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The 13-foot, tear-shaped electric motor boat can accommodate up to five adults in its jacuzzi seating and comes with a gas-powered, ambience-enhancing fireplace. It’s self-cleaning, self-heating, and can cruise for up to five hours on heavily regulated bodies of water.

With its electric engine, the Spacruzzi is a more eco-friendly watercraft option. “Unlike most power boats on the water, our all-electric propulsion and our patent protected electric and propane heating system do not put pollutants into the air or water,” Kanwetz said in a statement.

While it’s not designed to go far, it is simple to operate, and users can always swap out extra batteries for longer fun. “The boat will not travel more than four or four and a half miles per hour,” notes Kanwetz. “It’s about getting to a space, getting comfortable, and just sitting there. If you’ve never driven a boat, you’re an expert after about 30 seconds.”

The company, which manufactures all its Spacruzzis in its Nevada and Montana facilities, uses a patent-pending UV and saltwater filtration system to circulate and clean water throughout the boat, and an onboard gas fireplace to keep the soaking temperature perfectly pleasant. A ladder connected to the back of the fiberglass hull makes it easy to take a dip in the lake when passengers are ready to cool off.

The floating hot tub’s popularity has been explosive ever since its release. Speaking to a Lake Tahoe news outlet in June, Kanwetz said: “We expected to build a hundred boats this year.” But after a 41-day soft-site opening, the company had completely sold out.

“Since we launched, we’ve seen immediate growth in both our rental and direct-to-consumer sales ,and this is continuing to grow,” Kanwetz said in a separate statement. “As you begin to see more rental operations popping up, we expect the awareness of the product to grow on the national level as more people see that this isn’t just a novelty item, but an experience that can’t be matched on the water.”

At just 1,200 pounds, the Spacruzzi is relatively easy to transport. “We have customers putting these boats on a trailer, along with a generator, and taking them to auto races, concerts, you name it,” Kanwetz adds. The vessel’s onboard heater even converts the local lake into a year-round leisure option. “You’re in the lake, it’s snowing. It’s gentile. It’s a mind-blowing experience. It’s really, really cool.”

Spacruzzis sell for about $50,000 and can be ordered on the company website. They’re available for both rental fleet and individual owner options. Buyers can customize the decking, paint, metal, and wood finishes. Further add-ons include shade towers, floating drink caddies, underwater lights, and trailers. Just be ready to wait a little while for yours, since the company says the construction-to-delivery process can take up to 120 days.

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The Hotel Hubertus is set at the foot of a popular ski and hiking area called Kronplatz in Valdaora’s Puster Valley. “Hub of Huts” gazes out at this serene landscape from a high vantage point, its series of glass-walled structures collectively forming a “zen-like refuge” for the wellness-oriented hotel. It’s located on the southeast side of the complex, at the edge of a glass-bottomed and cantilevered pool noa* added to the hotel six years ago. The beautiful 82-foot-long water feature has since become the hotel’s star attraction, so the architects used it for inspiration when designing the Hub of Huts.

Architect and noa* founder Lukas Rungger explains that the firm thought about all the activities swimmers tend to do in the pool, like standing, sitting, floating horizontally, and diving upside-down. “Each of these positions have a different horizon, and from this interplay of perspectives, the idea of the project came to life.”

Emulating a small village, the huts contain showers, changing rooms, and additional pools on the upper side of the platform. Below, in the volumes that appear inverted, even more pools can be found, along with saunas, showers, and a foyer. The architects also hid a water purification system for the pools and tiered seating for the saunas within the upside-down gables. The warmth of the saunas and protection of the platform overhead make these spaces feel sheltered and almost subterranean despite their elevated position.

The aesthetic of the huts mimics those of the Hubertus Pool and the rest of the Hotel Hubertus, which was extensively renovated by noa* in 2016. In addition to adding 16 new suites, a new kitchen with restaurants, a wine cellar, and fitness and relaxation rooms, the firm created a new facade from native larch tree trunks. This rhythmic, undulating exterior connects the hotel’s old and new volumes and gives them a visual cohesiveness. The same debarked larch trunks are used as pillars for both the cantilevered swimming pool and the Hub of Huts.

