The pensive elegance of the Cherish Spa & Salon House, in Himmatnagar, lies in its tactful design. This space embraces all the aspects of a modern cozy space and is distinctly modern in its avatar.
Project Name: Cherish spa and Saloon
Studio Name: Architects at Work
Location: Himmatnagar, Dist: sabarkantha
Services Offered: Architecture + Interior
Design Team: Shweta Pandya, Krishna Patel
Project Timeline: Oct 2015 – Sep 2017
Text: Priya Trivedi
Photographs: Dhrupad Shukla
The Indian spa industry has grown by leaps and bounds. If you look at the age-old therapeutic treatments that have its strong roots in Ayurveda and the super-luxury ambiance of the modernday luxury spa that have sprouted all over our vast country, what you get is a blend of the traditional and opulent luxury that you find only in India.
Taking this singular purpose ahead, The Cherish Spa and salon in Himmatnagar is a refurbish center which seeks to provide their clients nothing but relaxation and leisure. The owners of The Cherish house were very much determined that they want a very uniquely designed building which would stand out in the administrative headquarters the taluka, Himmatnagar. As the holders of this property wished to merge the rehabilitation area with their home, the architects very strategically sketched the plan of this Spa-Salon Center cum Home.
The outline of this edifice was formulated in a way that it utilizes maximum land and have ample ventilation facilities. The entire structure consists of four floors, each floor dedicated to services and their habitat. There were a few restrictions regarding the amount of area available to construct the building was less, but it was taken care of and was modeled with a certain technique which did not compromise with the functionality of the space. As the site is completely surrounded by residential area and commercial complex, privacy was a major concern. To resolve this issue, the outer side was mounted with window slits which would give them required seclusion from eye level where it can let in natural daylight.
The facade being developed in a unique way from all the sides gives enough light and ventilation to the building and it doesn’t seem congested even on the inside. As the back side faces east, it is kept open for fresh air ventilation, the west side is rather subjected to natural sunlight which causes absorption of heat, but it is treated with the fabrication of metal framing and a large scale louvered screen which lets daylight in and obstructs heat. The front façade is cladded with waterfall effect slate stones to differentiate the mass from the rest of the building.
The Cherish being a dedicated salon for women, kept privacy as their utmost priority. There is a see-through green wall barrier which separates salon with the outer world. It parts the street and the building which gives it a wide passage having plants installed in it. The compound wall has a post box through which people can convey their message and it is convenient for the insiders as they can access it from the interior of the compound wall.
The main door on the ground floor opens to the reception and waiting room, opposite to which there is a pedicure room. It has two big recliner chairs and ground level sinks. A central foyer connects to the staircase, lift area and hair styling zone. The hair styling room is right across the staircase, opposite to which it has a wax room. The black tiles flooring of the whole area makes it look neat and elegant. This salon has all the basic functional facilities of a normal spa & salon. At the rear end it has a kitchen and kitchen yard exclusively for the the salon.
Going upwards there is this highly lit staircase with a Mural installed on one wall. The architects had an opportunity to make it peppy and interesting so they build it with MS plates with Red PU color. The glass floor is accompanied by handmade glass lamps hanging through double-height around the stair flight lets the structure be center of highlight in design. The whole staircase and lift segment is aligned as a center foyer which gives connectivity throughout the structure.
Furthermore, to add to the red plates there is a pebble flooring underneath the stairs with uplight which gives an all together enriched look. This pebble flooring under the stairs is a creative approach to spot focus in that area. The staircase on the first floor ends to connecting foyer and right straight to the stairs, there is a facial room. This room has attached changing room and washroom. On the one side of the staircase, there is a magnificent bridal room which has an attached mirror room to it. The opposite side of the bridal room there is storage room, meeting room, and nail art section side by side to the lift.
The second floor has a shared spa and residence area. It has a Spa zone which consists of waiting room, spa room and spa washroom. The specialty about this washroom is it has an skylight which adds to the aesthetics of the toilet area. The spa zone is kept highly private so that it provides absolute solace and silence to the patronage. Along with these spa services room, a living room for the owners has been designed with attach dining room. They also have their kitchen area placed on this floor.
The third floor is more of the property keepers house. It has one master bedroom and one normal bedroom with balcony. Apart from these they also have a study room on this floor which leads to a beautiful terrace garden. With a building so huge they had to take care of services and communication circulation. It was significant for the owners to be connected to all places at one time. To suffice this necessity they created a space with center foyer, where all the doors, stairs and lifts fall in the central foyer. This made the horizontal and vertical circulation much easier and approachable.
Building this structure was a task in itself because the designers had to take care of accessibility and functionality. With none of them jeopardized they managed to fashion a space where every requirement of the owner is fulfilled. Working on the project, designers wanted to maximally integrate the spa into the habitat environment. As a result, they created an area where simplicity and functionality prevails. Here aesthetics and accessibility are at the forefront, and nothing distracts from a good rest.
