Perched on the city’s rugged coastline, architects Anu Puustinen and Ville Hara designed Löyly to resemble a rock formation on the shore. Sustainability and community are at the heart of this unique space – using only FSC-certified materials to create a unifying holistic environment for current and future generations.
Ziedlejas is a wellness resort rooted in the Latvian sauna tradition. With a secluded location in rural Latvia, it offers natural retreats away from the crowds. Two saunas have already been completed and a third is underway.
Number 1 or the ‘baltā pirts’ (white sauna) is a concrete structure built into the hillside to avoid interfering with the view from the guest cabins. It benefits from natural light and the proximity of the pond for jumping into. We used locally sourced natural materials like wood, herbs and linen to complete the interior.
The more primeval ‘melnā pirts’ (smoke sauna) is built from spruce and fittingly tucked into the woods. While the sauna buildings remain traditional in terms of their purpose, we made sure to enhance functionality and overall aesthetics from a contemporary design perspective.
In 2020 four corten steel and glass cabins opened to overnight guests. Tea houses by day and bedrooms by night, they are designed to be multifunctional. The glass front affords unspoilt views of the landscape. Thanks to the neighbouring herb patches, guests can literally pick and mix their own herbal tea blend.
This is a place to enjoy slowly. Open AD has been involved in the development since day one in partnership with the owners and Landshape landscape architecture firm.
Be Well delves into one of life’s greatest pleasures; a day spent rejuvenating the body and nourishing the spirit. Humans have practiced self-care for centuries—in the sweat lodges of the American Southwest, Roman baths, the hammams of the Ottoman Empire, Japanese onsens, and Finnish saunas. Today, a new interest in self-care is redefining how we accomplish wellness, and there have never been more options.
In our increasingly switched-on lives, a growing industry of highly choreographed experiences is geared to help us switch off. Be Well is a journey around the world’s most extraordinary spaces for achieving this, looking at the innovative practices they offer and how to carry them into everyday life.
Kari Molvar is a writer and editor focusing on wellness as seen through the lens of design, culture, and style. She is an online contributor to T: The New York Times Style Magazine and the founder of Rutine Matters. Her work appears in Vogue and The Wall Street Journal, among other titles.
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