The architects add that “the new pool, which imposingly rests in-between the two accommodation wings, seems like a floating rock, come to rest at the site, overlooking the valley. The hidden edges of the pool, kept in anthracite-colored stone, abolish the gap between pool and landscape, creating the impression of the water flowing into nothing, disappearing between pool and landscape. The pool metaphorically reminds [one] of a mountain lake, nestled into the astonishing mountainscape of the UNESCO World Heritage site, the Dolomites…”

Network of Architects is known for its spectacular and imaginative architectural creations, particularly in the areas of hospitality and cultural institutions. Also located in South Tyrol, its AEON hotel uses dramatic color contrasts and ultra-high ceilings to set a contemplative mood. The firm has also recently created a striking “floating” library for Milan based on the Tree of Knowledge, and a modular building system used as the basis for a sustainable community center.

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Originally built in 1937, the Knubben Harbor Bath in Arendal, Norway was a community destination spot for aquatic recreation, with a children’s pool and a 33-foot-tall diving platform. It was a center for swimming instruction and diving competitions until 1947. After making a brief comeback in the 1960s as a jazz club, much of the bath structure was demolished in the 1980s after falling into disrepair.

To celebrate the 300th anniversary of the town of Arendal, the harbor bath is being reimagined once again, this time by Norwegian architecture firm Snøhetta. To keep the functionalism and “modernist spirit” of the former pavilion (designed by architect Ketil Ugland), Snøhetta has designed a multi-use edifice, including an expanded island in a minimalist style.

“In returning the traditional harbor bath to its original glory, we realized that the volumetric response had to speak a different architectural language to honor the proud history of the 1930s bath,” Snøhetta project manager Marius Hauland Næss says in an interview with Dezeen. “As such, the concept for the addition is a landscape that builds on the existing skerry, which forms the base for the original bath.”

The new structure will emerge from the sea, supported by steel piles and approximating a topography map with its contoured concrete layers building upon each other. As the firm explains on its website, “it will resemble a block of stone shaped during the Last Glacial Period.” The walls will alternate between concave and convex, preserving the first bath’s clean modernist lines.

The stepped levels will provide seating for large crowds to view the open-air stage, the amphitheater, and to relax as they sunbathe and enjoy the surrounding views. The diving towers will be making a comeback, too, allowing patrons to take part in the same entertainment as their forefathers did almost a century earlier. The pavilion will also include a large indoor area built under the stairs, with room for additional performance spaces and a restaurant, allowing the bath to be a year-round attraction.

“The facility has the potential to become a hybrid that fluidly combines culture, recreation, marine biology, and learning, and a very locally anchored food experience,” adds Næss.

Snøhetta also hopes to make the entire project as sustainable as possible. “We have a clear ambition to challenge materials in this project, since the compound sits in a fragile marine environment and finds itself at the mercy of ever-changing, rough weather conditions,” says Næss.

“One of our goals is to infuse the project with other supplemental technologies that focus on the up and recycling of materials, such as but not limited to glass. So far, carbon-neutral and even carbon negative compositions have been achieved, so we are looking at viable options for application in the project, either structurally or aesthetically,” he adds. “As an organism then, the compound works circularly to facilitate a sustainable experiences on multiple fronts.”

The new Knubben Harbor Bath is set to open to the public in 2024.

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While technically located on Earth, these interiors are truly out of this world. If they remind you of 70s sci-fi films like the original Star Wars trilogy, that’s because the designers took inspiration from pop culture retro-futurism for the concept, updating the aesthetics for the 21st century. More specifically, the lialawlab team envisioned the space as a “series of spatial scenes” that set the mood for customers entering Formoral, the flagship location of an independent skin care brand emphasizing medical science and the fusion of nature and technology.

The space is designed so visitors feel like they’re exploring a laboratory on a primitive “desert planet.” Instead of presenting their products in an ordinary retail setting, Formoral wanted the store to be more of an experience that tells the story of their brand. Sculptural elements are layered upon each other, like slices through the ceiling embedded with LED lighting, diagonal planes that break up the vertical space, and arched doorways leading into treatment rooms. To create this effect, the designers used a combination of smooth surfaces and textural gray paint evoking a meeting of organic and artificial materials.

The arc shape seen throughout the space is a unifying design element that repeats in various forms and sizes. The largest, with a radius of nearly 100 feet, makes up the entire roof. Delineating different functional areas with these rounded and undulating shapes makes the 1300-square-foot space seem much larger than it really is.

The lialawlab team explains that: “A rising ‘planet,’ a futuristic tunnel clad with matte silver foil and aluminum plates, and two cabin doors along the tunnel tie together the eight functions, including brand display, skin testing and product selling, rest and communication, events and demonstration, self care and washing, office space, product storage, and a break room for employees, while also helping denote the ‘inside’ and ‘outside’ and define the public and private realms.”

