As a rule, spa treatments don't usually take place in barns. Then again, as a rule, farms aren’t usually in shops. In commissioning Something & Son (the brains behind Dalston’s hugely successful Farm:shop, complete with indoor allotments and a rooftop chicken coop) to design the new Barking Bathhouse in East London, art initiative Create probably wasn’t expecting luxury treatment rooms and champagne receptions.
Designed as a temporary retreat (from 13 July to 9 September) for the Olympics’ crowd and locals alike, the Barking Bathhouse will offer all the traditional relaxation services you might want, including saunas, massages and manicures. What sets it apart, however, is its rather industrial milieu.
The bathhouse will take the form of a series of prefabricated pods, inspired by the black-stained timber farm buildings of Essex and the wooden beach huts of Kent. The interior, meanwhile, echoes the no frills working men’s bathhouses of the 20th century, eschewing conventional spa opulence in favour of a laid-back haven in which people can meet and socialise, as well as enjoy some pampering.
Visitors to the Bathhouse - part bar, part spa - can enjoy cocktails or smoothies under a cucumber canopy before retreating to the relaxation space or the 'shingle dunes' to catch a few rays. The spa features natural products that are made from produce from local allotments. The sauna is found in the boiler room and the cold room uses a pioneering ‘dry ice’ chiller with northern lights.
With wellbeing at the heart of the bathhouse, a programme of feel-good events will run the duration, from laughter yoga and meditation classes to a workshop offering Photoshop makeovers, showing how media images of beauty are unattainable without the deft use of a mouse.
Catch this treat while you can - come September the pre-fab pod-based structure will be dissembled and relocated in playgrounds, youth centres and even the odd allotment.
The building will comprise pod-like prefabricated units, inspired by the black-stained timber farm buildings of Essex and the wooden beach huts of Kent
The spa will offer natural products, made from produce sourced from local allotments
Echoing the no frills working men’s bathhouses of the 20th century, the interior eschews conventional spa opulence in favour of a laid-back haven in which people can meet and socialise, as well as enjoy some pampering. Pictured is the Sand Dunes room, where visitors can catch some rays between treatments
The cold room will incorporate a pioneering ‘dry ice’ chiller and 'northern lights'
ADDRESS
Barking Bathhouse
Axe Street,
Barking & Dagenham, IG11 7LX
-
Inside Christian de Portzamparc’s showstopping House of Dior Beijing: ‘sculptural, structural, alive’Daven Wu travels to Beijing to discover Dior’s dramatic new store, a vast temple to fashion that translates haute couture into architectural form
-
A music player for the mindful, Sleevenote shuns streaming in favour of focused listeningDevised by musician Tom Vek, Sleevenote is a new music player that places artist intent and the lost art of record collecting at the forefront of the experience
-
Take a tour of the 'architectural kingdom' of JapanJapan's Seto Inland Sea offers some of the finest architecture in the country – we tour its rich selection of contemporary buildings by some of the industry's biggest names
-
How to elevate a rental with minimal interventions? Charu Gandhi has nailed it with her London homeFocus on key spaces, work with inherited details, and go big on colour and texture, says Gandhi, an interior designer set on beautifying her tired rental
-
The Stuff That Surrounds You: Inside the home of designer Michael AnastassiadesIn The Stuff That Surrounds You, Wallpaper* explores a life through objects. In this episode, we step inside one of the most considered homes we've ever seen, where Anastassiades test drives his own creations
-
Edra’s wintry marvel of a chair heralds the 2026 Winter GamesEdra unveils a new snow-white chair by Estudio Campana to mark the upcoming Winter Games, as part of its ‘Casa Italia’ showcase of Italian excellence for the event
-
Francis Sultana and Roberto Ruspoli’s Greco-Roman-inspired furniture feels fresh and contemporaryA new collection, launching at David Gill Gallery in London, presents furniture and decorative pieces inspired by Mediterranean villas, French art and Etruscan engraving
-
The new office of the Italian embassy in London is a love letter to the country’s creativityWallpaper* takes a peek inside Casa Italia, the new Italian embassy in London, designed by our long-time collaborator Nick Vinson
-
Sophie Smallhorn’s plywood tables for Uncommon Projects are colourful and modularThese modular tables by the artist and the plywood specialist play with colour for function, fun and flexibility
-
American vision meets British craft in Billy Cotton’s new collaboration with Soane BritainYes, there’s rattan, but the lauded New York designer also brought in brass, oak and more. ‘There’s a sort of alchemy to these materials,’ he says
-
A new coffee table book proves that one designer’s trash is another’s treasureThe Rizzoli tome, launching today (16 September 2025), delves into the philosophy and process of Retrouvius, a design studio reclaiming salvaged materials in weird and wonderful ways
