With interview to Mr. Daniele Cantoni
Where the wellness become luxury
Wellness Design N. 28
While guiding us inside the new Toi Même Beaute&SPA in Monza (one of the most elegant Spa in Europe) Mr. Daniele Cantoni, who is among the most popular wellness designer in Italy, says “when we talk about wellness the images say more than the words”.
One thousand square meters of wellness and relax developed on 3 levels. “the SPA” – Mr. Cantoni says – “ is hosted inside the great background of the ancient Frette spinningmill, in the heart of the town, on the Lambro shores, very close to the Park and in front of the Grazie Vecchie sanctuary, which are all places that grant the necessary privacy for a really exclusive facility.
The idea was born one evening, in front of a glass of wine, form Mrs. Samantha and Stefania Generoni’s (the owners) and friends’ wish to satisfy the undeniable desire of wellbeing also in their own town; the premises reply perfectly to this wish , following the rules of the bio-architecture, based on opposing ancient and modern materials and on innovative plants choices.
We visit the SPA together with Mr. Daniele Cantoni, who designed and created it with his company “Spa-Concept”. In the low ground you can find a big reception lobby furnished with comfortable eco-leather sofas and overlooking the showcase of the most prestigious boutiques and jewelries of the town; passing by a bar and a restaurant where all the proposals are inspired by a natural and dietary cooking, we get to the first floor just to visit l’lle Toi Même, the kingdom of the relax and waters.
Can you help us to describe this SPA?
Inside the facility we can find plants entirely made of handmade marble like sauna, tepidarium, Turkish bath, chaise lounges, hydromassages, emotional showers, ice falls all in the hot colours of beige and cacao. A wonderful double hammam allows to enjoy a savonage according to the most traditional Moroccan techniques, with Aleppo soap and a raw linen glove. The guests, comfortably sit on the other heated sites which are discreetly spread in the relax area, enjoy a unique welcome experience: a soft wash of the feet with water, lime and mint together with a massage to start the purification course. The wide internal pool was called Relais d’eau and it is the main site where the sweet Reve d’eau takes place: a relaxing journey till the borders of the time, offering the chance to experience in a totally new way the healing energies of the water, thanks to the qualified operators who are able to carry out massages and joints treatments in a painless and easy way.
Any further feature of Toi Même?
There are 8 suites and two of them are the VIP ones; they are bigger and inside them you can enjoy face, body and hair treatments but also get small intervention of aesthetics medicine. You can count on a highly qualified staff, who is able to propose innovative treatments coming from the previous techniques of aesthetic medicine internationally approved.
You can trust the expert hands of operators performing treatments for any aim: firming, moisturizing, cleansing, soothing, nutritious, toning up, slimming, revitalizing. Graduated and professional people like sport trainers and therapists follow the customers in the steps of the remise en form, from the starting and compulsory check-up till the study of a customized route. A small fitness room to be used by single persons or couples is available for the assisted fitness and equipped with the latest machines.
Concerning the treatments, instead, I can suggest to try the Cleopatra ritual: a scrub with salts and aromatic oils followed by the traditional milk bath for a perfectly hydrated skin. A wonderful garden with elegant pink furniture, the Dehor, is finally available outside and it is also very close to the Monza real park, so that you can enjoy the special atmosphere of a Summer evening beyond walking, jogging and riding on the mountain bike always together with a personal trainer.
Lights and materials: two main aspects of the project. Would you like to talk about them?
For this SPA we’ve always installed the lights in the walls and in the floor; only a spot light for the ice fall is installed in the ceiling. All these lights are rigorously in white and amber colours. For the hammam and the steam bath, instead, the light comes exclusively from the lights that are dipped inside water. An advanced, technological system lets us get striking and contrasting effects of light giving the idea of suspension between virtual and non virtual reality. To revive a hallway we designed and made a sequence of cones made of burnished metal that “grow up” from the floor to collect the water while lighting the way through immersed lights which create some “wave” reflection on the ceiling. This is the result of a careful hydraulic study to allow the water overflowing the top of the cone to slide in the reverse slope and to disappear at the base without falling on the floor.
About the materials we can say that for the hydromassage sites and the hammam we used an African marble cacao coloured in order to match the ivory colour of the floor; beyond the colour, this marble has a particular velvet touch. Another original work is that one of the floor of the sauna, made of concentric slices that extend till the big, semicircular, heated bench. Despite the structure follows the shape of a long and tight rectangle, the set of this round works gives the sensation to access a wide space. Also the steam bath is very particular, being made of two built-in falls pouring water in a pool where customers can dunk their legs while comfortably sitting on the main bench.