“To trigger people’s desire to explore the space, [we] carved out a 200 millimeter-wide gap at the height of 1.25 meters of the massive sphere and the tunnel. The gap is complemented with mirrored material, allowing customers to stay, wonder, stare, and rest. It also offers a visual continuity so that the staff can better serve customers.”

The skin care center is set within a shopping mall, which makes it even more of a marvel. Who doesn’t wish they could escape to another planet sometimes? Lialawlab’s design has been so well-received so far, it’s even been nominated for a 2021 World Interiors News Award in the “Independent Shops or Small Chains” category.

The post This Science-Focused Skin Care Center Looks Like a Secret Lab for Alien Experiments first appeared on Dornob.

Since then, the city has flourished, and today, it draws nearly half a million travelers every year. Now a UNESCO World Heritage Site, the Sassi have become comfortable residences, bed and breakfasts, restaurants, and spas. One of the newest businesses beckoning tourists inside is the Aquatio Cave Luxury Hotel & Spa by architecture firm Simone Micheli, which occupies 5,000 square feet within an area called Sasso Caveoso.

As the Smithsonian notes, the locals here still “cheerfully refer to themselves” as troglodytes, a word that literally means “cave dwellers.” But the caves don’t exactly look prehistoric anymore. Once lacking even the most basic hygienic standards, they’re now beautifully lit, packed with contemporary artwork, designer furniture, flat-screen televisions, and all the other modern amenities you’d expect from high-end hotels anywhere in the world. That’s certainly true at the Aquatio, where smooth new limestone bricks merge seamlessly into the raw cave walls, now cleaned of lichen and brightened up to their original pale color.

The architects took inspiration from the powerful force that shaped the caves in the first place: a single drop of water. Honored near the main entrance with a drop-shaped bronze sculpture by Kengiro Azuma, the water drop “summarizes in its simplicity the meaning of life through the metaphor of the water cycle,” says Micheli.

The lower entrance leads into a reception area, restaurant, breakfast room, meeting room, and wellness center in two large open spaces that were once part of a neighborhood. The arches, tunnels, ceilings, and walls are illuminated from below to create a soft glow that Micheli calls “scenographic effects.” Even the old wells and cisterns around which the ancient occupants gathered have been restored so the guests of the hotel and spa can enjoy them.

“’Creating emotions is the concept that animated the entire design process,” says Micheli. “The wellness center is the space where this motto is best expressed, in fact it is a suggestive place and occupies the deepest heart of the structure, recovering hypogeal rooms dating back to the ninth century. The restaurant room is a flexible, intercommunicating space with the breakfast room and the meeting area. Its capacity varies according to the occasions, making itself available to contingent events and needs.”

“The rooms mainly present in the upper part of the structure…enjoy breathtaking views of the Caveoso cliff and the ancient city, [while others are] hidden inside the womb of the earth, with only a door to indicate their presence as the ancient shelters of the men of the Neolithic settlements on the Murgia.”

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The team began with a big idea and funneled it down to reality. Company director Rob McPherson explains: “The design theme called for a unique yacht that reflected the style and sophistication of the principality. We want[ed] to create a truly unique environment that could take the principality of Monaco to the ocean.”

For size and layout, they began with one of the most recognizable attractions in Monaco, the Grand Prix course, and modeled it to scale in hopes making it an onboard go-kart track capable of supporting three go-karts side by side. With the track hammered out, the designers turned their attention to replicas of the Monte Carlo Casino, Hotel de Paris, Prince’s Palace, Loews Hotel, Port Hercules, and La Rascasse.

The yacht is designed for the comfort of 16 guests in eight rooms, including seven guest suites that each include their own reception room, bathroom, dressing room, bedroom, and balcony. The larger VIP suites have the added luxury of a private office.

In a separate wing, the owner’s apartment covers three floors and 1460 square meters. It’s made up of multiple balconies, an office, bedroom, bathroom, his/hers dressing rooms, private courtyard, sunroom, and private sundeck complete with a jacuzzi and swimming pool. The apartment also benefits from a listening room and sitting lounge with fireplace. Even better, a private lift provides access to all three decks here.

