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Vessel Floats

Arnold Studio

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Comments
Innovation
Functionality
Creativity
Eco-Social Impact
Total
JURY VOTES
Wellness Space
7.09
8.27
6.91
5.45
6.93
Oliver Salway
Oliver Salway Founder at Softroom
There is an attractive simplicity t...
7
8
7
6
7
Sanxia Zhou
Sanxia Zhou Director at Sunshine PR and Frame China
The plan is well organized and the...
7
9
7
7
7.5
Tom Edington
Tom Edington Creative Director at YourStudio
The circular flow to customer journ...
6
9
6
5
6.5
Daisuke Nagatomo
Daisuke Nagatomo Assistant Professor at National Taiwan Normal University
The design addresses well the funct...
7
9
7
5
7
Elena Apiou
Elena Apiou Head of design at Adagio Aparthotels
Every design element serves the cen...
8
8
8
5
7.25
Cameron Fry
Cameron Fry Creative Director at Liqui Group
Great use of colour and texture wit...
7
8
9
5
7.25
Giulia Maria Moschen Bracho
Giulia Maria Moschen Bracho Trend Researcher | Futurist at Freelance
Space layout, material and colours...
8
10
8
6
8
Alia el Tanani
Alia el Tanani Founder at Living In Interiors & Don Tanani
8
8
6
6
7
Wiebe Boonstra
Wiebe Boonstra Art Director / Co Founder at DUM
This is not what I expect when I re...
6
8
6
5
6.25
William Lim
William Lim Managing Director at CL3 Architects Limited
7
6
6
5
6
Valérie Boerma
Valérie Boerma Founder at Barde vanVoltt
7
8
6
5
6.5
Comments
Innovation
Functionality
Creativity
Eco-Social Impact
Total
GRAND JURY VOTES
Shortlisted - Health Club of the Year
7.09
8.27
7.18
5.45
7
Hans J. Galutera
Hans J. Galutera Founder and CEO at HG DesignWorks LLC
There is a wonderful rhythm and rep...
7.09
8.27
7.88
5.45
7.17
Tina Norden
Tina Norden Partner at Conran and Partners
7.09
8.27
6.91
5.45
6.93
Michelle Wilkie
Michelle Wilkie Design Director at tp bennett
7.09
8.27
6.91
5.45
6.93
George Foussias
George Foussias Director of Interior Design at Lemay
7.09
8.27
6.91
5.45
6.93
Bill Bouchey
Bill Bouchey Principal - Director of Design Interiors at HOK
Simple flow in the planning diagram...
7.09
8.27
7.31
5.45
7.03
Client
Vessel Floats
Floor area
190 ㎡
Completion
2020
Brand Identity
Photographer

Arnold Studio has designed a mindfulness-oriented spa for Vessel Floats in Brooklyn that takes an innovative approach to sensory deprivation and float therapy. The space contains a guest reception, pre- and post-float lounges, and 6 walk-in isolation tanks. The architecture focuses on transition between states of environmental stimulus to prepare the guest for isolation. Moving through the space there is a structured, peeling away, of external light and sound, followed by the gradual introduction of varied, focused, sensory stimuli. The sequence of spaces is conceived as a circular path in which the float room marks the midpoint. Guests move from the pre-float lounge through an entry hall, carved into the surrounding walls and clad in dark gray corrugated felt, a natural material used for its sound absorbing properties. This is the access point to the increasingly darker linear main hall from which the float rooms are entered. The sole feature in this space is a massive, ceiling mounted gold mirror ringed by a low-level light, intended to alter visitors’ visual perception and blur the room’s physical boundaries. The flotation rooms are intimate spaces entirely clad in cleaved slate stone, as if entering a rockpool. The natural striations of the stone impart a subtle touch sensation and visual texture which is enhanced by the singular nature of the material’s use. Upon leaving the float room a second hall, similarly clad in felt, accesses a vanity room and bathroom where the walls and ceilings are finished in a dark royal blue, creating an enveloping color bath. Finally, guests emerge into the post-float lounge. Here, built-in upholstered seating, circumscribed by vertical oak batons, is carved into the interior walls and works in opposition to the overhead expression of the corrugated felt that extends from, and visually connects, the hallways at opposing ends of the storefront space. The concentration of natural, sustainable materials throughout the space emphasizes the elemental process of floating, which returns the mind and body to the most basic state of being.