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How to design a super-prime spa

If you are going to take the plunge and include a spa in your new scheme, make sure you thoroughlyunderstand the target audience and do it properly, says Sheila McCusker…

A recent project in Belgravia

With December and all its indulgent delights now behind us, January can spell a month of detoxification for many. In abid to reverse the excesses of the festive season, more determined individuals are likely engaged in programmesinvolving abstinence and exercise; while others might take a more holistic approach and relax, revitalise andrecharge in the comfort of a hotel or day spa.

In the prime and super-prime residential sector, there is undoubted convenience in having these spa facilities onsite.It’s increasingly common to find super-prime homes – be these apartments or houses – equipped with private spafacilities, while communal amenity space within many prime residential developments will often include a variety ofleisure facilities.

Private clubs, six star hotels and mansion-like yachts can dictate requirements

This isn’t to say the spa concept is anything new. Communal spas date back to Greek and Roman times. The Greeks

began bathing regimens around 1500 BC, providing the foundations for our spa procedures today. Fast forward to20th century London when the English have finally grasped apartment living and both Highpoint in Highgate,designed by Lubetkin in the 1930s, and Dolphin Square in Pimlico, completed in 1937, contain purpose-built leisurefacilities including swimming pools.

In the context of prime and super-prime residential developments, spas typically refer to leisure facilities that includea wet area – such as a sauna, steam room or pool – and other facilities used for relaxation, fitness or treatments. Aswimming pool isn’t a given; depending on the availability of space and the needs of the client, spa facilities may ormay not include one.

The private clubs, six star hotels and mansion-like yachts that often surround high net worth individuals can dictaterequirements for their homes. And at the very top end of the London residential scale, spa facilities mirror those of thewider luxury products and services sector. Though of course, requirements will differ between prime residentialspaces at the entry-level – around £1,000 per square foot in London – and the super-prime pinnacle above £5,000per square foot.

At prime residential level, a spa is seen as a sought-after luxury and a desirable place to spend time and as such, isa way for developers to turn less valuable basement floor space into a commodity and improve the overall value of adevelopment. But at the top end, super-prime purchasers won’t necessarily think and feel the same way as primepurchasers. When making the decision to incorporate a spa into any super-prime residential development, it is criticalto thoroughly understand the target audience.

There is an upper limit to fees at all sale price points within the prime and super-prime market

Profiling the buyer is important and a good property agent will usually be able to offer invaluable insight regardingpurchasers’ decision-making and behaviour.

Aside from prospective client needs, the value of a multi-unit development will also determine the calibre of spafacilities. Running costs, which are passed on to residents in the form of management fees, are also an importantconsideration as there is an upper limit to such fees at all sale price points within the prime and super-primeresidential market.

St John’s Wood

Furthermore, spa facilities in a multi-unit prime or super-prime development will differ from those of a single privatehouse. The nature of facilities comes down to available space as well as the type of buyer – who may have severalhomes and as a result spend only limited periods of time at the property in question, all the while regarding a spa asa must-have facility within a property. And within larger super-prime developments at the top of the market,apartments may be equipped with, or buyers may demand, private spa facilities rather than shared facilities.

International trends in spa design can be easily translated to the residential market in London, where the private spasof super-prime residential properties will, on a smaller scale, match the best designs and fit-outs of resort anddestination spas around the world. Equally, shared residential spa facilities can be highly functional and flexible inorder to accommodate a range of activities and users and ensure maximum experience per square metre, whileremaining, like their super-prime counterparts, inspirational places of wellbeing.

Possibly the most perennial of spa design trends is the use of stimuli to engage the senses – for example, with thesound of running water, the smell of scented oils and the feel of tactile materials underfoot – which collectively createa calming, otherworldly environment.

Salt inhalation rooms are a relatively new trend and may soon be appearing in residentialdevelopments

Other international trends, less common in the UK, include such therapies as holistic cocooning, flotation tanks andsalt inhalation rooms. Holistic cocooning is a treatment that stimulates four senses through light, sound and physicaltouch, while flotation tanks allow the user a light-free, soundproof environment in which to float, relax and clear themind. Salt inhalation rooms are a relatively new trend and may soon be appearing in residential developments. Thewalls and ceilings of a room are salt-coated and grains are often scattered a few inches deep on the floor. Users relax

in a chair or on a bed and breathe in tiny salt particles said to be therapeutic and helpful to skin conditions as well asrespiratory ailments.

Spa trends will fall in and out of fashion and treatments may change to reflect seasons, but the core design and décorof spa facilities will remains constant, so it is important that these spaces are well considered and fitted out to thehighest standard.

Ultimately the question of whether to include a spa within a prime or super-prime residential development isdetermined by how important it is to the sales process. Do the buyers you are targeting want the facilities? Will theyuse them and value them? Is there simply an expectation that there will be spa facilities? Our view is that, even wherethere are questions over whether a spa is completely necessary, if you are going to include one, it must be doneproperly.

A recent project for a client in South Kensington

And finally, whatever the rigors of your preferred post-Christmas detox programme and whatever the nature of yourpreferred spa facilities may be – make sure you make time for a happy 2014!

Sheila McCusker is a Founding Director of MSMR Architectsmsmrarchitects.co.uk