The wetland: the heart of the SPA, so much potential and a thousand opportunities.
By Paola Vighetto
In the SPAs, built or renovated in recent years, wonderful settings have been created, able to surprise customers with the increasingly sought after “wow effect”.
When the Architect succeeds in involving, telling a story and getting people excited, he has transferred much more of his imprinting and knowledge to the structure. This is why it is very important to collect the elements that make up the project: the area, the historical references and those of the territory, the motivations and family or business values, the target and the type of wellness experience you want to propose; the more aspects you provide, the greater will be the possibility of creating a defined identity and a recognised Brand.
In the design phase there are at least four particularly important actors: the Client / Owner / Entrepreneur, the Architect / Engineer / Designer, the Bursar / Administrative Contact and the SPA Manager / SPA Consultant.
The latter professional figure was, perhaps, the least present in a sector that has developed very quickly. In Italy this working role has not been well defined until now. There is not yet a training path that includes administrative, economic, technical, personnel management and marketing plan planning skills. In beauty schools, the SPA area and the wetland area are often not included in the study programme, especially with regard to logistics and the range of wellness courses that have been an integral part of it since the dawn of time. Moreover, this profile is sought after and included almost always when the work is completed.
Therefore, projects often lack a fundamental element, their fulcrum, the experiential and vital part: the daily practical work that is articulated in this environment. I am not only referring to the choice of a cosmetic house rather than another or the selection of equipment to be distributed in the various spaces. But precisely the “why” of a SPA, the vision and the mission, the type of service and menu of treatments (beauty, massages, rituals), the setting of the offer and the best way to communicate it, what we would like the customer to live in the hours he dedicates to our structure and what we would like the rest of this little wellness journey to take home.
In some cases architectural barriers are created that prevent the subsequent insertion of real rituals and the presence of SPA therapists. In this vein, probably also due to the lack of knowledge of the history and culture of the different types of saunas and Bains de Relax by those who commission a project, many SPAs have been built that have in common distinct areas and uses: a wetland with free access, a treatment area where the operator promotes massages, manual beauty treatments or with the help of the latest generation of machinery, and a fitness area.
And yet, throughout history, the world of water, saunas and steam baths has always been flanked by a set of rituals, ingredients and gestures. A space for enrichment and exchange with a considerable social value.
Some say that to be modern and innovative, one must know one’s roots very well. So why have spas become so beautiful, but without their beating heart? We leave the larger size (investment, operation and maintenance costs) for free use. A bit like a restaurant where the tables are beautifully laid and, instead of getting lost in a culinary experience, where we can savour every nuance of taste, discover new flavours and combinations, we find ourselves faced with a series of ingredients: our choices will mostly be guided by what we already know, which precludes new discoveries.
A wasted opportunity, where relaxation also becomes a bit repetitive and boring. Capacity, costs/revenues, routes … there are a thousand reasons. To be objective, the success of the SPA, however, is not in the customer who is looking for the best corner and the best light to immortalize himself in the perfect selfie. This too. But certainly part of the success is the customer who comes back, because he simply had a good time, because he discovered something new, because he lived a shared experience. Because, at home, he brought something of us.
In an aesthetics centre you deal more with physical problems with a critical eye. In a SPA we have the possibility to embrace a menu aimed at feeling good, beyond the usual canons and filters. A massage can turn into a multi-sensory tasting, where the skin receives precious nourishment, tensions are released, the environment is welcoming, the music is ideal, and the sense of smell is pleasantly stimulated by the intoxicating notes of a fragrance that takes us far away. The olfactory memory is the most powerful we have, and an emotionally positive imprinting, in a moment of conscious abandonment, will remain in the memory of the experience.
All the saunas, baths and pools, wet and dry paths are not a pre-packaged package for the guest. They are an opportunity, indeed many. With a little care, during the planning and realisation phase, it is possible to create a space that can be used either as a free path, guided or with the operator. Maintaining balance and privacy. And then everything takes shape. And the heart of the SPA begins to pulsate with a thousand experiences.
The sauna is enriched by the cold reaction with air spaces and continuously changing water wells. It also becomes a detoxifying preparation for mud baths, herbal and hay baths, thalassotherapy or salt treatments, to name a few. Or an audience of scenic Aufguss, steam throws, which transform the moment of relaxation also into entertainment and storytelling, as well as bringing the benefits of precious essential oils.
The steam cabins, as well as melting the muscles, opening the pores and the respiratory tract are transformed into a timeless space where, thanks to ancient rituals, the skin is deeply purified. All dead cells are eliminated and you find yourself in that magnificent feeling of feeling good with yourself and your skin. The magic of vapours, the Silk Road and the journeys from “La Mille e una Notte”, in a day dedicated to oneself.
In the calidarium (which, by mistake, we all too often call Turkish bath or hammam), also known as the room of silence, it is said that only the vapours have to move precisely because the temperature and water allow the release of all forms of tension and, while the black soap prepares the skin to eliminate all forms of oxidation, with almost imperceptible lightness, slowly, thoughts move away and the person finds himself again. Not even the starry sky must change in intensity or colour, so as not to move away and distract us from this deep breath. Powerful and fascinating synergies between water and fire, hot and cold, yin and yang, feminine and masculine.
The world of primordial elements, which we see and know little about. Able to caress our souls without us noticing it. And to regenerate ourselves, just when we need it most.
We go back to ancestral cults of beauty present in Persian, Egyptian, Greek and great Roman Empire cultures (from which the whole world salus per aquam comes from), rituals which, in some cases, were aimed at the search for eternity, of which we have forgotten and which, today, make us find again the infinite, the sense and the harmony at a time when we allow ourselves a break from our frenetic lives.
In this way the SPA no longer needs to duplicate the spaces in the cabins (doubling the cost of fittings and systems), it enhances its own peculiarities (different from an aesthetic centre), builds culture and curiosity, involves us in a multi-sensory pause where we lose the dimension of time and find ourselves in a new, reborn and renewed atmosphere.
Moreover, it allows the “soft” contact between guest and operator opening other possibilities, without ever becoming intrusive. Because the sauna, the Turkish bath, the hammam, the Russian banja, the ofuro and onsen lose their essence without their artful rituals and, equally, they need their natural crowning: the nourishment of the body and the skin with a massage with fragrant and precious oils, a specific treatment of the face or back, a ceremony for the beauty of the hands and feet. You will discover intoxicating scents, new gestures and textures of products that will accompany you, then, in your daily life, at home recalling the wonder of the sensations you feel. Waiting for the next SPA experience. Different and unique. Where emotion leaves room for feeling.
The pleasure of taking care of yourself. The confidence that they will take care of us.
@charmedorientitalia (Facebook e Instagram)
Paola Vighetto has been dealing with spaces, rituals and products related to the wet areas of spas for over twenty years.
Spa Manager, Spa Consultant and Event Spa Manager, Master of Sauna and Hammam has provided consultancy to various structures both in the design phase and in the renovation or organisation of the aforementioned areas.
She has trained the Spa staff of several hotels and facilities. She specialised in Turkish bath, hammam and Bains de Relaxation rituals. She is the director of Charme d’Orient Italia.