Cold and Wellness

We speak to two leading companies about how their cutting-edge cold therapies enhance modern Spas.

1. Provide a brief description of your company.

Art of Cryo: L&R Kältetechnik, the company behind the brand “Art of Cryo” develops, produces, installs and services its purely electricity driven high-performance cryo-chambers since more than 30 years. The 2020 launched brand “Art of Cryo” stands for a long history with own refrigeration, own control cabinet construction and PLC programming under one roof in Germany, combined with modern design luxuries appeal.

We offer a full range of whole-body cryotherapy solutions ranging from single Vaultz to vario Vaultz to unical Vaultz.

Single Vaultz are mono room solutions, ideal for private users and smaller operators. Vario Vaultz are the professional multi-room solutions with real -110 °C.

Unical Vaultz are the bespoke solutions for superyachts, horse performance or simply the first walk through and worlds biggest cryo chamber capable to treat a whole soccer team at a time.
We introduced years ago with our exclusive software partner individualized treatment time recommendations for each guest, depending on gender, age, BMI, skin type and other factors and optimized the whole process of customer onboarding together.

TechnoAlpin Indoor: TechnoAlpin Indoor specialises in the creation of indoor snowy environments, designed to enhance the cold experience in an innovative and engaging way. Whether enhancing contrast therapy circuits in spas and wellness centres or adding a scenic, design-led touch to hospitality venues, each project is tailor-made to bring the magic of real snow indoors.
Multisensory snow experiences enrich the client journey, offering a natural cooling phase after saunas or intense workouts – reinvigorating both body and mind.
From design through to the installation of SNOWROOM and SNOWSKY products, TechnoAlpin Indoor delivers reliable, immersive, and long-lasting solutions, transforming any space into a captivating wellness environment.

2. Your core business is cold therapy. What are the therapeutic benefits of this treatment?

Art of Cryo: History: Whole body cryotherapy was used in the beginning only in the medical field and started to path its way into top class sports also for rehabilitation only in the end of the 1990ies. It is said that inflammation can be reduced, you may get a nerval re-set, have effects on balancing mood, pushout of endorphins and many more systemic reactions. In the medical field main indications targeted by doctors and physicians are chronical pains and rheumatism, as well as rehabilitation of musculoskeletal issues. On top there come many other indications from auto immune disease to sleep disorders. This is only for medical providers and professionals using WBC as a supportive treatment within wider protocols – we are not a medical provider. In sports WBC is used to support rehab, optimize sleep, manage pains, as a natural doping in regards of endurance to optimize training and to recover quicker — but let’s talk lifestyle.

An immediate effect of WBC in a Vaultz is a cool head and sharp mind. Everybody wants to look fresh, enhance daily performance, optimize sleep, feel better and enjoy an preventive lifestyle resulting in longevity promoting a longer health span.

TechnoAlpin Indoor: TechnoAlpin Indoor’s real snow solutions harness the benefits of contrast therapy to support health and wellbeing in a natural, multisensory way. Exposure to dry cold and compact, dry snow – with a temperature difference of up to 100°C between the sauna and SNOWROOM – triggers an immediate physiological response: blood circulation is stimulated, the immune system is strengthened, and both physical and mental regeneration processes are activated. Benefits include deep relaxation, improved sleep quality, detoxification, vascular training, boosted metabolism, and reduced inflammation.

Cold exposure also supports mental wellbeing by improving stress resilience and relieving muscular and joint pain. Snow thus becomes the centrepiece of an accessible, enjoyable, and inclusive wellness experience.

3. Cold is often used in contrast therapy to balance activities or treatments that promote body heat. How do you address, in terms of development and production, the interaction of other synergistic factors?

Art of Cryo: Nice question. Contrast therapy is practiced since thousands of years and getting a real trend again. In Roman times frigidarium was used after calidarium, during the last decades cold plunge after finish sauna, today CWI combined with infrared sauna. I call this wet contrast therapy.
To offer contrast therapy within the M.C.S. we combine DTW (deep tissue warmth) with AES (air evacuation system) to reduce sweating during the treatment and being prepared for cryo afterwards.
As we wanted to offer more innovation, increase effects and save time to customers and operators, we added several other treatment levels.
BAM (booster activation module) for a passive workout training and warming up your muscles even more. QCA (quality charged air) also known as air vitamins or negative charged air ions in a super high concentration 15.6 Mio/m². FIS (fragrance injection system) for a unique olfactory experience with up to three fragrances per session. LC (light cocktails) including a performance red, a collagen red, as well as an activating and calming green and blue light.