A yacht this size (500 feet) is meant to be shared with friends, of course, so the designers also made sure to include public areas all throughout, including pools, cafés, a library, and a spa complete with a manicure and hair salon, private massage suites, sauna/steam rooms, and a large relaxation lounge featuring an accompanying spa pool and bar. “The Oasis” is located near the ship’s boarding area, where guests are greeted by a replica of the gardens right outside the Monaco Casino. This area also boasts a waterfall that spills over from the upper pools into the lower ones, as well as multiple landscaped paths and private sitting areas.

Get your game on with a battle at the yacht’s tennis courts, or hit the basketball court that doubles as a helipad for those guests that might have to fly inland for meetings. If helicopters aren’t so much your thing, you could always jump into the yacht’s submarine for an underwater adventure, or park a smaller yacht in the designated parking space and use it as your commuter vessel.

Obviously a luxury superyacht designed to replicate the city of Monaco isn’t for everyone —especially if you can’t cover the estimated $1 billion price tag. However, if money is no concern to you, you stand to own one of the most expensive — and likely the most original — boats in the world.

The post Superyacht Design Perfectly Recreates the Streets of Monaco first appeared on Dornob.

Appropriately named “2020: A Spa Odyssey,” the day spa set on a bustling street in Caracas, Venezuela, feels surreal yet serene. Retro-futuristic science fiction visuals merge with soothing pastels and a few grounding earthly elements for an effect that looks a lot like a set for a contemporary film, or the wellness center of a utopian space colony on Mars.

“Considering that the location is in a considerably busy area of the city, [the clients] desired it to act as a pleasant hermetic bubble, an airtight space isolated from the noise of the city where its frequently polluted environment simply would not exist or apply,” say the architects.

“Contemplating the concept of ‘outer-worldly’ led us very quickly to consider analyzing and dissecting the visual aesthetics of Stanley Kubrick’s seminal sci-fi movie 2001: A Space Odyssey, in its staging and scenarios, and we decided to undertake architecture following those cues. We would endeavor through the deconstruction of the sets and scenography created by Kubrick and Harry Lange to generate more than a spa, to create a space of surreal perspectives, a diffuse threshold between earth and outer space.”

To keep it from feeling too much like a medical facility — or the probing room of an alien spaceship — the architects also added some warmth into the color palette. The walls and ceiling glow a comforting salmon pink, while pipes and translucent privacy screens enhance them with pops of red. Natural terrestrial materials like wood and stone, along with the occasional oversized leaves of philodendron, give the space a sense of gravity.

The sci-fi elements are there in the form of glossy white plastics, giant frosted oculus-shaped windows meant to evoke the movie’s sentient computer HAL, and capsule-shaped openings in formica walls. Bright white strips of LED lights mimic those seen in the film, but they’re softened and broken up into asymmetrical arrangements. You’ll also find the occasional sinister visual, like a tiled room with an Astroturf floor, a ceiling light fixture dangling by its wire, and even a fake skull in one corner. If you’re familiar with the film, more references make themselves known; even the rock supporting the reception desk is meant to evoke a meteorite.

Would you feel relaxed and ready for a spa experience in these surroundings? Perhaps, if you’d just entered from the chaos of the urban environment outside, you’d feel relieved for the temporary break from reality, even if it comes with a vague sense of foreboding.

Atelier Caracas was founded in 2015 by Julia Kowalenko and Rodrigo Armas, drawing “strong influences from pop culture and everyday, as-found objects to create alluring spaces and objects at once humorous, thought-provoking, and symbolically charged.”

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Local architectural practice noa* adds a new “theatrical spa” to that list with the Mohr Life Resort’s new wellness area. Leveraging “the incredible nature at the heart of Tirol,” the architects aimed to design a “stirring” contemporary building offering a fresh take on the traditional spa. Concrete may not seem like an obvious choice for a structure that wants, more than anything, to be in dialogue with the physicality, culture, and history of its natural surroundings, but the trick is in the balance.

The architects say of the project: “In October 2018, the Mohr Life Resort’s new wellness area was inaugurated in Lermoos, one of the oldest skiing areas in Tirol just an 80-kilometer drive from Innsbruck. The Hotel itself is steeped in history, a household name for anyone visiting the skiing carousel in the northern Alps in Tirol. The new glass and cement structure was built organically on a gentle slope located below the hotel. It features a unique view across the spacious Ehrwalder Becken valley peppered with old farmhouses and barns; what’s more, the imposing 3,000 metres of the Zugspitze mountain — which represents a geographical border between Austria and Germany — overlooks the entire valley.”

