Developed by Bonfire Collective with assistance from Magleby Construction and Gunther’s Heating, Cooling & Plumbing, Velvære is a new 60-acre luxury wellness development in Park City, Utah that takes its name from the Norwegian word for “well-being.”
It’s a philosophy that goes beyond comfort to include connection with nature, community engagement, and a sense of “koselig,” or cozy contentment.
Koselig and the Philosophy Behind Velvære
Debuting its first residence in 2024, Velvære will ultimately comprise 115 private residences, including cabins, paired homes, and estate sites ranging from 2,300 to over 5,000 square feet.
As Velvære welcomes its first residents, Bonfire Collective intends to monitor and analyze the community’s aggregate energy performance over time.
The long-term vision includes tracking natural gas usage and exploring ways for the homeowners’ association to offset fossil fuel consumption through renewable initiatives.
“Our intent on a community scale is to exist in balance with nature,” says Magleby. “Velvære is a living experiment in how design, technology, and community values can come together to support genuine well-being.”
Where Smart Tech Fits into the Equation
To help support this, common features throughout the community includes warm natural finishes, expansive windows and ski-in/ski-out access invite the outdoors in while advanced home automation and environmental controls help regulate and maintain healthier indoor home environments.
Every residence also features a customizable Synergistic Sanctuary Space — a private wellness retreat built directly into the home.
These spaces include environmentally conscious materials, treatment rooms, steam showers, cold/hot plunge setups, a HaloIR Sauna and an intricately connected HVAC system designed to maintain a comforting environment.
The Environmental Systems that Support Velvære’s Wellness Goals
Each home features a natural gas radiant floor system, providing gentle warmth during the winter months.
Zoned Mitsubishi SMART MULTI Hyper-Heating heat pumps handle both heating and cooling throughout the year, ensuring personalized comfort for each living space.
These pumps are then connected to the Crestron control platform via Airzone’s VAF control solution, enabling two-way communication between the systems without the need for custom programming or additional hardware.
AprilAire humidifiers were also used to maintain a comfortable moisture level in Utah’s dry mountain climate.
How These Systems Also Contribute to Sustainability
Each Velvære residence is also built with sustainability in mind, with pathways to solar energy designed directly into the infrastructure, meaning residents can add renewable energy collection and battery storage into their homes without any retrofit.
“Sustainability is only one aspect of our goals for Velvære,” explains Chad Magleby, Partner at Bonfire Collective.
“It’s part of wellness, which is in turn part of ‘velvære.’ We believe a specific desire for personal wellness will drive more change than a broad preference for sustainability.”
The energy management system is paired directly with a Crestron home automation platform, enabling residents to set personalized goals for consumption and efficiency.
Other activities – like running dishwashers or charging devices — can also be automated to run during off-peak hours through a “time of use” demand response program, further minimizing grid strain and energy costs.