4. What are the advantages of incorporating cold creation technologies into modern Spas?

Art of Cryo: Whole body cryotherapy has more than 40 years of history with a long track record of being an effective treatment in countless fields, that even has the potential to generate effects that are lasting over months when applied in a serial way.
Warmth exchange with the human body applying wet treatments is mainly via conduction, contrary to WBC where it is mainly convection and radiation!
As the name suggests, whole body cryotherapy includes the whole body with neck and face, says the stimulus of nerval endings is beside the protected areas complete.
The temperature delta at a room temperature of 20 °C is with WBC at real -110 °C logically 130 Kelvin. Says a difference which can not be reached by cold water, snow, wind chill of -40 °C blowing on you and many other forms of cold appliance.
Advantages of incorporating whole body cryotherapy in a spa, are as versatile as spas can be, as one can work in many different directions. Treatment can be beauty oriented, be combined with aesthetic offers, fits perfectly in a medical spa, enriches the offer of sports or leisure-oriented operators and is a perfect match looking into performance, prevention or with modern wording longevity.
Main features that fit everywhere, is to optimize what hotels are selling in the end – sleep. Reduce effects of Jet-lag, help to disconnect easier with a cool head, elevate the mood, have a unique experience together. To talk about specific features would go beyond the scope of this blog post.

TechnoAlpin Indoor: TechnoAlpin: Integrating cold technologies into modern spas is key to delivering complete experiences aligned with current wellness trends. Cooling down after a sauna or physical activity is essential to restore balance, stimulate circulation, aid muscle recovery, and support the immune system. Today, themes such as physical and mental regeneration, biohacking, and longevity are driving the development of spas with a focus on scientific and personalised wellness. Globally, there is increasing interest in “cool-cations” and cold-based experiences within wellness settings. Cold solutions – whether dry or humid – have become essential elements in contrast therapy circuits and modern treatment journeys, helping to create a distinctive, effective offering that meets evolving health and recovery needs.

5. How do the technologies you offer contribute to the development of innovative Spa environments?

Art of Cryo: M.C.S. product line is one of a kind, disruptive in the way how different treatment levels are combined, including twelve different treatment target areas. From active unical experience tunnels to relaxing two or four seaters.
Vaultz is all about real room temperatures and luxuries spaces big enough to stretch and mobilize. Design elements by Antonio Capristo®. Via our software partner individualized treatment time recommendations and the first to have breathwork integrated in vario Vaultz.
Flow System and Flow System Carbon Collection with ADFT – Alternating Deep Flow Technology© offering up to six treatment targets each with five treatment levels, some of them code protected only for well-trained customers or after twenty treatment sessions of passive training.
TSM (Tec-Spa Module) all three products form a circle together offer up to 16 treatment levels in less than 21 minutes net treatment time – says final customer can do a circuit after a initial check-in within half an hour.

TechnoAlpin Indoor: TechnoAlpin Indoor’s real snow solutions offer an effective and enjoyable alternative for incorporating cold into the wellness journey. Snow makes the cooling phase more accessible, turning what is often perceived as the least appealing part of contrast therapy into a gentle, natural, and revitalising experience. It is a technology that does not require one-to-one treatments, making it ideal for spas facing staffing shortages. Beyond its physiological benefits – such as immune system support, improved circulation, deep relaxation, and enhanced sleep – snow also offers emotional and sensory value.
As a natural and design-led feature, it integrates seamlessly with biophilic design principles, helping to distinguish wellness spaces. Snow also creates a sociable, interactive experience, making wellness enjoyable and memorable.

6. The therapeutic effects of cold therapy, particularly its natural analgesic and anti-inflammatory properties, are widely recognised. How does the development of your systems and technologies change when applied in a medical Spa setting?

Art of Cryo: This before said, we do not produce medical devices.

Wherever the Vaultz are used by our customers in a hospital, rehabilitation centre, by a physician, an aesthetic clinic, beauty provider, hotel spa, a cryo, performance or longevity centre, we deliver exactly the same reliable dry cold in our Vaultz. Our philosophy is to offer REAL ROOM TEMPERTURES with a REGULATED STABLE AIR FLOW. We do not offer wind-chill! Why? We want to offer repeatable experiences, which can only be given if you have the same comfortable dry cold environment with every session you do.
Our software partner can only recommend a first treatment time based on personal values, if the conditions on product side are the same.
Another point is, did you ever think about that real temperature vs. perceived temperatures via wind chill may be of importance not only by nerval signalling, comfort and temperature delta itself, but also by change of air pressure and density.
In a medical spa setting we’d always recommend using vario Vaultz or unical Vaultz with real -110 °C and at least one pre-room before entering in the treatment room.

