Gold Interior Space and Exhibition Design · 2021
Thermal Spring Hotel
by Yohei Akao
- A' Design Award 2021 Gold Winner in Interior Space and Exhibition Design
- Awarded April 15, 2021
- CLIENT: Strickland
- Estimated Number of Design Views: 27,675
- Verification code 3DC4953E34 · Verify this award
About Thermal Spring Hotel
Thermal Spring is a hot spring bathing facility on the first basement level of a hotel in Kyoto, Japan. The interior covers 469 square meters, including the entrance and the corridor, and uses natural hot water that rises from the site. The design is inspired by the geology of Kyoto, by the spiritual traditions of the city and by the memory of the land. Garden stones found on the site were reshaped and reused for stone sculpture and flooring. A clay wall in deep indigo recalls the local dyeing culture, while a granite wall with a natural surface suggests underground water veins.
Strickland's Thermal Spring Hotel emerges as an exemplary work within the contemporary wellness architecture movement, demonstrating how spatial design can orchestrate profound phenomenological experiences through the masterful integration of geological materiality, water elements, and carefully calibrated illumination, the work participates in a lineage of spa and bathing architecture that extends from ancient Roman thermae through Ottoman hammams to the celebrated twentieth-century thermal facilities, yet transcends mere historical reference through its distinctly contemporary sensibility that honors raw natural material while deploying sophisticated technological interventions, the compositional achievement lies in the delicate equilibrium established between organic irregularity embodied in the rough stone formations and precise architectural geometry expressed through linear lighting elements and reflective planar surfaces, the chromatic strategy demonstrates considerable refinement in its deployment of predominantly cool neutral values that evoke subterranean mineral environments while strategic warm accents create focal points and suggest thermal comfort appropriate to the wellness function, the water surface serves not merely as amenity but as compositional device, its perfect reflectivity doubling the visual field and creating contemplative symmetries that invite meditative engagement, the cascading water feature introduces kinetic energy and acoustic dimension to what might otherwise present as a static tableau, technical accomplishment manifests in the seamless integration of contemporary lighting technology within an environment that evokes geological timescales, the concealed sources producing effects that appear almost natural in their gradation while clearly serving programmatic and atmospheric functions, thematically the work explores tensions between human intervention and natural formation, between constructed luxury and primordial shelter, between contemporary comfort and elemental encounter, inviting consideration of how architecture might facilitate reconnection with fundamental natural phenomena in an increasingly mediated world, what might it mean to descend into the earth in search of renewal and emerge transformed by water, stone, and shadow
Press Kit
- Unique Properties
- This Thermal Spring is located in B1 at Hotel The Mitsui Kyoto in Japan. Being located in Kyoto, which has a deep history and culture in Japan, and being located in front of Nijo castle, which is valuable historical heritage that has looked at Japan's long history elevate the value even more. Utilizing the natural hot springs that spring up from this site and the design derived by scenic beauty of Kyoto also produce the luxury space in the basement floor.
- Dimensions & Packaging
- Total area of Thermal Spring including the entrance and corridor is 469 square meters.
The basement 1 has also other facilities, Spa treatment and fitness area. - Tags
- hotel, wellness, luxury, hospitality, Spa, relaxing,
- Production Technology
- ・ Modify the scenic stones on this land and reuse them for stone sculpture and floor stone.
・ A clay wall that expresses water using the indigo dyeing culture of Kyoto
・ Granite wall with natural skin inspired by groundwater veins - Design Challenge
- Realizing a space that combines a sacred atmosphere and geology was the most challenging content.
The story of how to reach the final destination, the thermal spring, is not artificial, and maintaining the most natural state for the guest,
and the material is like designing the air, not the shape.
The design was completed by paying close attention to the selection of the material and the level of light. - Project Duration
- The project has started in 2017 and finished in November 2020, located in Kyoto, Japan.
- Operation Flow
- Arriving at basement, you will encounter a stone object that has been here for a long time. The sound of dripping water and the very underground water vein surrounded by the bedrock are followed by a deep indigo plastered clay wall. Beyond that, there is a corridor where you can feel the continuity of Shiraki, and when you proceed, you will arrive at the reception. And when passing through the changing room, a thermal spring just like a water garden spreads out in front of you.
- Research
- In design, researching on the "location" and "history" of its land is very important. What happened in this place, what was happening in this place?
The town of Kyoto, in front of Nijo Castle, a World Heritage Site, the residence that was the root of the client. Gradually narrowing the scope of research, we carefully narrowed down the appropriate way of land. Ultimately, it should be the only space with a story that can only be expressed in this land. - Inspiration
- The facility is inspired by three cores. The first is "geology of Kyoto". The underground of Kyoto is a water basin that stores abundant water, and we have got the inspiration by the groundwater veins covered with rocks 1000 meters underground. The second is "spirituality of Kyoto". There are many sacred temples and shrines in Kyoto. We have been inspired by the spiritual experience of water, light and sound that can be obtained there. The final "memory of this land" is the value of revisiting the original scenery stones (garden stones) of this land and placing them in this facility again.
- Image Credits
- Photographer Yoshio Shiratori
- Patents
- copyright @ STRICKLAND
Colors of Thermal Spring Hotel
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