Interest in how built environments can affect our health and wellbeing has become a major topic of discussion globally, especially as lockdown has seen people spending more time indoors. And wellness architecture is an upcoming trend in the spa industry.
To further this field’s progress, two leading wellness organisations recently kicked off separate initiatives to investigate how wellness design and architecture can improve human health, wellbeing and performance.
Thermal resort operator Therme Group and COGITO – the epistemology research centre at the University of Glasgow, UK – were the first to announce their Dimensions of Wellbeing project which will run over the next five years.
The organisations wish to develop a novel, multi-dimensional theory of wellbeing, grounded in both philosophical and psychological research. Part of this will involve cutting-edge research into environmental psychology to investigate how wellbeing can be generated in the built environment through factors including room shapes, seating arrangements and light.
Therme will use the findings to enhance the customer experience at its facilities across the world.
Wellness real estate firm Delos, the company behind the Well Living Lab (WLL), has also expanded its reach in the field of wellness design by launching its first international outpost in Beijing.
The WLL is a controlled and simulated indoor environment that mimics office environments and residential living spaces with a view to researching how they impact our health.
The new site in Asia has been designed by Superimpose Architecture and its goal is to further the studies already conducted at the original WLL which Delos launched in collaboration with the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota, USA, in 2014.
The lab researches, develops and tests both new and existing innovations designed to improve the health and wellbeing of individuals as they live and work within human-made structures.
Since its launch, the WLL has made the following discoveries:
• Access to daylight and views in an office improve cognitive performance and satisfaction
• Sound, light and temperature affect employees in an office environment
• Office lighting impacts cognitive performance and sleep.
Future studies will look into how indoor air pollution affects the body and mind and whether relaxation spaces incorporating elements of nature can help reduce burnout in healthcare professionals.
Findings from both Therme and WLL’s initiatives have the potential to inform future spa design and operation as they uncover best-practice behind creating environments built to enhance human health and wellbeing.
Read more from this issue of Spa Business magazine
View contents of Spa Business 2021 issue 3
Editor's letter: All about the people
With global staff shortages threatening to stall economic recovery, it’s time to reboot our commitment to driving improvements in pay and working conditions across the spa and wellness industry
Spa people: Dr Mark Hyman
Dr Mark Hyman MD believes functional medicine has the power to be life-changing in the health and wellbeing of patients.
New opening: Six Senses Shaharut
Six Senses has opened the doors to its new 60-key retreat in Israel’s southern Negev Desert, complete with a 1,900sq m, two-level spa and wellness sanctuary
New opening: QC NY
A 74,000sq ft Italian day spa has opened on New York’s Governors Island after a US$50m investment and seven years of planning, building and restoration.
Interview: Kenneth Ryan
We talk to the global head of spa at Marriott International about navigating the global lockdown, re-imagining the company's brand portfolio and what it will take to succeed post-COVID-19
Sponsored: Time out
Answering a growing demand
for non-invasive, anti-ageing skin
care, Comfort Zone is relaunching
its Sublime Skin line with a new
filler-like natural formula that
reverses cellular degeneration
Research: Total impact
Latest ISPA report considers the economic fallout of the pandemic and the spa industry's road to recovery
Sponsored: Gharieni Group
CEO Sammy Gharieni talks about his relentless drive
to deliver innovative products to underpin operators’ success
Analysis: Role model
What business models are showing the most potential in the wellness industry? Lyndsay Madden Nadeau shares her insights
Interview: Lorenzo Giannuzzi
The hospitality veteran dreamed of reinventing an historic Italian palazzo as a world-class medical spa. Lisa Starr went to find out more
Sponsored: TechnoAlpin
Snow rooms are creating a ‘wow’ factor for customers,
while reducing operating costs in the delivery of hot and cold
experiences
Interview: Gloria Caulfield
The executive director of Lake Nona wellness community talks about tapping into the latest tech to create healthy living environments
Software: Revenue management
How software suppliers have been supporting spas to get savvy with yield management since the pandemic began
Promotion: Iyashi Dôme
Iyashi Dôme’s touchless infrared tech is the perfect investment for the post-lockdown world, says Florent Cornelis
In the fast-paced world of fitness and wellness, where high-intensity workouts push us to
our limits and the sweat pours, the importance of efficient recovery cannot be overstated. [more...]
In today’s premium spa environment, every detail shapes the guest experience – right down to
the softness of towels and the freshness of linens. [more...]
Interest in how built environments can affect our health and wellbeing has become a major topic of discussion globally, especially as lockdown has seen people spending more time indoors. And wellness architecture is an upcoming trend in the spa industry.
To further this field’s progress, two leading wellness organisations recently kicked off separate initiatives to investigate how wellness design and architecture can improve human health, wellbeing and performance.
Thermal resort operator Therme Group and COGITO – the epistemology research centre at the University of Glasgow, UK – were the first to announce their Dimensions of Wellbeing project which will run over the next five years.
The organisations wish to develop a novel, multi-dimensional theory of wellbeing, grounded in both philosophical and psychological research. Part of this will involve cutting-edge research into environmental psychology to investigate how wellbeing can be generated in the built environment through factors including room shapes, seating arrangements and light.
Therme will use the findings to enhance the customer experience at its facilities across the world.
