The Wellness Lounge is a provocative response to the tropical spa archetype found throughout urban Singapore. Challenging ideals of natural beauty, the Wellness Lounge is an urbane beauty realm offering futuristic technology for rejuvenation, weight management and surgical intervention. It employs the iconography of futurism as presented in the 1960’s cult film 2001: A Space Odyssey, combined with bourgeois icons of elegance and beauty, to create a realm of ‘Kubrick Baroque’.

Devoid of wild and natural qualities associated with most alternative treatments in Singapore’s mainstream spas, the synthetic realm focuses on elegant use of materials such as cut crystal, French lace and Baroque furniture set in stark contrast against the backdrop of a sleek white laboratory. The Wellness Lounge evokes the future of beauty as a pure and perfect realm of light, a promising prelude to the beauty treatment itself.

The neutral, white-on-white theme and juxtaposition of transparency and reflection in materials heighten awareness of the self. The design prompts its audience to be aware of what defines beauty and wellness; the ‘perfection’ of the look of their place of treatment reflects the ‘perfect’ treatment results they hope for.

There are four main areas: Reception, Treatment, Changing and Relaxation Lounge. A luminous reception area is defined by a floating marble counter. This dramatic facade engages with the public passage during working hours. The waiting lounge and consultation rooms are defined by diaphanous screens made of French lace silk-screened onto glass, tulle, leather and a gold moiré fabric embedded in a resin panel. Treatment rooms are fitted with customized light, temperature and music systems concealed behind a ceiling panel that protects the client from direct light and air-conditioning. Individual changing and bath areas offer luxurious intimacy.

The relaxation lounge is fitted with LED lights that transform the otherwise white granite void with chromatic therapeutic light. The colour of the space changes from magenta to fuchsia, indigo and chartreuse in a cycle set to each client’s period of stay.