TechnoAlpin Indoor: In medical spas, our real snow solutions – such as SNOWROOM and SNOWSKY – remain technologically unchanged, but their use is adapted to the therapeutic context. Integration is tailored to the operator’s concept and the specific treatment objectives. In some cases, snow is included as part of targeted therapy protocols, such as for muscle recovery or pain management. In this context, the value of snow goes beyond general wellness – it becomes a core element of a structured therapeutic offering, with a clearly measurable return on investment (ROI). Effective integration depends on the operator’s vision and their ability to design a treatment pathway in which snow delivers therapeutic, experiential, and economic value.

7. How do you incorporate energy efficiency and sustainability into your products?

Art of Cryo: The very first electric cryo chamber we installed more than 30 years ago – it is still running! There is virtually none off due to technical reasons in all that time and more than thousand installations later.
We have the most efficient systems comparing energy input to performance output.
We offer for our Vaultz a heat recovery system which we prepare at our cold machine, so customer can connect and use the “waste” heat. We have 100 % efficiency at a water outlet temperature of 38 °C, ideal to warm-up pool water, beside most energy is provided when cooling down before opening the spa and then during operation hours which makes it very attractive.
In the Art of Cryo Lab at our headquarters waste heat is used to support heating of the building including the Lab, training facilities and offices. This works very well with modern heating systems that do not require too high operating temperatures.

Video opening door of V3 in Art of Cryo Lab

TechnoAlpin Indoor: TechnoAlpin invests continuously in optimising its snow production systems with a focus on resource efficiency. Our technologies are designed to minimise consumption: the SNOWSKY uses just 11 litres of water per hour – the equivalent of a one-minute shower – while the SNOWROOM, thanks to patented nozzle technology, produces a high volume of snow using only 200 litres of water per week. Up to 80% of the energy used for cooling can be recovered and repurposed, for example to heat a swimming pool. We also use high-performance insulating materials to minimise thermal loss and reduce energy waste. Even the interior design is sustainability-driven: modular components allow for internal updates to the SNOWROOM without dismantling the unit, making refurbishments simpler and extending the product’s lifecycle in a responsible and efficient way.

8. From an economic standpoint, what is the return on investment for your products?

Art of Cryo: On the one hand the main cost drivers are rent and/or staff, on the other hand price and number of treatments. Successful customers using our TSM make with a small set-up the break-even after 6 to 12 months, with bigger set-ups between 12 to 24 months.

9. Which geographical regions show the most interest in your products, and which customer segments are most responsive to them?

Art of Cryo: We work worldwide and our customers are as versatile as the benefits one can expect.

TechnoAlpin Indoor: Our market has no geographical boundaries – we collaborate on projects across the globe, catering to an exclusive, high-end clientele. Our solutions are especially popular in premium settings such as spas, thermal centres, luxury hotels, and prestigious private residences. However, snow is also gaining traction in alternative sectors. In retail, for instance, it offers an authentic environment for product testing or enhances brand storytelling. In the leisure industry, its evocative quality and “fun factor” help create immersive guest experiences. Within hospitality, snow is emerging as a natural, design-forward feature – immersive and multisensory – enhancing interiors and offering not just wellness but also a strong emotional impact.

10. What developments or innovations do you believe could further revolutionise the cryotherapy experience in Spas, and how are you preparing to meet these new demands?

Art of Cryo: The first revolution with the TSM already takes place, this is combining treatments and reducing the time to be invested by the operator (remember staff cost) and especially the final users. Final users have it easy to integrate twice a week thirty minutes for a TSM-Circle and whenever time allows to amplify with other services of our customers.

Mega set-up TSM with unical Vaultz V12 and unical M.C.S. Experience Tunnel for 12

TechnoAlpin Indoor: The integration of structured wellness pathways is becoming increasingly central to the spa and thermal sector, enabling the creation of complete, transformative guest experiences. TechnoAlpin Indoor is evolving alongside this trend, offering bespoke consultancy services to design tailored experiential journeys. We do more than supply a product – we work closely with clients to understand their specific needs and develop the most suitable solutions for integrating snow into the wellness concept. Our approach also encompasses complementary elements beyond our own technologies, offering guidance on how best to combine features such as water, heat, and relaxation areas. Our aim is to create a coherent, multisensory, and innovative experience in which cryotherapy is not an isolated feature, but a key component of an advanced and personalised wellness offering.