Alberto Apostoli is creating a spa inspired by icebergs and the Northern Lights
by Jane Kitchen | 28 Nov 2019
The hot-cold and water-fire combinations have always been the basis of well-being
– Alberto Apostoli
Alberto Apostoli is designing a new four-level spa for the Formentin Hotel that is inspired by the Aurora Borealis and the icebergs of the Northern seas.
A historic thermal hotel built in 1911, the Formentin Hotel is located in the centre of Abano Terme, an ancient thermal area located between Verona and Venice.
The 840sq m (9,042sq ft) spa will include a swimming pool on the ground floor, a thermal area with Turkish bath, a sauna, an ice waterfall, an outdoor whirlpool, changing rooms and a relaxation room.
Treatment rooms will include a couple's cabin, a Spastream cabin, three individual treatment rooms, a double treatment cabin with a Vitalis bathtub and a third-floor terrace.
Apostoli is recreating the Northern Lights with the use of a fabric that integrates special optical fibres, while "icebergs", based on a design by Studio Apostoli, are to be made of sintered expanded polystyrene covered with resin.
"The hot-cold and water-fire combinations have always been the basis of wellbeing," he told CLAD sister title Spa Business. "For the Formentin Hotel spa, I wanted to mark this contrast, creating a Nordic environment in opposition to the sauna and the Turkish bath. So I thought about the icebergs and the Aurora Borealis, symbolically recreated through an illuminated fabric. The result is an environment that provides emotional cold – a cold that warms the spirit of the spa guests."
The spa is scheduled to open in April 2020.
Northern Lights Alberto Apostoli Italy Hotel Formentin thermal spa
A thermal area with Turkish bath, sauna, ice waterfall, emotional showers, outdoor whirlpool, changing rooms and relaxation room will be located on the first floor / Studio Apostoli
The 'icebergs' are made of sintered expanded polystyrene covered with resin / Studio Apostoli
The spa is designed to highlight contrasts between hot and cold / Studio Apostoli
A Nordic atmosphere has been created across the four-level spa / Studio Apostoli
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Alberto Apostoli is designing a new four-level spa for the Formentin Hotel that is inspired by the Aurora Borealis and the icebergs of the Northern seas. A historic thermal hotel built in 1911, the Formentin Hotel is located in the centre of Abano Terme, an ancient thermal area located between Verona and Venice. The 840sq m (9,042sq ft) spa will include a swimming pool on the ground floor, a thermal
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