Veronica Schreibeis Smith, Vera Iconica Architecture
/ photo: Dan Krauss Photography
What’s been your biggest life lesson? Learning that design is about people. It’s about the experience the brick creates rather than the brick itself. It’s also about the journey of taking an initial vision that has no shape or form and collaborating with the bigger team – co-creators are crucial – to manifest the project in a way that will have a meaningful impact on people’s lives. This is no small feat and where the joy lies!
What do you still hope to accomplish? We’re expanding the solutions we offer by launching two sister companies that empower people to live optimally.
Vera Iconica Developments will build wellness real estate that creates environments for communities to thrive.
The second company, Vera Iconica Wellness Kitchen®, has reimagined the design and use of kitchens to bring higher nutritional value and mindfulness rituals into daily life.
These companies along with our architecture and interior design firm can operate independently and be vertically integrated to fuel healthier, more conscious behaviours that enhance our quality of life.
What innovations can we expect in the future? Pods and kits, such as a row of saunas, cryotherapy or hyperbaric chambers, which can be personalised according to medical history and biometric data.
What do you wish had been invented? An anti-ageing serum … that works.
What trends are impacting our industry? A search for healthy entertainment which leaves you feeling happier with increased vitality.
How do you hope the industry will look in 2050? We all know we need to exercise. The US Center for Disease Control states that current medical science shows 150 minutes of moderate-intensity physical activity and two days of muscle-strengthening activity result in physical health. In 2050, such general knowledge and advice from expert institutions will give us similar guidelines for self-care in spa-like environments.
What radical changes can you imagine? Focused on connections to the natural world and with a blatant disdain for the superficial and mass-produced, consumers will be free-range humans, wilding communities and urban scapes and adding a ‘Spabucks’ on every corner.
Birthday message to Spa Business
"Spa Business is my navigational beacon, allowing me to keep my finger on the pulse of the industry"
More from spa industry leaders...
In celebration of Spa Business’ 20th anniversary, industry leaders take a look at how far the sector has come since the magazine’s inception in 2003, share personal career highlights and reveal their plans and ideas for the future.
Read more from this issue of Spa Business magazine
View contents of Spa Business 2023 issue 3
Editor's letter: Reflection point
As Spa Business celebrates its 20th birthday, Katie Barnes pauses for thought and rejoices in the industry’s evolution
Spa People: 20th anniversary issue: Anna Bjurstam
The strategic senior advisor at Six Senses and Raison d'Etre on being initiated as a shaman, why psychedelics are here to stay and her bigger fear for the global spa industry
Promotion: Klafs: Relax into wellbeing
Klafs and Studio F. A. Porsche have combined their design and wellness expertise to create an oasis for total-body relaxation
News report: Eastern promise
Japan’s spa industry is valued at US$4.2 billion and is part of the world's third highest-performing wellness economy
Jeremy McCarthy: Theory of evolution
From spa to wellness and now leisure – Spa Business’ contributing editor looks at where hospitality experiences are heading
Promotion: Lemi: Built to last
Lemi is committed to leading with innovation to create
cutting-edge treatment room solutions that excel
in terms of performance and eco-credentials
Promotion: G.M. COLLIN: Collagen pioneers
GM Collin’s expertise in collagen research and product formulation has resulted in the creation of a new serum that combats age-related skin degeneration
Promotion: Comfort Zone: A brighter future
Consumers are increasingly interested in reducing dark spots and hyperpigmentation and a new line from Comfort Zone has been launched to address this emerging need
Promotion: Art of Cryo: Life changing experience
Vikki and Robbie are often exhausted after work. A visit to the spa to experience
the Art of Cryo Tech-Spa Module is a chance to re-set and rejuvenate together
The Spa Life UK Convention returns from 21–23 June 2026 at Whittlebury Park Hotel, Spa &
Golf Resort, bringing together spa managers, directors and owners for two days of focused
education, meaningful connection and commercial insight. [more...]
Le Atelier by C.O.D.E. doesn't offer a standard bespoke service, it provides a highly
customised approach to designing massage beds and loungers in high-end wellness
environments. [more...]