Wellness real estate firm Delos, the company behind the Well Living Lab (WLL), has also expanded its reach in the field of wellness design by launching its first international outpost in Beijing.
The WLL is a controlled and simulated indoor environment that mimics office environments and residential living spaces with a view to researching how they impact our health.
The new site in Asia has been designed by Superimpose Architecture and its goal is to further the studies already conducted at the original WLL which Delos launched in collaboration with the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota, USA, in 2014.
The lab researches, develops and tests both new and existing innovations designed to improve the health and wellbeing of individuals as they live and work within human-made structures.
Since its launch, the WLL has made the following discoveries:
• Access to daylight and views in an office improve cognitive performance and satisfaction
• Sound, light and temperature affect employees in an office environment
• Office lighting impacts cognitive performance and sleep.
Future studies will look into how indoor air pollution affects the body and mind and whether relaxation spaces incorporating elements of nature can help reduce burnout in healthcare professionals.
Findings from both Therme and WLL’s initiatives have the potential to inform future spa design and operation as they uncover best-practice behind creating environments built to enhance human health and wellbeing.
Read more from this issue of Spa Business magazine
View contents of Spa Business 2021 issue 3
Editor's letter: All about the people
With global staff shortages threatening to stall economic recovery, it’s time to reboot our commitment to driving improvements in pay and working conditions across the spa and wellness industry
Spa people: Dr Mark Hyman
Dr Mark Hyman MD believes functional medicine has the power to be life-changing in the health and wellbeing of patients.
New opening: Six Senses Shaharut
Six Senses has opened the doors to its new 60-key retreat in Israel’s southern Negev Desert, complete with a 1,900sq m, two-level spa and wellness sanctuary
New opening: QC NY
A 74,000sq ft Italian day spa has opened on New York’s Governors Island after a US$50m investment and seven years of planning, building and restoration.
Interview: Kenneth Ryan
We talk to the global head of spa at Marriott International about navigating the global lockdown, re-imagining the company's brand portfolio and what it will take to succeed post-COVID-19
Sponsored: Time out
Answering a growing demand
for non-invasive, anti-ageing skin
care, Comfort Zone is relaunching
its Sublime Skin line with a new
filler-like natural formula that
reverses cellular degeneration
Research: Total impact
Latest ISPA report considers the economic fallout of the pandemic and the spa industry's road to recovery
Sponsored: Gharieni Group
CEO Sammy Gharieni talks about his relentless drive
to deliver innovative products to underpin operators’ success
Analysis: Role model
What business models are showing the most potential in the wellness industry? Lyndsay Madden Nadeau shares her insights
Interview: Lorenzo Giannuzzi
The hospitality veteran dreamed of reinventing an historic Italian palazzo as a world-class medical spa. Lisa Starr went to find out more
Sponsored: TechnoAlpin
Snow rooms are creating a ‘wow’ factor for customers,
while reducing operating costs in the delivery of hot and cold
experiences
Interview: Gloria Caulfield
The executive director of Lake Nona wellness community talks about tapping into the latest tech to create healthy living environments
Software: Revenue management
How software suppliers have been supporting spas to get savvy with yield management since the pandemic began
Promotion: Iyashi Dôme
Iyashi Dôme’s touchless infrared tech is the perfect investment for the post-lockdown world, says Florent Cornelis
Four Seasons Resort The Nam Hai in Hoi An, Vietnam, has put together a Global Wellness Day
(GWD) agenda with activations rooted in nature and shaped by four pillars of Joy – in
alignment with the day’s theme #JoyMagenta.
The Global Wellness Summit (GWS) will celebrate its 20th anniversary at the 2026 event in
Phuket, Thailand, later this year with the theme: The Science, Art and Soul of Wellness.
Auko, an all-inclusive development, is opening in Phong Nha in Vietnam in Q3 2026, with a
series of 30 tented eco-lodges and wellness hospitality operations by Lumina Wellbeing.
Therme Manchester’s 28-acre development, which will include interconnected glass pavilions
that measure 65,000sq m, will be the largest bathing and wellbeing attraction in the world once
complete, according to prof David Russell, CEO of Therme UK.
Naples Beach Club, a Four Seasons Resort, has opened a 2,800sq m spa called The Sanctuary,
with the design and concept inspired by the Native American people that populated Florida’s
Southwest coast – the Calusa.
Swire Hotels’ luxury hospitality brand Upper House has revealed it will roll out its two-day
House of Healing retreats at its three hotels in Hong Kong, Chengdu and Shanghai.
LVMH-owned beauty house Guerlain will launch up to five spas with partners a year as part of
its plan to expand globally, according to the brand’s international spa and wellness director,
Diane Davody.
A new global study by Kevin Kelly and Peter Yesawich, called WELLSurvey 2.0, has revealed
more than half of consumers in the UK, US and Germany would not choose numerous high-
profile wellness resort brands for a future trip.
Luxury hospitality and wellness pioneer Jeremy McCarthy has launched Leisure Alchemy, a
digital platform that will provide professionals with strategic guidance on how to build
transformational leisure experiences that drive profit.
In the fast-paced world of fitness and wellness, where high-intensity workouts push us to
our limits and the sweat pours, the importance of efficient recovery cannot be overstated. [more...]
In today’s premium spa environment, every detail shapes the guest experience – right down to
the softness of towels and the freshness of linens. [more...]