Lead architect Christian Rottensteiner adds that the “majestic and powerful presence of the mountain itself” serves as the anchor of the concept, and by extension is the project’s “protagonist.” The building feels just as solid as the peaks that surround it, yet permeable at the same time, its reflective glass surface echoing the rocks and trees outside as well as the powerful presence of the Zugspitze, the highest peak of the Wetterstein Mountains at 2,962 meters (about 9,718 feet) above sea level.

“The glass and cement structure extends horizontally to create an artificial rib, mirrored by the dry stone walls running along its side. The project was specifically designed considering the gently sloping terrain and develops across two levels: this creates a height difference [that allows] for the creation of the swimming pool. A sober and light building in the landscape obtained by the aggregation of simple shapes: glass cubes placed across the two levels create the structural grid for the edifice’s skeleton.”

Inside, the spa acts as a counterpoint to that grid, offering soft, organic surfaces that welcome tactile interaction. The ground floor features a private lounge, lobby, bar, spa and scenic sauna, mini bistro, private relaxation booths, and a gorgeous spiral staircase leading to stepped relaxation areas designed to look like theater stages with views across the mountain.

Set adjacent to one of Tirol’s oldest skiing areas, the Mohr Life Resort beckons weary adventurers with a place to rest and recuperate while seeing the stunning local scenery from a new viewpoint. Learn more or book your stay at the official Mohr Life Resort website.

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THE WELL’s official website bills the center as “your complete ecosystem for wellness,” in which “your health is integrated, proactive, and personalized, leading to a more balanced you.” The company behind THE WELL uses the science of Western medicine and the wisdom of Eastern healers to foster holistic healing both physically and mentally. The facilities include a Meditation Dome, spa, private training gym, co-ed sauna, Movement Studio, Reflexology Lounge, library, organic restaurant, and annex for private parties. Not only does the club provide physical treatments like acupuncture and yoga, but it also offers several health education options, including sessions with personal trainers and weekly curated fitness programming. The intention is to help provide necessary services while also empowering members to take wellness into their own hands.

The club was designed by Rose Ink Workshop, a creative agency that mainly works in interior design. The company’s goal is to “place extra emphasis on crafting unique branded experiences … that make people smile.” THE WELL mixes luxury and simplicity to create a completely serene aesthetic. The motifs are apparent all throughout: light open spaces, neutral tones, lush greenery, and natural wooden fixtures. The design was specially planned to help members appreciate the design of human body and feel at one with all living things.

The Reflexology Lounge, for example, has white washed walls decorated with off-white macrame. The room also boasts gray and beige lounge chairs, gray side tables, and similarly neutral-toned blankets and baskets. The only pop of color here comes from racks of lush green plants. The wellness center’s Mindful Movement Studio is painted in the same stroke, with soft white walls and gentle lighting present all throughout. This space is mainly open and features a full-size mirrored wall.

The other areas of the club keep the same aesthetic but include elements designed to boost their unique intentions. The Meditation Dome has plush carpeting and a table filled with tall off-white candles, while the gym features color-coordinated weight-training machines and rope light fixtures made to complement an actual climbing rope. Rose Ink clearly put a lot of thought into designing interiors that not only accompanied THE WELL’s experiences, but enhanced them, too.

As great as all these spaces may be, the library is by far the most colorful room in the wellness center. The walls are of course white, but they’ve been paired with a teal carpet and a blush pink couch. This room is also decorated with colorful accent pillows and centerpieces, while the shelves on its walls are adorned with artworks in varying shades of yellow, pink, and orange. In here, members receive educational programming from doctors, teachers, and authors.

General membership for THE WELL costs a hefty $375 a month, but the price is cut to $210 if you’re under 32. While that price tag might still make you wince, it will certainly hurt a lot less with a face mask on and a tasty green juice in your hand.

The post Luxury Wellness Center Designed by Rose Ink Workshop Opens in NYC first appeared on Dornob.

The Arctic Bath is a holistic spa focused on healthy eating, exercise, relaxation, and time in nature. Every element of the spa and surrounding area is designed with these things in mind. Relying solely on products from the all-natural Kerstin Florian product line, treatments here range from facials and body scrubs to massages and pedicures. They even provide swimwear and robes to use during your stay.