Veronica Schreibeis Smith, Vera Iconica Architecture
/ photo: Dan Krauss Photography
What’s been your biggest life lesson? Learning that design is about people. It’s about the experience the brick creates rather than the brick itself. It’s also about the journey of taking an initial vision that has no shape or form and collaborating with the bigger team – co-creators are crucial – to manifest the project in a way that will have a meaningful impact on people’s lives. This is no small feat and where the joy lies!
What do you still hope to accomplish? We’re expanding the solutions we offer by launching two sister companies that empower people to live optimally.
Vera Iconica Developments will build wellness real estate that creates environments for communities to thrive.
The second company, Vera Iconica Wellness Kitchen®, has reimagined the design and use of kitchens to bring higher nutritional value and mindfulness rituals into daily life.
These companies along with our architecture and interior design firm can operate independently and be vertically integrated to fuel healthier, more conscious behaviours that enhance our quality of life.
What innovations can we expect in the future? Pods and kits, such as a row of saunas, cryotherapy or hyperbaric chambers, which can be personalised according to medical history and biometric data.
What do you wish had been invented? An anti-ageing serum … that works.
What trends are impacting our industry? A search for healthy entertainment which leaves you feeling happier with increased vitality.
How do you hope the industry will look in 2050? We all know we need to exercise. The US Center for Disease Control states that current medical science shows 150 minutes of moderate-intensity physical activity and two days of muscle-strengthening activity result in physical health. In 2050, such general knowledge and advice from expert institutions will give us similar guidelines for self-care in spa-like environments.
What radical changes can you imagine? Focused on connections to the natural world and with a blatant disdain for the superficial and mass-produced, consumers will be free-range humans, wilding communities and urban scapes and adding a ‘Spabucks’ on every corner.
Birthday message to Spa Business
"Spa Business is my navigational beacon, allowing me to keep my finger on the pulse of the industry"
More from spa industry leaders...
In celebration of Spa Business’ 20th anniversary, industry leaders take a look at how far the sector has come since the magazine’s inception in 2003, share personal career highlights and reveal their plans and ideas for the future.
Read more from this issue of Spa Business magazine
View contents of Spa Business 2023 issue 3
Editor's letter: Reflection point
As Spa Business celebrates its 20th birthday, Katie Barnes pauses for thought and rejoices in the industry’s evolution
Spa People: 20th anniversary issue: Anna Bjurstam
The strategic senior advisor at Six Senses and Raison d'Etre on being initiated as a shaman, why psychedelics are here to stay and her bigger fear for the global spa industry
Promotion: Klafs: Relax into wellbeing
Klafs and Studio F. A. Porsche have combined their design and wellness expertise to create an oasis for total-body relaxation
News report: Eastern promise
Japan’s spa industry is valued at US$4.2 billion and is part of the world's third highest-performing wellness economy
Jeremy McCarthy: Theory of evolution
From spa to wellness and now leisure – Spa Business’ contributing editor looks at where hospitality experiences are heading
Promotion: Lemi: Built to last
Lemi is committed to leading with innovation to create
cutting-edge treatment room solutions that excel
in terms of performance and eco-credentials
Promotion: G.M. COLLIN: Collagen pioneers
GM Collin’s expertise in collagen research and product formulation has resulted in the creation of a new serum that combats age-related skin degeneration
Promotion: Comfort Zone: A brighter future
Consumers are increasingly interested in reducing dark spots and hyperpigmentation and a new line from Comfort Zone has been launched to address this emerging need
Promotion: Art of Cryo: Life changing experience
Vikki and Robbie are often exhausted after work. A visit to the spa to experience
the Art of Cryo Tech-Spa Module is a chance to re-set and rejuvenate together
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.
The Spa Life UK Convention returns from 21–23 June 2026 at Whittlebury Park Hotel, Spa &
Golf Resort, bringing together spa managers, directors and owners for two days of focused
education, meaningful connection and commercial insight. [more...]
Le Atelier by C.O.D.E. doesn't offer a standard bespoke service, it provides a highly
customised approach to designing massage beds and loungers in high-end wellness
environments. [more...]
