Thermarium-designed 10,500sq m Norwegian spa has cutting-edge immersive light features
Austrian spa design and equipment manufacturer Thermarium have designed a three-level, 10,500sq m (113,000sq ft) spa complex called The Well about 11 miles (17km) south of Oslo in Kolbotn, Norway in conjunction Norwegian architects Halvorsen & Riene.
The privately-owned spa, billed as the largest in Norway, will include five areas designed to transport guests to different spa cultures, as well as unique, cutting-edge lighting technology to enhance relaxation. It is set to open in December 2015.
The spa concept, interior design, engineering and final construction are all by Thermarium, while Norwegian architects Halvorsen & Riene designed the buildings.
The overall design of the spa is “a mixture between modern and traditional Nordic design,” Adrian Egger, managing director for Thermarium, told CLADglobal. “But it also integrates different areas of the world.”
Egger said the owner wanted a consistent design throughout the spa, but also wanted each area to feel authentic to the wellness tradition from which it was inspired. “There is nothing like this in Norway,” he said.
A Japanese Onsen area includes a sauna, steamroom with basalt stones, fire room with decorative bamboo, and meditation room with a large gong and smaller singing bowls that a therapist activates for relaxing and energising ceremonies. Egger said the area features a “calm, silent design style” and uses authentic materials from Japan.
The Nordic Laconium is a warm, dark relaxation room with shimmering black mosaics on the seats and foot rests. Guests are surrounded by glass walls that show Nordic landscape scenery, which is dramatically illuminated by a green Nordic light. A glass fountain in the middle of the room also features a green illuminated basin.
The unique Ambilight Cinema Sauna is a semi-circle theatre with wooden benches facing a wall-mounted television, where nature videos interact with the sauna’s lights. The colours shown on the screen are reflected in the Ambilights that illuminate the sauna, giving guests an immersive experience.
“It feels like the whole room is part of the TV,” said Egger. “It gives you a feeling that you are part of this.”
An Egyptian Rasul room is used for mud treatments, while the jungle sauna and showers feature organically-shaped benches, bamboo walls and jungle motifs in the ceiling and window.
The Blockhouse Sauna rises to two storeys, giving guests an “extraordinary heat experience” on the second floor, said Egger. The structure is made of 6m (20ft) Kelo trunks, and the walls are clad in antique spruce.
An Art Deco steamroom features gold and yellow typical Art Deco style, and is a “colourful and strong, emotional room,” said Egger.
As guests travel to each area, Egger said, “They feel they’re really going to another world, but they can still feel that it’s part of The Well.”
The treatment menu is not finalised yet, but a sampling of treatments to be offered at the spa include classic whole body massage, hot stone massage, Thai massage, dry floating, hydropool, soap foam massage, facial massage, cosmetics, manicure, pedicure and mud treatments.
Product lines have not yet been decided.
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