André Fu Studio designs wellbeing floor at The Maybourne Riviera
André Fu has collaborated with The Maybourne Riviera to design a floor of the hotel dedicated to wellbeing. Set high on the clifftops, the hotel overlooks the coastline of the French Riviera, while rooms reflecting the constantly shifting colours and movement of the sea and sky. Fu’s commission was to design a signature spa with seven treatment rooms, a beauty and hair salon, specialist consultation rooms, a steam room and sauna. The spa adjoins a floor of guestrooms and suites, also designed by Fu, which again centre around wellness.
Inspired by the meandering coastline and fluidity of the Mediterranean, Fu has sought to bring a sense of calm tranquillity into his distinctive design for the clifftop resort. Juxtaposing the shapes and textures of the rocks outside the hotel, the architect has created a contrasting language of curving and sculptured walls.
The colour palette of the spa is predominantly pristine white to convey a sense of purity and cleanliness. Accents of mineral blue and dusty olive green are introduced to evoke the colour of the surrounding sea, counterpointed with solid oak and polished rose gold and peach terrazzo to capture the colours of the sunset.
Fu reflected carefully on his source of inspiration throughout the project: “In bringing elements of The Maybourne Riviera’s surrounding environment into the design process, I was able to draw on the location’s natural connection to a sense of wellness. As the sea has been correlated with elevated feelings of wellbeing, I emphasised the open water’s proximity to the hotel, aspiring to provide visitors with a holistic and immersive wellness experience – thoughtfully integrating luxury, tranquility and repose into every design detail.”
The spa has been designed on two levels. Guests arrive through a full-height, hand-carved textured timber door that opens onto the reception area; an organically-shaped marble wall that features built-in lighting frames the vista, while a tear-shaped stone block forms the reception counter. To the right is a retail boutique, whilst to its left is the entrance that preludes the journey into a world of wellness.
Via the hair salon, visitors will discover walls that are organically shaped, swooping past bespoke oak shelving and cylindrical display towers, guiding them into a vast relaxation area that extends into an outdoor terrace that is set against a soaring face of the cliff. Throughout, there is a sense of fluidity as the journey continues into the steam chamber, hammam and sauna, for guests to enjoy prior to and after treatments.
The sense of place is also accentuated with the use of fresh olive trees that adorn the spa. Within the oak-lined treatment rooms, Fu has ensured that all equipment is concealed behind panels, creating clean, minimalist lines. Each of the treatment rooms boasts a panoramic view of the Riviera coastline and the ocean, while the use of solid French limestone that meanders poetically within the bathrooms adds a layer of visual luxury to the experience. A curving, winding staircase leads upstairs to the private consultation room.
