Interior design-The making of spas
Although we go first of all for the quality of the treatments, a spa’s setting also plays a major role. Architects and interior designers give us their recipes for cooking up a décor that actively participates in the feeling of well-being. From the lighting to the materials used, their ideas contribute real added value that is not just practical but also aesthetic.
In the historic vaults of a former bank (the Hotel de Rome in Berlin), a tree-house (in Corsica at the Grand Hotel de Cala Rossa) or tucked away in the cave of an old fortified estate in southern Italy (the Masseria Torre Coccaro), unusual spots for setting up a spa abound. Now found in every upscale hotel, these centres of well-being have to astound us from every angle. For some of them, this challenge is easier than for others.
How could you not feel completely removed from it all at the Begawan Giri (www.begawan-giri.com), immersed in the heart of the Balinese jungle where tree ferns, giant bamboo and wild coffee trees intertwine. Here of course, teak parquet floors and coconut palm ceilings are in total osmosis with the environment. The treatments take place outside in this spectacular natural setting, to the rhythm of the Ayung river’s perpetual bubbling, birds chirping and cool, clear water babbling from waterfalls into natural pools from the spring that feeds the spa.
The art of getting away from it all
Even if you had an unlimited budget, attempting to recreate this idyllic natural paradise in a city could not generate the same feeling. Knowing that it was fictitious would ruin the desired effect. In Miami Beach, The Standard Spa (www.standardhotels.com), a recent member of Design Hotels™ decided instead to create a patchwork of different ambiances.
Marble hammam for the Turkish baths or blond woods for the Scandinavian sauna, architects Alison Spear and Shawn Hausman gave a clear identity to each activity available here. Sometimes guests are even greeted by an artist’s installation, such as the “video graffiti” shown this past December. Surprising guests is an efficient way of helping them unplug from their daily lives. At the Standard Spa, you bask in a waterfall in a circular tub, succumbing to the lullaby of forest sounds playing in the background.
The soundtrack is still an aspect that is too often neglected even in the most prestigious hotels and spas. For some guests, the famous “relaxing music” makes it hard to forget all their cares, while others choose songs that make your head throb… Wouldn’t it be wonderful if spa-goers could at least choose the style of music if not the volume?
And of course, treatment rooms should be well insulated so that we do not suffer from conversations inopportunely struck up right outside your door! The ideal music for forgetting it all is nature’s own sounds, such as the crackling of a fire in a fireplace for example. Check out www.rainymood.com, where you can listen to rain fall, truly calming. French designer Nicolas Gwenael (www.curiosity.jp), whose agency in Tokyo is responsible for the Kanebo Sensai Select Spa in the Victoria-Jungrau hotel in Interlaken (www.victoria-jungfrau.ch) decided to create his own soundtrack.
The first spa for cosmetics brand Kanebo plays the sounds of an antique Japanese musical instrument with music inspired by the sounds coming from outer space, punctuated with long silences. “The music is a signature, just like a scent that marks your memory or the music for a film,” explains Mr Swenael. Passionate music fans are not likely to be indifferent to the barely perceptible rustling of silk panels floating in the Kanebo spa, throughout the reception lobby. Like a rite of passage, these textiles, veritable sound panels, also evoke the origins of the products used which combine the exceptional moisturising properties of Koishimaru silk and the therapeutical benefits of Japanese hot springs. “A spa is not just a place of beauty,” adds Nicolas Gwenael, “it must also help a guest along their spiritual quest. It’s a delicate balance between what exists and what is invisible.”
Playing with the senses
Theatrical, yet soft and pleasant, with majestic curving volumes, long recurring silk panels and blond wood walls, the Kanebo Sensai Select Spa at the Victoria-Jungrau hotel seems to be the total opposite of the concept imagined by Simone Micheli for the Exedra hotel in Milan (www.exedra.boscolohotels.com).
