Saunas are now in Vogue. The publication reported on the rise of the wellness trend sweeping the nation, from the Bathhouse in New York designed by Rockwell Group to the Good Hot in the Bay area designed and operated by disillusioned architecture graduates Cooper Rogers and Amy Louie. London’s Canary Wharf is getting its own spin on the trend with new wellness space, ARC. Operated by White Rabbit Projects, ARC focuses on contrast therapy and the benefits between moving from hot saunas to cold plunges. As wellness spaces continue to act as the new hot spot for socializing and an alternative to standard nightlife, CAKE Architecture brings this to life for ARC. Here club aesthetics riff on this burgeoning movement and ARC’s focus on contrast-based wellness.
“As a practice we’ve worked a lot on nightlife projects, so that’s a bit in our DNA,” said Hugh Scott Moncrieff, cofounder of the firm. Programmatically the facility required a communal area and change rooms, a 65-person sauna, and cold plunges. CAKE laid out the floorplan so each had its own distinct space within the linear footprint. Thus the facility, located below grade, opens with the almost courtyard-like communal area (which leaves space for a DJ to play) before giving way to the sauna and then the ice baths.
Read more about the wellness venue on aninteriormag.com.
