Wellness Rooms

With health and fitness at the forefront of our search for a better life balance, it’s no wonder that clients are earmarking parts of their new homes (not to mention the budget) to dedicated spaces that will enhance not only their physical but also their spiritual wellbeing.  Where perhaps their lives are emotionally ‘noisy’ and their jobs are stressful, these dedicated spaces within the sanctuary of their home will bring calm and inner peace.

So what is ‘wellness’?  According to Pfizer, ‘Wellness is the act of practicing healthy habits on a daily basis to attain better physical and mental health outcomes, so that instead of just surviving, you’re thriving.’ With the 5 most accepted principles being physical, emotional, social, spiritual, and intellectual.  As one of London’s top interior design studios, we have the enviable opportunity of getting deeply involved in the design and implementation of areas and rooms that will help our clients build on this aesthetic.  It permits us to stay up to date with the most current trends allowing us to provide clients with a considered and detail focused design.

The most obvious wellness space is a fitness room or gym.  This room will usually house a combination of free weight options including barbells and dumbbells as well as mechanical equipment such as running machines and treadmills.  Although there is no formula, the layout is pretty straight forward.  Machines should face a mirror so that the exercisee can concentrate on their form; if they are lucky enough to have a gym with large windows overlooking the countryside, well that’s even better.  They can concentrate on form whilst having the countryside reflection as their view.  If you are lucky enough to have more space, then the world is your oyster.  You can add a pole dancing pole, a ceiling suspended boxing punch bag…the list is endless.

The ultimate wellness space design would also include some specialist ancillary rooms like a Bikram yoga room (heated)!  Think also sauna, steam room, Hammam, an ice room, a caldarium (for resting between the Sauna and the steam room), a massage room and beauty salon!  All of these spaces provide a small part of a bigger health regimen.  

The sauna originated in Scandinavia (probably Finland) and started out life as a hole in the ground with a centrally located fire and would have been used as homes in winter.  They have come a long way since then and now have electrically heated stones and scented timber interiors evoking the smells of the forest.  The trick of the sauna is the water!  Where dry temperatures could be too high for people to tolerate, the evaporated water (steam) regulates the humidity and allows the experience to be a lot more pleasant while still allowing you to perspire and expel the toxins in the body.  Anyone who has spent time in a steam room on the other hand, will immediately see benefits to the skin.  Moisture helps the skin to look refreshed and dewy in the short term, but the benefits don’t end there.  Moist heat may help relieve symptoms of colds and congestion (especially when combined with eucalyptus oil) and people with sore muscles often feel relief after sitting for a few minutes in a steam room.  Of course the ultimate wellness space will also include a therapy room where one can have a massage, have your hair done, have someone attend to your nails and any number of the more up to date therapies such as ‘light therapy’.