bothersome fatback: Homes With Benefits

[image] Technogym

GOOD BALANCE: using Technogym?s Kinesis Personal Vision, ?8,980.

WELLNESS IS THE NEW FITNESS. Where busy people once carved out one week a year to visit a Thai spa, a weight-loss boot camp or a California yoga retreat, now they?re asking for the same benefits on tap in their own homes.

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David Grandorge

A De Matos Ryan designed bathroom

?People are bringing plants, water features and meditation spaces into their homes to emulate the spa experience,? says Susie Ellis, president of SpaFinder Wellness, a website that marries clients to one of 20,000 spas world-wide.

And while almost all professional spas sell products like oils and candles for home use, for many clients that?s not enough. They want to bring the spa design back home as well, including state-of-the-art baths, steam rooms and showers (with German bathroom-fittings company Dornbracht?s ?Horizontal Shower,? the first of which will appear in the Cafe Royal spa in London this September, you take your shower lying down on a warm bench), the same chaise longues that they sat on in their relaxation rooms (E15?s Theban is a good option, ?3,200), and the materials the designers used on the walls and floors. In some cases, they are employing the spa?s original designers to recreate the whole thing just for them.

Rituals play a central part. ?Wellness is about taking the time to put flowers in a vase, or filling the teapot in the morning rather than rushing out the door,? says Graham Doke, director of Anamaya, a day spa in Kensington that opened last year. ?Wellness is not about discipline but about giving yourself time for yourself. This is why most people come to spas in the first place, but then often go back to rushing around as soon as they get home.?

Edward Davies, an associate at hotel-design firm GA Design International, the creators of the 3,300-square-meter Espa Life at the Corinthia Hotel in London, is frequently asked to replicate the feeling of the spa at home. With this in mind, GA extended the spa?s d?cor?creamy and black Calacatta marble and Champagne lacquered walls, rather than the traditional clinical white?to the hotel?s seven luxury penthouse suites.

?In particular, it?s the entrances and the bathrooms that people want to emulate,? Mr. Davies says. ?When you walk into a spa you get the sense you are leaving the world behind. It should be the same when entering your house.?

Jos? Esteves de Matos, a director of De Matos Ryan Architects in London, agrees. ?People used to go to spas to get a sense of space, because their homes were small, but now they?re exporting the full experience into their homes,? he says. ?One client asked us to recreate the exact bedroom suite he stayed in at Cowley Manor [in the Cotswolds], with the bathtub against the window, with a view over a small reflective pool.? De Matos Ryan also designed the glass and timber Orchard Spa, which is part of the Lakes by YOO development, also in the Cotswolds. ?One client just called us up and asked us to make him a house [on the estate] that looks and feels just like the spa,? he says.

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Technogym

Technogym?s Kinesis Heritage, ?7,980

But it?s not all steam rooms and scented oils. Consumers are keen to recreate the tougher end of the spa/gym experience in their own homes, too. ?Wellness is the balance between body, mind and spirit, and is achieved through regular physical exercise, a healthy diet and positive mental attitude,? says Nerio Alessandri, founder of Technogym, an Italian company that produces high-end gym equipment.

Get That Spa Aah

Design guru Ilse Crawford gives us her tips for well-being in the home:

When designing a home, we need to think of how it affects us rather than the way it looks. Interior space can make us feel comfortable, grounded, responsive and aware. After all, a home is so much more than just a house.

The basics are lighting and flooring. Lighting should light how you live?not the building. I use a three-point plan: a basic level of ambient light, numerous task lights and emotional lights for atmosphere.

Floors should be made of a real material, such as stone or wood. The kind of thing that looks better over time. We are sensory creatures and it is the one thing we touch all the time.

Reconfigure space to your reality.If you are someone who takes the rituals of daily maintenance seriously, the bathroom deserves proper light and space. And storage is often overlooked. It is said that at least 15% of the overall square footage should be storage. Being able to find things easily and to organize oneself makes daily life much less frustrating.

?Edited from an email interview

To this end, Mr. Alessandri has employed big-name furniture designers like Antonio Citterio to create aesthetically pleasing fitness gear that can be used in any room in the house. Among them are the Kinesis Heritage, a virtually flat structure, similar in appearance to a set of wall bars, that is built into a wall and allows users to perform more than 200 resistance-based exercises in one square meter (?7,980, including delivery and installation); and Forma, a foldable treadmill (?2,950). The cardio equipment in his ?Personal Collection? is equipped with Visioweb, an integrated display offering Internet TV and iPhone connection?ideal for helping the arduous minutes fly by (from ?6,541).

[image] Milk Concept Boutique

Tatino Rest Pods from Milk Concept Boutique, ?265 each

And there?s no need to sweat away in the spare room?achieving fitness at home can simply be a matter of rethinking the way we use our space. In the living room, for example, those chunky BB Italia sofas can double as bench presses.

?What we know now about fitness is that we should be active all the time,? says Susie Rogers, founder of London spa Beauty Works West. ?I have developed a workout that can be done throughout the day,? she adds. ?When you?re on the phone, you do 20 squats. Every time you pick up the remote, you do four stretches. Evian bottles become light weights that sit by the sofa. The idea is never to sit still for more than 30 minutes without moving and stretching. Pilates beds can easily be stored under the bed.?

Ms. Ellis of SpaFinders says the idea of a tucked-away gym is outdated: ?Our barbells live in the living room near the sofa.?

Intercontinental Hotel Group?s

new Even chain of hotels?the first hotel is set to open early next year?will bring the gym into the hotel room. Closet rails double as pull-up bars and rugs are also yoga/Pilates mats.

Many designers are also taking the wellness theme seriously, creating products that enhance rather than clutter our homes. Luca Bomio, owner of Milk, a homeware store in London?s Shoreditch district, was visiting a spa on the Swiss-Italian border when he saw the Tatino ball seats designed by Enrico Baleri (from ?270).

?They?re based on the Swiss ball and are made with memory foam ideal for Pilates, but they also have these wonderful covers that can be changed,? he says. ?I use them for everything: working out, sitting, foot rests, dining chairs and we move them around the house. Wellness is not just about physical activity, it?s also about how a space looks.?

[image] Dornbracht