Spa design isn't just about creating beautiful spaces, but environments that nurture wellness simply by being in them. Here's how spa design supports your wellbeing.
Over the last year many more of us have been paying attention to the look and feel of our surroundings. More than ever we are aware of how light, colours, patterns and space make us feel. When it comes to spas, design is an intrinsic part of wellbeing.
That can be applied on a number of levels - the amount of nature that’s incorporated into the space, the colours, the quality of light, the textures. It all plays a role in how the space makes us feel, and in no superficial way either. These elements are also increasingly being used in other spaces like homes and offices as well.
Biophilic design is when architecture and interiors incorporate nature into a space in as many ways as possible. That can include the use of organic materials like natural wood and stone, as well as water features, natural light, plants, and perhaps blurring the lines between indoor and outdoor spaces.
Most of us know that we feel better when we’re more connected with nature, whether it's a walk in the park or a dip in the sea. Biophilic design seeks to harness that feeling, with it popularity growing in home design as well as spas and hotels. It's not just that it looks nice however, it's also that this connectivity with nature is something we all inherently seek out, not least because it's shown to have a meaningful impact on our health.
Research has shown that when hospital patients have rooms with a view of nature, they tend to have fewer negative comments, need less medication for pain management, and have shorter postoperative stays than those with a view of another building.
A study titled 'Healthy Dwelling: Design of Biophilic Interior Environments Fostering Self-Care Practices for People Living with Migraines, Chronic Pain, and Depression', is also one of many that found biophilic design to have a positive impact on health and wellbeing. They wrote:
"Biophilic interventions have been shown to improve relaxation, reduce stress and depressive symptoms, and provide pain relief".
Of course, spas have known this for a long time, which is why natural elements feature so prominently in spa design. The sound of running water, natural swimming pools, spaces that flow from inside spaces into the gardens, wood-clad walls, stone floors and more. These are all hallmarks of a modern spa, contributing to the sense of calm and connectivity with nature on a luxury level.
Visit Slieve Donard Resort and Spa, for example, and you will be treated to a space that reflects the majestic Mountains of Mourne outside, with the use of natural mountain granite. In the heart of London, at 1 Hotel Mayfair, you will find yourself enveloped into a sustainable sanctuary complete with living green walls and more than 1300 plants, trees and shrubs across the property. Meanwhile, at South Lodge in the South Downs, you will find a state-of-the-art spa set into the natural contours of the land, with a grass and sedum roof as well as green oak cladding, lots of natural light, and a wild swimming pond.
Natural light has a powerful impact on how we feel. It's something many of us notice when the winter months bring darker days and lower moods, increased lethargy, or even Seasonal affective disorder (SAD).
Most of us tend to be drawn to spaces with large windows for example, especially when it comes to spas. Meanwhile, in spaces where natural light is hard to come by, an enormous amount of investment also goes into designing lighting create or replicate the best quality of light in luxury environments and public spaces The US National Library of Medicine and National Institutes of Health writes:
“several studies suggest that both natural and artificial bright light, particularly in the morning, can improve significantly health outcomes such as depression, agitation, sleep, circadian rest-activity, and seasonal affective disorder.”
Destinations like Lifehouse Spa or the Glass House Retreat are beautiful examples of spa environments that really harness natural light for wellbeing, with large windows that flood interior spaces with the nurturing oscillations of the sun. Meanwhile, the likes of K West have invested in rooms like their Sun Meadow room in order to boost wellbeing through light during the winter months.
Much like light, colour can also have an impact on how we feel. It can influence our emotions, for example, and for that reason the likes of colour therapy, or chromotherapy, have become popular spa treatments over the years. For example, a 2023 research paper published in the Journal of Biotechnology & Bioinformatics Research, and titled 'Psychological Effects of Colour', writes:
"Colour makes an immediate visual impact and creates mood. Physicists, physiologists, psychologists and industrialists work with the visual and emotional effects of colours."
They note that yellow, the colour of the sun can lift the spirit (depending on the shade), while blue "suggests rest, repose, calm, dignity, serenity, passiveness and tranquility." This knowledge isn't just used in terms of spa treatments, but also in the way spa environments are decorated, from light, tranquil hues in some spaces to warm, nurturing colours in treatment rooms and relaxation areas designed for repose and a cocooning effect.
Sound is also an intrinsic part of design, especially in a spa, both in terms of the sounds that are encouraged and the ones that are minimised. The quality of sound is also essential - minimising background noise, echoing, and so forth, but optimising sounds of nature.
Studies show that high levels of unwanted noise can have a detrimental impact on our health in the long term, causing not only irritability and a lack of concentration, but stress levels that ultimately have a physical impact.
Harvard Medicine writes: "... noise pollution not only drives hearing loss, tinnitus, and hypersensitivity to sound, but can cause or exacerbate cardiovascular disease; type 2 diabetes; sleep disturbances; stress; mental health and cognition problems, including memory impairment and attention deficits; childhood learning delays; and low birth weight. Scientists are investigating other possible links, including to dementia."
On the other hand, positive sounds like those in nature (trickling streams, lapping waves, birds singing), can have therapeutic effects on our health.
Natural Resources Wales writes: "Studies have shown that listening to natural sounds alters our brain’s connections. It reduces our body's natural fight-or-flight instinct, helps to alleviate stress, lessens anxiety, and enhances our mental health and well-being."
When it comes to interior design, insulation, fabric walls, and acoustic materials like wood panelling are often used for ensure that unwanted noise is absorbed. On another note, positive sounds are used for therapeutic purposes. For example, s ound baths work on the basis that when our natural vibrations get out of tune, it is the root of illness, so instruments are used to change those vibrations and get the body back into its own vibrational state.
Bringing all these different elements together is not just about creating beautiful spaces to enjoy in spas, but to make sure that the spa environment in and of its own right is a restful, restorative space that supports wellbeing. At Spabreaks.com we're big fans of the power of simple 'being' in a spa environment, whether it's reading a book by the pool, taking a leisurely swim, or watching the natural world go by as you sip on your favourite smoothie.
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