As a rule, spa treatments don't usually take place in barns. Then again, as a rule, farms aren’t usually in shops. In commissioning Something & Son (the brains behind Dalston’s hugely successful Farm:shop, complete with indoor allotments and a rooftop chicken coop) to design the new Barking Bathhouse in East London, art initiative Create probably wasn’t expecting luxury treatment rooms and champagne receptions.
Designed as a temporary retreat (from 13 July to 9 September) for the Olympics’ crowd and locals alike, the Barking Bathhouse will offer all the traditional relaxation services you might want, including saunas, massages and manicures. What sets it apart, however, is its rather industrial milieu.
The bathhouse will take the form of a series of prefabricated pods, inspired by the black-stained timber farm buildings of Essex and the wooden beach huts of Kent. The interior, meanwhile, echoes the no frills working men’s bathhouses of the 20th century, eschewing conventional spa opulence in favour of a laid-back haven in which people can meet and socialise, as well as enjoy some pampering.
Visitors to the Bathhouse - part bar, part spa - can enjoy cocktails or smoothies under a cucumber canopy before retreating to the relaxation space or the 'shingle dunes' to catch a few rays. The spa features natural products that are made from produce from local allotments. The sauna is found in the boiler room and the cold room uses a pioneering ‘dry ice’ chiller with northern lights.
With wellbeing at the heart of the bathhouse, a programme of feel-good events will run the duration, from laughter yoga and meditation classes to a workshop offering Photoshop makeovers, showing how media images of beauty are unattainable without the deft use of a mouse.
Catch this treat while you can - come September the pre-fab pod-based structure will be dissembled and relocated in playgrounds, youth centres and even the odd allotment.
The building will comprise pod-like prefabricated units, inspired by the black-stained timber farm buildings of Essex and the wooden beach huts of Kent
The spa will offer natural products, made from produce sourced from local allotments
Echoing the no frills working men’s bathhouses of the 20th century, the interior eschews conventional spa opulence in favour of a laid-back haven in which people can meet and socialise, as well as enjoy some pampering. Pictured is the Sand Dunes room, where visitors can catch some rays between treatments
The cold room will incorporate a pioneering ‘dry ice’ chiller and 'northern lights'
ADDRESS
Barking Bathhouse
Axe Street,
Barking & Dagenham, IG11 7LX
-
Unlike the gloriously grotesque imagery in his films, Yorgos Lanthimos’ photographs are quietly beautifulAn exhibition at Webber Gallery in Los Angeles presents Yorgos Lanthimos’ photography
-
Remembering architect David M Childs (1941-2025) and his New York skyline legacyDavid M Childs, a former chairman of architectural powerhouse SOM, has passed away. We celebrate his professional achievements
-
At the Institute of Indology, a humble new addition makes all the differenceContinuing the late Balkrishna V Doshi’s legacy, Sangath studio design a new take on the toilet in Gujarat
-
Introducing Wallpaper’s new video series, The Stuff That SurroundsIn The Stuff That Surrounds, Wallpaper* explores a life through objects. First up, we go inside the eclectic Barbican flat of creative director and designer Veronica Ditting
-
Tamart’s ‘Clore’ floor lamp revives a modernist lighting classicTamart debuts the 'Clore' floor lamp, a handblown glass design originally created in 1963 for Sir Charles Clore's London penthouse
-
‘It feels almost alive’: This rare Judy Kensley McKie ‘Leopard Couch’ could be yoursDesigner Judy Kensley McKie’s 1983 ‘Leopard Couch’ will be auctioned at Phillips; one of her first fully realised sculptural furniture designs, it’s a zoomorphic delight
-
First look: Step inside a Tatjana von Stein-designed show apartment at 60 CurzonThe Mayfair development has launched its second show apartment, imagined by interior designer du jour Tatjana von Stein. Wallpaper* gets a first look at the Art Deco-inspired space
-
Find interior design inspiration at Eba’s new Marylebone showroomEba, a specialist in kitchen and living room design, brings its elevated interiors to London’s Marylebone
-
‘London: Lost Interiors’ gathers unseen imagery of some of the capital’s most spectacular homesThis new monograph is a fascinating foray into the interior life of London, charting changing tastes, emerging styles and the shifting social history of grand houses in the heart of a fast-changing city
-
Anglepoise and National Trust look to Britain’s coastal landscape for a new blue lighting collectionAnglepoise and National Trust announce their third lighting collection, Neptune Blue
-
Designer James Shaw’s latest creation is a self-built home in east LondonJames Shaw's east London home is Filled with vintage finds and his trademark extruded plastic furniture, a compact self-built marvel
