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Infinity Spa
Space Popular’s design for a new type of day spa in central Bangkok.
Location
Type
Year
Status
SPOPeople
Client
Photographs
Bangkok - Thailand
Interior Design, Furniture Design, Branding
2016
Completed
Lara Lesmes, Fredrik Hellberg, Jariyaporn Prachasartta, Tachapol Tanaboonchai, Suthata Jiranuntarat, Kanyaphorn Kaewprasert, Kornkamon Kaewprasert
René Anant Feddersen, Benji Attiwatt Pearce
Reception desk in the lobby.
Housed within two standard Bangkok shophouses (the most common type of construction in the city), Infinity Spa is an exercise on object versus background. The thai shophouse typology consist of a 5 meter wide, 10 meter deep, 4 storey terraced building, with the ground floor featuring a double-height void with a mezzanine. These concrete shells all share the same layout, sizes, proportions and materials; being the most generic spatial typology in the city where all kinds of programs are stuffed. Besides the practical issues that this typology poses, experientially the aim was to visually eliminate the concrete shell with the use of few materials: paint, light and textiles; and concentrate the attention on the nearly 20 custom-designed furniture pieces that would communicate purpose in an otherwise muted space.
With a few exceptions in the entrance lobby, all floors are painted white, as are all walls and ceilings behind the layers of backlit foam and fabric. All these surfaces form a neutral glowing backdrop, an abstract interior without a single opening to the outside where the curtain is the only signifier of the outdoors; making boundaries of this white concrete box ambiguous and giving it a sense of ethereality. What started as a technical environmental necessity (absolute light and temperature control for the spa treatments) became the driving experiential feature.
Over 20 individual pieces of furniture ranging from massage beds to display cabinets were designed as part of Space Popular's "First Collection" for Infinity Spa Bangkok.
The lack of architectural features lets the eye travel from object to object undistracted. These objects (furniture pieces) are in extreme contrast with the background: whilst the space is monochrome, white, soft and textured, the objects feature a high saturation polychromy with smooth materials such as metal, marble and leather. Each piece serves a very different purpose: from accommodating all the different positions of a particular massage treatment to holding a specific nail polish bottle; but all of them constitute a collective identity through their forms and colours, constructing the identity of the space whilst addressing very important and distinct issues of comfort and ergonomics. Space Popular designed also the graphic profile of the spa, delivering a complete brand identity for this new spa concept envisioned together with the client. All parts together build up to a fully embodied and immersive experience and, with the emphasis placed on objects, the space as a character becomes detachable from its location.
Reception desk in the lobby
View from main door into the main lobby and the mezzanine.
Lounge Chairs in the Lobby
Ceiling in the double height lobby
Bar in the lobby
View across the lobby
Ground Floor and Mezzanine - Reception, Lobby, Bar, Toilets and foot washing stations.
Second Floor - Nail lab and Private treatment rooms
Third Floor - Private treatment rooms
Ceiling above the lobby as seen from the mezzanine with display cabinets and hanging lights visible.
The two stories tall shelf seen on the mezzanine where it serves as a bench for the foot washing station.
Third Floor
Second Floor
Ground Floor
Custom made massage bed in one of the private treatment rooms
Display cabinet on the mezzanine integrated into the bespoke railing.
View towards the private manicure and pedicure rooms on the second floor.
Steel display unit for nail bottles attached to the central column on the second floor.
Three of the private rooms on the second floor.
Marble top and eliminating surface of the storage cabinets on the second floor.
Staircase from the second to third floor.
Waiting area by foot washing station.
Hand washing basins on the mezzanine
Map and logo for Infinity Spa designed by Space Popular.
Foot washing station with seats in the grand shelf.
View of the mezzanine from the stairs with the grand shelf in the foreground.
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