In 600 square metres, the Florentine designer transports us to another planet! “After several meetings, the owner Angelo Boscolo asked me to create a work of art capable of arousing emotions and drawing guests in,” says Simone Micheli. “He wanted me to stimulate the mind and inspire the body. I therefore came up with an interior design which aims to bring the visitor, in an almost subliminal way, to a surrealist, metaphysical dimension, capable of transforming their experience into active memory. Space is put into an alternate reality to be rediscovered and establish a new equilibrium.
All of the ingredients used in this ensemble, such as light, materials and colours, seek to surprise you in fresh ways in order to emphasise the new relationship between humans and space, humans and time, humans and their present and future.” A tall order, baptised Atomic Spa by its creator, which resulted in organic forms stretching along the walls and ceilings garnished with what appear to be large bubbles with kaleidoscopic reflections.
Mirrors “intended to generate a synthesised perception of sound and colour.” Here you can speak of actual light baths, rose in one area, blue-green elsewhere. The LEDs also take on meaning in the showers, lit blue when the water is cold and red when it is hot. They took a real chance, and the space shuttle-like modernism might not be everyone’s favourite, but it does work, and guests should definitely be amazed.
There are countless way to immerge us in a universe. In 2006, for the Hilton hotel in Évian-les-Bains, Philippe Nuel inaugurated the first Buddha Bar Spa. “Of course I had to stick with the Asian theme, well known by the customers of Buddha Bars across the globe, but I wanted to avoid a Disney-like treatment of the site”, specifies the interior designer. Around a monumental Buddha imposed by the contract, Philippe Nuel orchestrated a décor with a turquoise and black backdrop.
“This is the only project that I have done where objects were the starting point,” he explains. Across the 1,500 square meters spread over three floors, you go from sculpted wood bas-relief to an oriental four-poster bed, without ever having the feeling of being in the Asiatides show-room! Only the glorious high picture windows around the swimming pool, which extends to the outdoors, remind us that we are on the shores of Lake Geneva. To soften the daylight, a magisterial alignment of suspended bamboo trunks creates a rhythmic transition between the hushed universe of the treatment rooms and the sunny garden.
The importance of being light
“Now that spas have become a part of our lifestyles, I do not hesitate to create a happening, a specific universe that is quite distinct from the hotel itself”, explains interior designer Philippe Nuel. His first spa, in 2004 for Club Med Peisey-Vallandry, was designed as an extension of the building’s décor, in a slightly more Zen version.
His most recent spa, inaugurated last year at the Avenue Lodge in Val d’Isère (www.hotelavenuelodge.com) invites us to a timeless place, all the while making subtle or whimsical allusions to the mountain backdrop. Immense stag trophies are suspended over the pool framed in slate, and walls are dressed with wooden tiles that are typical of the local architecture. When evening comes, the gas fireplace and a myriad of candles are lit.
“It is important to qualify the atmosphere depending on the time of day”, emphasises Philippe Nuel, who relies on dimmer switches to accentuate the morning light in this below-ground floor which does not enjoy any natural light. In New Delhi, at the new Aman (www.amanresorts.com), playing with light comes completely naturally thanks to Jaali, perforated stone screens, which, similar to moucharaby panels, let sunshine and air through. “The flickering shadows along the entryway make for a real induction to serenity, offering a striking contrast to the effervescence of this Indian megalopolis,” muses designer Kerry Hill (www.kerryhillarchitects.com).
“The lighting is fundamental,” clarifies Nicolas Gwenael, “its flexibility allows us to control how you perceive space, accentuate the depth of a volume or make it disappear.” Fibre optics to create the illusion of a starry sky or luminotherapy for simulating dawn or sunset, new technologies mean that designers can work with light as a real material. And when light is virtually absent, it also plays a role by emphasising other senses such as touch. Walking on stones, cork, sand or an unfinished vs smooth slate floor, contributes to the experience the interior designer has imagined for us, just like the ambient sound or fragrance.
“Just as a novel takes you into a specific universe, each project should tell a particular story,” declares Kerry Hill. We can expect the number of atypical destinations to continue increasing in the coming years since “today, a hotel’s spa has become a destination unto itself, beyond the actual tourist appeal of a city,” observes Nicolas Gwenael.
By Virginie Seguin
English
Français 
Hotel Guarda Golf