< PreviousSpecial Report commercialinteriordesign.com Month 2020 30 SPECIAL REPORT Al Faya Desert Retreat & Spa, Sharjah, designed by ANARCHITECT Special Report 31 Month 2020 commercialinteriordesign.com TAKE THE PLUNGE Why spa and wellness design can't stand still PAGE 32 Trend focus: How spa and wellness spaces are evolving PAGE 36 Step into the secret garden of the art-inspired & Fellows Spa PAGE 38 ANARCHITECT's Al Faya Desert Retreat revises spa design fundamentals PAGE 40 Ideal Standard shares bathroom design solutions for a hygiene focused world Im ag es : F er n an d o G u er ra SPAS & BATHROOMSSpecial Report commercialinteriordesign.com August 2020 32 Malini Karani Director of studies for Interior Design at Heriot-Watt University Dubai Campus MEET THE EXPERTS Martin R Goldmann Founder & CEO of spa consultancy ASPA International Ingo Schweder Founder & CEO of GOCO Hospitality LIVE! TALK Cosentino design debate hones in on opportunities and challenges in spa & wellness Special Report 33 August 2020 commercialinteriordesign.com The Cosentino showroom in d3 How will the next generation of wellness spaces will be designed to accommodate new health and safety protocols? Three experts shared their views with Commercial Interior Design editor Jane O'Neill as part of the 14th edition of Cosentino City Live!, an ongoing online discussion into key and current topics in the design industry. They are: Malini Karani, director of studies for Interior Design at Heriot-Watt University Dubai Campus; Portugal- based Martin R Goldmann, founder of spa consultancy ASPA International and Ingo Schweder, head of GOCO Hospitality, which has its HQ in Bangkok, Thailand. How are wellness spaces responding to coronavirus design-wise? What's in their new toolkit? Martin Goldmann We've seen some very quick retro-fi ts in the hydrothermal areas. There's been installation of bacteria and virus repelling fi lters that comes from the hospital industry. We see the installation of UVC lights throughout the spa, corridors, changing room facilities and throughout the spa, so UV lights can be switched on at night when the spa is not inhabited and the whole area can be dosed with ultra-violet C disinfection. We're also seeing in the hydro-thermal area shot chlorination on almost a daily basis and automated so it defi nitely gets done. That's just to give our clients peace of mind in what we're using and how they're using it. I think the most challenging area in the entire spa is our changing rooms, which is a high density area of client exchange. What are the other main challenges these spaces face, considered from a design perspective? Ingo Schweder One of the nice things about this has been that spas are no longer in basements. People understand now that daylight and opening windows and a much more indoor/outdoor relationship was important. It was always very diffi cult to convince people not to put it in the basement but I think that message now is much clearer. One of the challenges is older facilities. They sometimes don't have the money for those retro-fi ts and I don't know what's going to happen to those facilities, as the client is going to demand certain changes. Special Report commercialinteriordesign.com August 2020 34 I'm not sure all facilities have the stamina to go through and make those. Martin Goldmann And I think that is one of the positives of the present situation and that people have understood that the outside not only one doesn't get infected too fast, but more importantly, how important vitamin D and how important it is to move around. However there's a substantial amount of cost which are coming towards the operators right now. It can be six, seven, eight, nine, ten dollars or euros. Depends where you are per treatment, which is substantial. It represents sometimes fi ve, six, seven, 10 per cent of the cost. Malani Karani Locker design and common space design is one of the things we've focused on [when designing projects with students], because your common spaces, how to manage to ensure there aren't too many people and they aren't going to be worried about cross-contamination. Do you think we're going to see trends changing in how customers use spas? Martin Goldmann -There's more and more interest of having your secluded own little world within the larger resort. So there are some opportunities and potential to come out of this? Martin Goldmann One group of hotel chain we're talking to, this GM just turned around and said, we're not going to fi ll up this conferencing facilities for the next two to three years. What options have we got? And we came to came up with taking that thousand square metre area and breaking it up into fi ve family spa units. until we get a vaccine. Then once we have a vaccine, I think it'll be life back to normal until the COVID-20 comes around and we have to rethink everything again. But I think breaking down hotel spas to smaller units that generate a larger amount of money is possibly a very interesting game. It's a game changer for the hospitality industry. Ingo Schweder In Thailand you cannot go to any beach resort and fi nd a villa because all the villas are booked all the time every weekend where entire groups go out and say, this is my villa for the weekend. There's