles, Architect & Home Improvement Specialist

Move or Improve: Insights from an Experienced Architect

We often associate fitness with gyms, classes, or outdoor activities, but your home’s design can be one of the most powerful influences on how much you move each day. From how rooms are arranged to what features are built into your space, your environment shapes your habits, consciously or not.

If you’re looking to live a more active lifestyle, you don’t necessarily need more time, you need better design. In this post, we’ll explore how to rethink rooms with movement in mind, making it easier to incorporate physical activity naturally into your daily life.

Whether you’re considering renovating your current space or relocating to a more functional home, these insights can help you design for motion and wellness.

1. Movement-Friendly Layouts: Beyond Open Plan

Open-plan living is often seen as the gold standard for modern homes, but not all open spaces encourage activity. It’s the way rooms are connected and the flow between them that really makes a difference.

Create Circulation Routes

• Avoid dead-end layouts where movement stops. Instead, design loops or dual-access pathways between spaces to encourage walking throughout the day.

• An open-plan kitchen-diner that connects to a garden or hallway offers more dynamic movement than one that bottlenecks at a breakfast bar.

Split Levels or Zoned Living

• Introducing subtle level changes (e.g. steps down into a lounge or raised workspaces) invites more natural motion.

• Define zones with furniture placement or rugs to encourage transitions between activities, sitting, standing, stretching or playing.

2. Rethinking Key Rooms for Daily Activity

Small changes to everyday rooms can have a big impact on physical behaviour.

The Kitchen: Design for Standing and Movement

• Install prep zones that encourage standing, such as islands or breakfast bars with stools.

• Keep frequently used items at different heights to prompt reaching, bending and walking.

The Living Room: Move More, Sit Less

• Replace oversized sofas with modular seating or floor cushions to vary posture and encourage stretching.

• Leave open floor space for movement, whether it’s yoga, kids’ play, or quick bodyweight exercises.

The Home Office: Promote Postural Variety

• Incorporate height-adjustable desks, leaning stools, or standing workstations.

• Position desks near windows or doors to make short breaks and movement outside more appealing.

3. Built-In Opportunities for Activity

Design features can help turn passive routines into active ones, with no need for extra motivation.

Visible Stairs

• A well-lit, centrally located staircase invites use. Consider timber treads, open risers, or even a feature wall to elevate their appeal.

• If you’re improving, try opening up a stairwell or repositioning access points to make stairs part of the flow, not a detour.

Active Furniture & Flexible Spaces

• Look for dual-purpose furniture that promotes motion, like ottomans that double as stretching props, or desks with wobble stools.

• Design flexible spaces that can transform from lounges into activity zones, using folding walls or sliding partitions.

4. Enhancing Outdoor Access and Use

Even in the UK’s often unpredictable weather, easy access to outdoor space can dramatically increase your daily movement.

Seamless Indoor-Outdoor Connections

• Install bi-fold or sliding glass doors that link living areas to patios, decks or gardens.

• Consider sightlines, being able to see your garden encourages more frequent use.

Micro-Zones for Movement

• Create small zones for different types of activity: a yoga corner, play area, or raised gardening bed.

• Even a compact balcony can host a stretch station or small exercise setup with clever design.

Final Thoughts: Move or Improve?

If your current home makes movement inconvenient or uninspiring, it’s worth asking: can I reimagine the space I have, or is it time to look for a home with better potential?

As an experienced architect, I help clients assess whether a strategic renovation can improve health and function, or if it makes more sense to move to a new space that better supports an active lifestyle.

Ready to design a home that keeps you moving, without a gym membership?

Contact me for tailored architectural advice on how to create spaces that support your health, activity and wellbeing, every single day.