Healing environment: a sense of place contributes to the nurturing qualities of a spa.

Architect Robert Henry believes that resort and club spa designs should incorporate the vernacular of the property where they are located and should be a critical part of the total guest experience. "From traditional massage and yoga to liquid balancing, a spa visit can purify, revitalize and balance your body, mind, and soul," Henry stated. "The whole idea of the spa experience is to transport a visitor to a place, either metaphysical or real."

Earlier projects designed by Henry, who heads the New York-based firm Robert D. Henry Architects, included New York City's Ajune and Palm Beach's Trump Mar-a-Lago. Two more recent projects "the completed spa at Amelia Island Plantation in Florida and the preliminary designs for Sanjevani Healing Village Spa in New Mexico--have allowed Henry to take his philosophies of spa as unique place and spa as a transforming experience and combine them into unique places of healing and comfort.

The Amelia island location plays on the pristine, wild nature of the location. "On Amelia Island, Mother Nature has been gracious, and our approach has been one of reverence and nurturance."

"I always start with the concept of a sensuous journey when designing a spa," Henry said. At Amelia the journey starts at an entry that is intentionally compressed to contrast with the "Great Hall Inner of Peace"--the spa lobby. The lobby space stretches skyward as light filters through a two-story forest of exposed timber lattice. The natural characteristics of the Douglas Fir beams epitomize the warmth and welcome of Southern hospitality.

Floating Massage

Continuing along the "spa journey," visitors come upon the Meditation Garden. "A void is not usually the heart and soul of a project, but by capturing outdoor space we would capture the essence of Amelia," Henry said. Twin treatment buildings step back from the garden to allow an infill of sky, creating an outdoor "room," terracing down to a lagoon.

From the Meditation Garden, visitors gain access to the footbridge that spans over the lagoon to a tiny spec of an island. The island--anchored by two majestic five-foot-diameter Sweet Water Oaks draped in Spanish Moss--is the location of the Watsu Pavilion. Watsu, the spa's signature treatment (whose name is derived from the words "water" and "shiatsu"), is a massage treatment that practices Zen shiatsu in waters close to body temperature. The buoyancy of the water takes the weight off the vertebrae. "You become as sinuous as a piece of seaweed," said Henry. "It's very liberating."

According to Henry, every spa needs to have a signature treatment reflecting its location's inherent qualities. The water-based treatment reaffirms guests' connection to the eco-sensitive "island experience" and their journey to the Watsu pool connects them back with nature.

At Amelia, Henry's architectural reference draws cm the Cracker-style vernacular of Florida, with a color palette that is in harmony with the local environment. Thee spa complex respects Amelia Island's preservationist philosophy by maintaining a delicate balance between nature and the built environment.

From Wet to High and Dry

At the Sanjevani Healing Village, time spa creates a rich, sensuous environment that celebrates and harmonizes with its spectacular natural setting. From time building de sign and the use of indigenous materials, to the development of the treatmens that incorporate traditional healing techniques, the Sanjevani Healing Village Spa will fully integrate elements of nature and the surrounding landscape. "The spa experience engages all of the senses," Henry said. "That is especially true at the Sanjevani Spa where every element is carefully selected to create a holistic, healing experience."

Located 45 minutes from Santa Fe, the Spa at Sanjevani Healing Village is a new 11,000-square-foot building that will include treatment rooms, medical offices, meditation gardens, plunge pools, soaking tubs, and a couples' treatment suite. Dr. Sunil Pai, a medical and ayurvedic (a holistic healing system developed in India that focuses on the link between mind and body) doctor and founder of the Sanjevani Healing Village, envisions the village as a healing retreat where guests receive customized programs that address their particular health goals, combining the best of eastern and western modalities.

The main spa building will look out over the Pecos River Valley, providing guests with ah enhanced opportunity to experience New Mexico's mountain landscape. Located on a promontory overlooking the Pecos Rivera quarter of a mile below, the crescent-shaped spa building responds to the undulating forms of the landscape. The building location was chosen specifically to have the least impact on the natural terrain of the site. Throughout the design, the architects reinforce the interplay of inside and outside, including specifying local materials, so that the spa itself integrates with the landscape.

Sensory Calming

This interplay between interior and exterior elements becomes evident from the moment guests open the oversized, weathered wood gate and pass through a thick adobe wall into the serene meditation garden. From the fragrant smell of earth and plants, to the sound of cascading water and the engaging view of a single majestic tree, the meditation garden addreses and calms all of the senses. This transformative space allows visitors to escape from the excess stimulation of the outside world as they prepare to enter the spa. Having moved through the garden, visitors pass through glass doors fitted with custom-made copper door handles. The loft-like entrance space, furnished with a weathered wood reception desk, provides dramatically framed views across a small reflective pool to the mountains beyond.

This space reinforces the relationship to natural materials and landscape, even as visitors enter the private sanctuary of the spa. Moving through the separate men's and women's changing rooms, visitors emerge into a healing garden. Diffused light filters down from clerestory windows above. The garden is populated with indigenous cactus adjacent to a dramatic rock out crop discovered at the site. The soothing sound of a 20-foot long waterfall completes the sensuous ambiance of the "healing garden." This relaxation space connects to an exterior sun deck that cantilevers 40 feet out over the river gorge below, reinserting visitors into the natural landscape.

Secluded Spaces

Doctors' offices and treatment rooms line the curved exterior wall, offering private showers and balconies with commanding views of the mesa beyond. Natural light is filtered into the hallway through wood slats, creating a light effect that changes throughout the day. At the far end of the hall a private stair leads to the couples' treatment tower, complete with a fireplace and an outdoor massage balcony. A private soaking tub overlooks the mountains from the tower's third floor, offering a secluded panoramic view of the mesa.

The medical treatments will be overseen by Dr. Pal and his specialized staff of doctors and healers. Spa and medical staff will provide guests with specifically tailored treatments, so that the healing experience does not end when the guest leaves the Healing Village. In addition to the spa, the 1,200-acre Sanjevani Healing Village will include guest casitas, pool and tennis pavilion, and a restaurant.

While the arid, mountainous locale for Sanjevani Spa and the water-focused site for the Amelia Island Spa could not be more different, both communicate a common architectural statement: "This is a place of calm and of healing."