a chef, a massage therapist. There are six, seven, eight, 10 It's a game changer for the hospitality industry... So a family would book into the hotel and then they would book that their family spa for three hours, six hours, eight hours, and they'd have the therapist come. That would be their family therapist. They could order food into the spa area. You'd have a thermal area, sauna, steam, sensory showers, hydro pool, massage chair, relaxation area. And that is then for that family or for even a company. If a company is doing a promotional outing of or if it was a stag party or a hen party, they could book that area out. It's been disinfected. It's not being used by other people or totally strangers to that group of people. And I think this will be the way forward GOCO Hospitality conceptualised and designed a spa for Address Sky View DubaiSpecial Report 35 August 2020 commercialinteriordesign.com bedrooms and the entire group of friends and family stays together. So there is a shift in design as a shift in demand. We have to fulfi ll the needs of the developers to ensure that they have a profi table product, so it all works together. Martin Goldmann We are just about to launch a pop-up sauna for the coastline. We have 14 degrees here in the water right now [in Portugal]. But I think the mentality is bring the spa, bring wellness to the people rather than the people having to go and fi nd it. This is a paradigm shift that we're going to have to deal with. Ingo Schweder We just got an inquiry here in Asia to take a very prominent hotel, moving it from 700 rooms to 300 rooms and taking a 2,000 square metre ballroom and making an entire wellness centre. Now, two years ago, nobody ever would have thought about it. Martin Goldmann And I think it's going to have tremendous success. I really do, because, you know, even if I'm living here and I have my personal fi tness regime, which is running in the morning and swimming and so on. I can take my family and we can go and book a family spa for the morning, for the afternoon or for the evening. And yeah, it's as you said, two years ago it would've been unheard of. You'd been thrown out the door. But it's amazing. This is a positive connotation of COVID-19 that we're seeing. But I think it's a very interesting one and I think one that will be here to stay for a long time. Sign up for Cosentino City Live! to hear weekly talks on interior design and architecture from an international network of professionals. Register at cosentino.comSpecial Report commercialinteriordesign.com August 2020 36 CASE STUDY: & FELLOWS SPA BY K+SPACING A secret garden in the concrete jungle of Taipei, Taiwan, & Fellows SPA looks to the French Impressionist artist Claude Monet's Women in the Garden as its muse. The painting was the fi rst of Monet's works to capture what would become his primary theme: the interplay between light and atmosphere. So this new genre of spa in in the eastern district in Taipei works with colour schemes and lighting to create a relaxing space for both the mind and the body, one that soothes the senses either in solitude or company. Interior designer Yu-Tsen King from K+Spacing wanted spa goers to feel as if they were stepping into the glorious Parisian garden seen in Monet's art. The entrance of & Fellows SPA is outfi tted with green vegetation. Large glass windows usher in natural light, adding sense of space. The vast semicircular hall with walls of ivy patterns has not only an open lounge area, but also a section separated by an arch, which, together with recessed lights and wall lamps, serves as an exclusive area for spending time alone. In the soft glow of projected light, we see plants specifi cally selected by horticulturists create a visage of verdant forest. The visitor feels as if they are stepping onto a trail and entering a secret realm. Imbued with the philosophy of coexisting with nature, it provides a pleasant feast for the eye and the mind. Furniture is by Moroso, an Italian manufacturer with nearly 70 years of history. Its complex woodwork presents simple lines, bold colours and curled rattan recliners and side tables. The bright, eye-catching shades from the M'Afrique Collection evoke blossoming fl owers and a vibrant yet romantic feel. Made in Senegal at Moroso's atelier in Dakar art, directed by Abdou Salam Gaye, the M'Afrique collection is designed by Tord Boontje, Dominique Pétot, Ayse Birsel and Bibi Seck, Marc Thorpe, Patricia Urquiola, Federica Capitani, Concetta Giannangeli, David Weeks and Martino Gamper. The collection is crafted using a hand-weaving technique employing Steo into the 'garden' IM A G ES : CHI -SHOU WA N G Bold colours from Moroso furnitureSpecial Report 37 August 2020 commercialinteriordesign.com Caption Here the plastic threads traditionally used for making fi sh nets, which is then woven on hand-bent metallic structures, to create attractive and strong design products. Nature inspires the VIP room, with its hallway decorated with peacock feathers, and the metallic texture combined with walls and settees of bright blue and red, as well as intermittent bird-cage chandeliers, enhance the space with elegance and luxury. The specially designed halo casts a sense of drama and mystery. We look upwards to