Shapehouse+

Shape House is an urban spa that promotes the ancient wellness practice of sweating as a way to "burn calories, deepend sleep, improve skin, lift moods, and change lives." Clients sweat in darkened rooms and then cool down in a "relax room", before heading back to work or home. The founder of Shape House joined forces with the developer of a "shower spa", a place to recharge and refresh. The spa houses not just showers but makeup stations and lockers for storing evening clothes, giving people who work in the city a place to change before going out.

Location:

Brooklyn, New York

Image Credit:

BAAO

The site is the second floor of a landmarked building in the Flatiron District. Clients enter via the reception area and retail space, which overlook 18th street through a full wall of windows. The spa area is accessed through the two locker rooms - in the form of curved enclosures separated by glass panels.

Cove lighting in the spa area and dimmable pendants in the sweat rooms provide soft illumination, with brighter recessed lighting inside the showers and locker rooms. Unlike the wet area floors, which are tiled, the sweating spaces and relax room are carpeted, for a gentle feel and calming acoustics.

Distinguished by the pitched roof of the Shape House logo, the largest sweat room projects from the thickened wall along the east side of the space. Showers line the west wall, with the curved volume of the relax room floating between the two zones. Sink areas and makeup stations are carved into the volumes, creating curved void spaces between the volumes. Customized Watermark plumbing fixtures provide color accents.

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Shapehouse+

Body Factory