Space Popular, the London duo known for their inventive use of colour, have created the interiors and furniture for a new spa in Bangkok.
This is the second spa Space Popular has designed for wellness brand Infinity: called Infinity Wellbeing, the day spa is on a side street off the capital’s busy Sukhumvit Road. Rather than a shiny white clinical execution, typical of some spa environments, Space Popular’s latest solution features mint green, light petroleum blue and copper elements, with white merely playing a supporting role as a backdrop.
Lara Lesmes, co-founder of Space Popular with Fredrik Hellberg, says of their approach to interiors: ‘objects such as furniture and fittings, become the key feature against a more muted background.’
At Infinity Wellbeing, the furniture is from the firm’s latest collection, called the Second Collection, which includes a lounge chair, bar stool, reclining chair with built in leg-rest, side table, and coffee table. Each one has a structure of thick green metal tubes, with chunky blue upholstery. Spa visitors first come across the furniture in the lobby, which is entered from a garden dense with foliage – a sharp contrast to the urban hustle beyond.
The three treatment rooms are all different, from pale pink terrazzo and a textured plaster surface for the wet area and steam room, to a dark blue massage area.
Lesmes and Hellberg – who had a show at the RIBA in London earlier this year - have combined sumptuous elements with more everyday touches, thereby drawing on Thailand’s market and street food culture. Hence the off-the-shelf packaging foam, which is used as a ceiling in some parts of the 500m2 space. Meanwhile, copper strips act as a delicate grid structure and light fixtures in the reception area. The aim – and effect – is one of tasteful tranquility. §