Visitors wishing to stay the night (or several) at the Arctic Bath can choose from a variety of lodging options, each offering their own experience. The cabin, elevated above the forest floor, is an apartment that sleeps five in its main floor and loft areas. Even better, it boasts a spiral staircase and vegetation-lined walkways that maximize the guests’ connection to nature.

The suite is another land option that sleeps two, and it’s similarly perched on poles above the shoreline. For a water experience, the spa also offer more traditional hotel-style rooms that actually float on the water, connected to land by nothing but a floating walkway.

Of course, healthy, organic dining makes up a key part of the holistic health and wellness regimen. With that in mind, the chefs at the spa’s on-site restaurant serve locally-sourced Scandinavian food around the clock. You can meet up in the bar for a drink before dinner or imbibe during dinner with local beer and wine selections. If you’re not much of a drinker, don’t worry: they also offer a great selection of smoothies. And no one has to worry about what to order for dinner, since the chefs offer a pre-fixed menu based on the ingredients that are available during your stay.

When you’re not too busy getting pampered, you’ll find there are ample opportunities to experience the culture of the surrounding area, rich in history and home to the Sámi people for more than 10,000 years. And not only will you learn about the indigenous lifestyle, you’ll also help them herd reindeer, be serenaded by their songs, and share a three-course meal prepared over an open fire. To explore the depths of the area’s natural elements, you can sign up for an ice fishing excursion, or even cross dog sledding off your bucket list. You can also elect to take guided or unguided nature hikes, wildlife photography or viewing treks, or explore the nearby ecopark. If you’re a fitness buff, you can get your heart pumping with snow cycling or snowshoeing before heading back to the warmth of your room.

The Arctic Bath is more than a spa, it’s a travel experience that simultaneously facilitates health and wellness and a deeper appreciation for the planet. The grand opening is currently slated for January 2020.

All photos courtesy of Johann Kauppi

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Available in manual or automatic models that you either slide open on rails or push a button to retract, these glass and polycarbonate swimming pool enclosures can open all the way on warm, sunny days or close completely for a greenhouse effect. That makes them a lot more versatile (and aesthetically pleasing) than indoor pools, which tend to be dark and musty. And if you’ve ever huddled in an outdoor hot tub in the rain, enjoying the warm water but wishing for a roof, you’ll appreciate the genius of dome-shaped spa covers.

Of course, in addition to their main function as pool covers, these retractable enclosures are great for creating weather-resistant outdoor spaces for lounging, dining, and housing children’s play equipment.

Libart Freestanding Pool Cover

This traditional home on the coast of Maine overlooks the beautiful Casco Bay, so why wouldn’t the owners want to spend as much time in the yard as possible? Known for being quite blustery, this New England location isn’t exactly hospitable for year-round outdoor recreation. To make their backyard more versatile, the owners purchased a stunning retractable freestanding pool enclosure from Turkey-based company Libart. Now, their hot tub and fiberglass pool can be enjoyed regardless of the weather, without having to worry about the cover’s minimalist, transparent walls obstructing the stunning views.

Round Dome-Shaped Orient Pool Cover

Perfect for round swimming pools and hot tubs alike, the “Orient” style pool cover by Pool & Spa Enclosures has a bit of a futuristic look and comes in your choice of frame color, from silver to cobalt to faux wood. You have to admit, they look pretty cool. These domes are just as decorative as they are functional.

Aquacomet Pool Enclosures

Extra-wide, rounded, angular, and domed. An Estonian company called Aquacomet offers virtually every configuration of pool enclosure you can think of, all elegant and crystalline, displayed in photos that will make you long for a Mediterranean vacation. These manual retractable pool covers have handles on their sides so you can easily slide them open on their rails, and they’re made of aluminum and polycarbonate.

Abrisud Wall-Mounted Pool Enclosure

This lean-to pool cover design attaches directly to an adjacent structure, creating an attractive arched shape reminiscent of Victorian conservatories. The difference is that these panels aren’t fixed in place. The benefit of a lean-to enclosure is being able to enter directly from the house without first having to step out into less-than-ideal weather conditions. It’s hard not to daydream about lounging in a bikini with a tropical drink in hand while it’s snowing just beyond the glass.

The post Endless Summer: These Retractable Pool Covers Let You Swim Year-Round first appeared on Dornob.

The Serene Desert Villa Spa Retreat is a newly-designed, 30,000 square-foot resort situated just 45 minutes away from the luxurious city of Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Designed by an innovative team of passionate architects, the resort is a beautiful piece of modern architecture, constructed with function in mind yet styled immaculately. Described as a place of blissful peace and serenity, the spa is the ideal location for anyone longing to escape from the chaos of the city in a remote paradise.