a room fi lled with a galaxy of stars. Handmade hanging colored-glaze lights are brilliant but not dazzling, making for a sight resembling the vast Milky Way. In the hallway, visitors could be forgiven for thinking they have stepped into an art gallery, with works highlighted by pilot lights and the ceiling decorated with royal blue drapes that add softness to the space while echoing the blue checkered carpet on the fl oor. Again nature creeps in to the theme, with various fl owers and vines patterning ceiling and walls. The separate shower room is decorated with yellow dancing-doll orchids, while their red counterpart ornaments the grooming area. Like Monet's feted work, & Fellows SPA is a place of elegance and fl owers, where art and relaxation meet in a gorgeous urban garden. Stop to check out the art Nature is always close A place for solitudeSpecial Report commercialinteriordesign.com August 2020 38 CASE STUDY: AL FAYA DESERT RETREAT & SPA, SHARJAH, BY A Jonathan Ashmore, founder and principal architect at ANARCHITECT, talks us through the fi rm's approach to spa and wellness design. "To have a better grasp on what the future of spa and wellness design might look like, ANARCHITECT believes that we should fi rst reset our understandings and revisit the fundamentals of why these experiences exist and thrive as a globally growing industry. The word ‘spa’ defi nes a natural source (mineral spring water) of health- giving properties (wellness). "The needs of human wellbeing and spa treatments that cater to rejuvenate, rehabilitate and stimulate us is what draws people to sometimes travel great distances to visit a spa or wellness destination for a specifi c treatment or location within a particular place or context. "Keeping this reset perspective in mind, we must then consider that as a result of the pandemic there will be a change in the approach to spa and wellness design, as human habits change and our general perceptions of luxury, space and security evolve as part of a global cultural shift. "ANARCHITECT’s interests lie in spatial experience, functional fl ow and context when it comes to spa & wellness design. Like hospitality, wellbeing places can provide a form of escapism either momentary from daily life or for extended periods. We believe that the future of a wellness experience should be relevant, authentic and, if possible, connected to the nature and the climate within which the project is placed. These elemental qualities have become ever more important for people during the pandemic and now looking ahead. "For the Al Faya Retreat & Spa project in Sharjah, (Winner of Hotel of the Year 2019 at the CID Awards) we purposely designed the spa building and experiences to be primordial and set within the natural desert landscape. The project offers an antithesis to opulent luxury, overly-manned and strictly timed spa experiences, selectively preferring to present guests with a chance to experience the spa in their own time and pace, an offering we see as another Open air pool at Al Faya Desert Retreat & Spa, SharjahSpecial Report 39 August 2020 commercialinteriordesign.com Y ANARCHITECT important aspect of future design in spa and wellness projects. "Working together with specialist spa consultants; The Wellness, we proposed a series of interlinked spa experiences and open-air pool centred on Salt, inspired by the desert context. The monolithic, brutalist architectural form of the spa building is derived from the climate, landscape and the spa experiences themselves. Each treatment space draws inwardly the surrounding nature and natural light in a distinct way. The heat room has a deep skylight at its centre, discreet in scale and only apparent to the user once they are seated and relaxed on the ergonomic wood bench. The cold shower- walk circulates around a glazed, open air Concept for Air Health Retreat, Southern Serbia Caption Here light-well that offers a chance to sit and contemplate the framed sky above. "The salt inhalation room faces west, looking out horizontally across the distance landscape. They can be enjoyed individually or as a small group and in your own time; we believe that future guests will want this freedom to curate their own experiences, reassured in the knowledge that their safety and security are still being taken care of, albeit more discreetly. "The retreat is also boutique in scale, made up of a fi ve-bedroom lodge and restaurant repurposed from a redundant grocery store and clinic with a newly-built saltwater spa building. The scale of the retreat means that there is an opportunity Inspired by its surroundings Escape the city for it to be hired out in its entirety by a group of friends, colleagues or family. As guests have a higher demand for safety and security, scale, particularly boutique, will become much more important particularly where spa and wellness facilities are connected to hospitality. "Similarly, ANARCHITECT’s Air Health Retreat concept in the Balkan Mountain range, south of Serbia, where altitude and air quality is optimal, is a retreat that connects you back to nature. "It is with a renewed understanding and respect for the healing powers of nature, where ANARCHITECT sees the future direction of spa & wellness design in hospitality."Next >