We’ve seen condominiums offer numerous perks to attract different demographics before — gyms for the fitness-minded, hot tubs for the party-minded, laundry services for the dirty and lazy — but we’ve never heard of one playing up a feature to target allergy sufferers.
Well Japanese complex Riche Tamagawa Riverside has had enough of the sneezing, congestion and red noses that must have been running rampant throughout the building, as employees recently installed an "air-shower" near one of the entrances that blows dust, pollen and other allergens right off residents’ clothing. Frequent travelers may be familiar with these compressed-air showers from certain airport security screening stations, where the machines are used not to keep your flight sniffle-free but to ensure that you weren’t playing around with explosives before boarding.
Hay fever sufferers hoping for relief are focusing their attention on a condominium complex equipped with an "air-shower" system designed to remove pollen and dust.
The Riche Tamagawa Riverside complex located in Tokyo’s Ota-ku has an air-shower unit, measuring some 2 meters tall and 90 centimeters wide, near its entrance.
The 12-nozzle system at the Tokyo location has proven so popular that building owners are considering deploying the units to other housing developments as well, causing hay fever sufferers to rejoice but those with high-maintenance hairdos to recoil in horror.
An official of Mazya Housing that developed the condominium complex said that the apartments in the structure are selling well.
The person who came up with the idea to place the air-shower in the building suffers from hay fever. The company is now considering the possibility of developing another housing complex equipped with the air-shower system.