CIRCLE WELLNESS

Situated on Granville Island, this private self-guided thermal spa concept brought together a series of shipping containers to create a cohesive space and experience. It is the first of its kind in the world, combining ancient wellness rituals with modern technology for an immersive and truly memorable healing experience. Our work started with interpreting the asphalt parking lot and existing street trees that would form the context of this site transformation. in keeping with the industrial vernacular of the island we developed the form and character of the facade, entry, and perimeter edge, taking inspiration from the brand's minimalist approach. The material palette merged utilitarian and raw materials to emphasis a sensorial and tactile experience. As part of a sequential journey, the courtyard garden design becomes a transformative threshold, soothing and stimulating the senses as a primer for the pod experience that awaits. There is layering of elements that adds interest to an otherwise compressed space. Visual details from the raw, iridescent black Canadian granite contrast with the sea of textural foliage. Plantings were selected for their aesthetic and textural quality with an awareness of 4 season stability. Hardscape material sourced as quarry block off-cut scraps and remnants from stone counter production resulted in hand selecting one of a kind pieces to adorn the courtyard. The sparkling Cambrian black granite originally quarried from Quebec was deployed in paving, Noguchi-like boulder and water feature elements that celebrate the core drilled split marks of the quarry block crusts. Designed by Alexander Suvajac and skillfully fabricated from a local supplier Margranite and fabricator Simon Henry these elemental pieces breathe new life into the material itself and the Spa garden. Like the ritual of spa culture this unique garden site embraces the raw and the refined.

FEATURED_ NUVO magazine, Vancouver Magazine, Vancouver Sun, The Georgia Straight