With interview to Mr. Daniele Cantoni
Baia SPA - Emotional routes
Article taken from Wellness Design magazine N. 01
Perfectly set in one of the quietest bays of the Adriatic coast, overlooking the sea, “Baia SPA” was recently opened inside the “Baia Flaminia spa & Resort”.
Going down a few steps on the sea level, you can glimpse the reception, which brings through the elegant spa designed and made by Spa-Concept. Passing by the reception you immediately find the beauty area with 5 boxes for treatments like massages “among the waves” on the SPA table “Zero1” and relaxing floating rests inside “Nuvola” tub. Going on we get to the dressing rooms; walking through an emotional route we’ll then reach the heart of the SPA where you can enjoy a marble “Turkish bath” with vaults and columns, single and semicircle seatings, planes and volumes which immediately remind the typical “gobektasi” of the Turkish hammam.
In the same area we can also find 3 showers (one of them with mint dew) and another half moon “emotional route” (that is also the logo of the spa) with two Summer storms and an area with side jets, both with gradual change of the temperature. Along the side we can find a wide an unique sauna, with staggered seatings and two walls entirely made of slate, the same material the big hexagonal heater in the middle of the room is made of; a long and tight window in the middle of the wall allows to see a section of the whole spa, like the tepidarium, the relax area, the pool (bay) till even glimpsing the outside.
The wet area finally includes a reactivating route with temperate jets and river stones for plantar massage, an ice pool which is great for a local kneipp effect and a particular marble tepidarium that is lightly warmed up by water and made of two, comfortable, double chaise longue. Going on along the natural spa route we cross a double relax area, with marine wood floor and a near room for infusions; this area (that brings to the bay) is surrounded by big glass walls and offers a relaxing sequence of seating hydromassages and reactivating underwater routes.
From the pictures we note that the Turkish bath and the sauna are two particular areas; can you describe them?
Going inside the Turkish bath you get the impression to be surrounded by a typical oriental setting thanks to details like the big bench in “gobek tasi” style where you can comfortably lay down, the vault with a semicircle seating where the natural protection of a big column allows to enjoy the steam without annoyances and a small waterfall which reflects particular lights on the ceiling. The original and evocative effect of this area is further underlined by the marble used for the pools and the covers. About the sauna we followed a project we nicely called “a species evolution” as we used a notoriously “hot” area to create a strong contrast between the usual and classic wood supremacy and two “cold” walls of slate; the result is a new and dynamic effect which breaks the usual image of the mountain hut we can see even inside the most modern and essential spaces.
Which are the main devices you must follow to make a project with these targets?
The striking views must be planned and intentionally created at the beginning of the project; a focal point is not something to decorate a random corner but a wanted route that brings to an unexpected view creating emotions.
Can you do a practical example?
To get the view a customer can currently enjoy while comfortably sitting in the sauna of the “Baiaspa”, we had to subordinate the project of the whole area in order to get a hallway running along the spa and overlooking the glass walls of the pool (this is the only outside view); we had to foresee the exact middle way of the window and of the four settings the view would have crossed before installing. As always we tried to imagine the 3D route a customer could have run and chose the best internal and external views. For example for the best external views we also foresee, when that’s possible, to insert a particular plant or a water game in order to turn the simple outlook you can see through a hallway into focal point.
Spa-Concept has always paid a lot of attention to both, inside and outside views, also in the previous projects; would you like to talk about them?
Yes, looking for the “focal points” inside the spa is almost an obsesssion for us and we love to create spaces and services allowing people to range and get excited through the view.
Would you please explain more?
A hallway can remind the “dreary” view of a hospital or a striking sunset you can see through a crack in a canyon; what I mean is that we always try to create this last sensation and where it’s possible we also use to add a surprise element. In this case, for the sauna of the “Baiaspa”, a particular, vertical “light cut” passes through a window that is as high as the area per about 30 cm. width; in this way we created an unexpected and striking focal point allowing to see a section of the spa all over its length. After fixing the economic guidelines we must follow to give the businessman the warranty of a good result, our main target is then creating an area that is able to move whoever runs it. Exalting some views, together with sounds and aromas must create a unique setting allowing people to start a treatment with a relaxed spirit and ready for any experience.
