PUBLISHED January 8th, 2021 06:00 am | UPDATED July 22nd, 2024 05:42 pm
To project those soothing vibes, spas tend to be swathed in the tried-and-tested formula of neutral tones or rustic wood (and often both). Giving our ideas of spa design a makeover is one of Bangkok’s freshest faces on the block: Infinity Wellbeing. Set along Sukhumvit Soi 20, this day spa – sister to the well-known Infinity Spa in Silom – is a haven of peaceful pastels and unexpected materials.
Your journey to calm begins outside the door, with a tropical garden shaded by dragon trees and lipstick palms. Shutting out Sukhumvit’s chaos of skyscrapers and street food stalls, this green portal is designed to ease your transition from the city’s bustle into the stillness of the 500-square-metre spa.
Infinity Wellbeing is the design brainchild of Lara Lesmes and Fredrik Hellberg from London-based studio Space Popular, and their joyous approach to colour comes through here in a more restful form. The sprawling reception area is awash in muted whites and greens; overhead, the ceiling sheds a soft glow thanks to curved, wavelike tubes of light. Supporting the light fixtures is a copper grid that cuts gleaming lines across the whole space, giving it a calming symmetry.
Centering the space is a reception counter decked in fluted white and grey marble, around which five distinct seating areas spread out. Furnishings here all come from Space Popular’s latest collection – a furniture range featuring a geometrical play of mint-green metal tubes with petroleum blue upholstery. Take your pick from long, plush sofas, quirky bar stools, and recliners commanding front-row views of the outdoor garden – waiting here would hardly be a chore.
Long corridors, lined with wooden fins painted a pale mint, lead the way to three different types of treatment rooms. The single rooms are minimalist cubes of white, with coffered ceilings, backlit curtains, and terrazzo floors all shining a pure white. It’s the double-bed suites, though, where things get colourful. Facing the garden are two suites, each structured into wet and dry areas. Get your blood flowing with Infinity’s signature steam HydroShower in the wet area, which comes awash in pale pink terrazzo and textured plaster surfaces.
Once you’re steamed up, move over to the massage area for your dose of deep tissue detox and aromatherapy. This space goes soothingly dark with walls rigged in deep blue acoustic paneling, and a coffered ceiling filled with – of all things – white packaging foam.
The unexpected mishmash of tailor-made furnishings with ‘makeshift’ materials like packaging foam, the designers explain, reflects Bangkok itself – a city which, for all its glitzy malls and skyscrapers, equally belongs to its flea markets and street culture. Green terrazzo washbasins and copper taps add a chic finish, while floor-to-ceiling windows filled with lush greenery turn the suite into a misty, rainforest world.
Veering dramatically from the verdant theme, the one suite not facing the garden is a desert scape unto its own. Here, you’ll find sandy pink walls that lead sharply upward to a ziggurat ceiling, stepped to resemble a pyramid and topped by a skylight. A pebbly strip of garden peeks through along one wall – it’s a whole world away from Bangkok.
Infinity Wellbeing is located at No. 22 Sukhumvit Soi 20, Khwaeng Khlong Toei, Khlong Toei, Bangkok 10110, Thailand, p. +66 2 026 3950. Open daily 9.30am–9.30pm.
All photos courtesy of Wison Tungthunya