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Above It All: Designers from HBA/Hirsch Bedner Associates craft a cocoon-like retreat for a spa that’s more than 100 stories above the streets of Hong Kong.
By Matthew Hall
Some designers might be daunted by the prospect of designing a luxury spa that sits atop a tall, tall building. Not Inge Moore, a principal at HBA/Hirsch Bedner Associates’ London office. When it comes to working in high places, she’s been there, done that.
Sky High Spa Design
Five years ago, Moore took several white-knuckle rides in an open-air elevator that was attached to the side of an unfinished skyscraper in Moscow, to work on the extended-stay luxury suites her firm had designed on the 69th floor. “Dangling off a structural skeleton at that height is truly alarming,” she recalls.
Fast forward to the past couple of years, when Moore found herself leading the HBA team charged with creating The Ritz-Carlton Spa by ESPA in Hong Kong. That retreat occupies two of the top floors within the International Commerce Center (ICC), the tallest skyscraper in that city. Unlike the Moscow suites, Moore notes with relief, the ESPA project was housed in a building whose exterior façade was mainly in place, and was accessible via an interior elevator. “That meant working on the spa was no big deal for me, at least when it came to the height of the work site,” she says.
But Moore says she was challenged by a strong desire to create a one-of-a-kind destination that made the most of the spa’s penthouse locale. The Ritz-Carlton Hotel occupies the top 15 levels of the ICC tower, according it the honor of being the world’s highest hotel. The spa itself occupies the skyscraper’s 116th and 118th floors: its lower level houses the treatment rooms, club lounge and restaurant, while the upper floor is home to a pool and fitness complex. (The floor separating the spa’s two levels contains a variety of mechanical systems, and spa patrons travel between the ESPA’s floors via a dedicated elevator.)
Soft Forms and Natural Finishes
Not surprisingly, Moore’s team drew on the spa’s perch some 1,000 feet above Hong Kong’s frenetic streets for their design inspiration. “Our goal was to craft a sanctuary of softness from the stressful surroundings of the city,” she says. “To do that, we chose to create a spa cocooned and protected in the clouds.”
In keeping with that motif, designers began by creating a space plan for the spa that’s devoid of sharp corners. “The walls are curved, as if providing a protective embrace,” Moore notes.
Within that basic framework, designers outfitted the space with an abundance of soft forms and natural finishes. The reception area, for example, includes walls clad with finely textured horsehair, while the space’s curved alabaster desk is backlit to cast a soothing glow. Overhead is a floating art installation by Eva Menz, consisting of strands of “butterfly cocoons” made out of porcelain.
Treatment Rooms
Serving as the spa’s centerpiece are its nine treatment rooms and two couples’ suites, which feature glass lighting pendants shaped like raindrops, along with wall treatments made of textured horsehair and brushed bronze. The treatment rooms are also equipped with floor-to-ceiling windows that offer jaw-dropping views of the Hong Kong skyline (at this height, no one can see in). Those windows are equipped with screens made of twisted strips of ivory-colored steel that Moore says “create a playful dialogue between light beams and shadows, within the sinuous lines of the treatment room.”
For all of its “in-the-clouds” design touches, Moore realized that the high-up spa space also had to engender a feeling of security on the part of guests; otherwise, they wouldn’t be able to relax and get the most out of the experience. To that end, designers specified some select materials for the space that “convey a sense of being ‘grounded,’” Moore says, including bronze metal-infused timber flooring and manicure stations made of hardwoods.
PROJECT PARTICIPANTS
CLIENT: The Ritz-Carlton Spa by ESPA
DESIGN: HBA/Hirsch Bedner Associates, London office
CERAMICS: Fired Earth; Zenith Tiles; Zisa
CUSTOM FINISHES: Fired Earth; Goldpecko Timber; Lezard Design; Moxa Design Arts; Perfect Trade Ltd.
FLOORING: Sinclair Till Flooring Co.
FURNITURE: Decca
GLASS: DSA Glass; Good Future Craft; Glass Eng. Ltd.; Nathan Allan Glass Studios Inc.
LAMINATES: Formica
METAL FINISHES: Chiling Architectural Metal Ltd.
PAINTS: ICI Swire Paints Ltd.
STONE FINISHES: Alfredo Salvatori; Amazing Stone Ltd.
UPHOLSTERIES: Edelman Leather; Donghia Textiles; Rubelli
WALL COVERINGS: Goodrich GlobalInnovations; Maharam/FabricNation; Maya Romanoff; Tektura; Versa
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