Who are the Design Geniuses Behind It?

The Phoenix-based architects at SpaceLineDesign are the visionaries responsible for the creation of the Desert Spa Resort. Principal Architect Jeffrey H Page has thirty plus years experience developing amazing modern designs for all sorts of buildings and living spaces. Page has previously worked on vacation villas, boutique hotels, residential homes, offices, island resorts, apartments, and retail stores. The firm started off doing projects across the state of New York and has been producing stunning living spaces in desert environments since 1996.

Page has lived in Dubai with his wife and firm partner, Mahsa, since 2008, and the two have provided project consulting to clients in Arizona and in countries all around the world. The company has devised iconic projects in many international destinations, including New York, LA, Spain, Abu Dhabi, Kuwait, India, Indonesia, Tanzania, Nigeria, and the Congo.

The company initially brings its designs to life in the form of detailed floor plans and creative 3-D video animations that allow the viewer to immerse themselves into its imaginary environments, providing them with a full 360-degree experience through virtual reality, or “VR.” The architects use 3-D modeling and a program called AutoCad to design their projects in VR in order to explore the practicality of each layout as soon as they conceive of it.

What Features Does the Spa Resort Have?

The Serene Desert Villa Spa Retreat consists of six luxury suites, an indoor pool, a steam room, a cold-plunge, a gym, massage facilities, a relaxing lounge area, a fire garden, and a 20-car garage for guests.

The main entrance is adorned with honed sandstone and artistic glass double doors, which are followed by a set of concentric planter steps. Once inside, you’ll find an indoor pool and a jacuzzi shaped like a tulip flower with a waterfall flowing down one end. The pool area’s teak wood ceiling absorbs the warmth of the sun to keep the room comfortable and dampen any echoes. The spa is also fully equipped with an indoor gym that boasts a three-station, 4-D bike ride cinema experience. It really doesn’t get a lot more futuristic than that!

How Do I Get In Touch With SpaceLineDesign?

If you’re interested in working with the SpaceLineDesign team, do not hesitate to contact them with your ideas for budding projects over the phone or via email. They strategize and plan accordingly to suit every individual client’s best interests, focusing on your aesthetic desires and accommodating the design to stay well within your budget!

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In the decades after World War II, many of the older terrace houses were demolished to make way for denser tower blocks, but today, municipalities and private owners are working hard to preserve them. Not only do the quality and lifespan of the original materials used to build these beauties help them last longer than some modern structures, but they’re historically significant, too. One cool trend in updating London terrace houses is the affixing of a glass extension to their rears, by which their interiors are expanded without significantly altering their facades.

As far as the British firm Guarnieri Architects was concerned, a sleek glazed box was just what this Victorian terrace in Clapham Common called for, acting as a light well to flood the interiors with daylight while providing extra room for a newly-altered floor plan. Namely, the clients requested that a new floor be excavated below ground level to create space for wellness facilities, including a steam room, hot tub, and swimming pool. The extension also made room for a few larger open-plan areas.

The architects altered the existing split-level arrangement and added the glass box to accommodate these amenities. A new mezzanine level projects a dining area out into the glassed-in space, resting just above the swimming pool. Both look out onto the back garden, newly hardscaped and walled in by wood and a lush ivy-covered wall at the rear. A ficus tree grows in an oversized pot inside the glazed box, stretching up past the floor of the mezzanine.

Inside, minimalist finishes in white, pale wood, and marble make the space seem larger than its limited 18-foot width. The architects relocated the home’s internal staircases to accommodate the new open-plan layout. The space around the pool, however, is finished in a dark gray slate for cavernous vibes. The stone in these areas is also porous, which allows it to withstand all the moisture produced by the new spa features.

For Marco Guarnieri, the firm’s lead architect, achieving a sense of lightness in the glazed extension was a top priority. The design team sought assistance from structural engineers to construct the box with minimal steel reinforcement in order to enhance its crystalline nature, providing an uninterrupted visual connection to the outdoors.

“We think that the project can be generalized as the alteration of the common 19th century typology, conceived as series of small rooms, by removing rather than adding, to create the open spaces typical of our time contemporary domestic living,” say the architects. “We like to call our project a Victorian Remix, like a DJ rearranging old records into a contemporary music performance.”

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