This new forum on Vision Spa Retreat is intended to inspire free-flowing dialog about some of the challenges of visioning and then manifesting a spa venue that can truly call itself 'eco'. We're inviting questions or concerns that you can present openly or anonymously (although you must make yourself known to Vision Spa Retreat). All kinds of topics relating to ecospa could be covered, we'll just let that evolve. Feel welcome to offer ideas.
To start us off, we're looking at:
What turns an inspired spa concept proposal into
the real thing?
Recently, 'B' the managing director of an architectural firm in the UK wrote to VSR about a spa project his company has taken on.
An existing US resort (cabins accommodating just under 100 guests) on 14,000 acres of mountainous forest land currently offers golf and outdoor activities. It now wants to complement a new golf lodge, accommodating about 50 and still under construction, with an 'eco-spa' of about 9,000 square feet that will serve the 150 or so guests of the resort.
The architect (B) sent me the initial Concept and Design proposals dated end of 2007, adding that working drawings have been completed for the spa but that it will not be constructed this year as planned. Curious as to how they were bringing those early proposals down to earth, I wrote B the letter below. Although he agreed with the points made, B did not offer any specific answers.
I suspect that this is because the issues I raised are about giving as strong a foundation to ethos as to bricks-and-morter, which may not be exactly his role though I think it is one he is exploring. B's company has teamed up with a spa consultant who has a strong background in ayurvedic health and products. He kindly agreed to sharing our correspondence here.
We invite you to write in (see comment box after this post) with any thoughts that are sparked off by what you read below. Please share in the spirit of the positive (how this project could be even better) rather than negative (what is wrong with this picture). Feel free to draw on examples and experiences of your own in order to develop the dialog. And if you have an idea for another Future Spa post - let us know!
Dear Vision Spa Retreat
Thanks for that 'critique'...... all very valid points. The project is at it's beginning and we were employed by [the late owner of this family concern] to bring our design, our ethics and our vision to the resort. There was no real vision when we started. He wanted to created something in tune with nature and our concept vision document is merely that.... a vision that everyone, including the local general management and staff, will embrace, believe in and see through.
I agree with some of your comments and perhaps it could be taken as being naive but then we build dreams and we stay focused to our vision and ethics no matter how hard it is. It is normally our clients that waver and, of course, in these challenging economic times it is easy to take the route of least resistance.
We hope that the resort will be developed further with our vision and that of the late owner at the heart of it. We can only wait and see. We are waiting until the golf lodge is built and then we will see what way the resort is to be guided.
Thanks for that 'critique'...... all very valid points. The project is at it's beginning and we were employed by [the late owner of this family concern] to bring our design, our ethics and our vision to the resort. There was no real vision when we started. He wanted to created something in tune with nature and our concept vision document is merely that.... a vision that everyone, including the local general management and staff, will embrace, believe in and see through.
I agree with some of your comments and perhaps it could be taken as being naive but then we build dreams and we stay focused to our vision and ethics no matter how hard it is. It is normally our clients that waver and, of course, in these challenging economic times it is easy to take the route of least resistance.
We hope that the resort will be developed further with our vision and that of the late owner at the heart of it. We can only wait and see. We are waiting until the golf lodge is built and then we will see what way the resort is to be guided.
Below is an edited version of the letter B was responding to above. The actual proposals are not reproduced here but we hope you will still find it interesting and informative.
Dear Spa Visioneer
I realize that you are quite a lot further along the line than those brief documents convey,and that they have the conventionally upbeat tone of marketing materials.
I believe that your firm is concerned only with the spa architecture, including its interior styling and function, as part of a new golf lodge within an existing destination resort.
At first glance, it is not clear that the resort as a whole was established as a green development, except insofar as the natural setting is highly valued.
I see the issue of 'sustainability' regards spas - and authenticity in working towards this - as an ongoing process of exploration (and sharing).
We are all still refining what we really mean by the concepts and terms we are using to describe our creations and actions.
- Do our good intentions match up, and if not, how do we approach that discrepancy to present a consistent and honest reflection of our purpose?
As [your spa consultant and concept proposal writer] rightly comments in her spa concept text, the word 'spa' been overused.
I'd add that the newer term 'ecospa' is also very much a matter of interpretation on the part of the business and customer.
[Her] text was well-written but not, in the ecospa world, as unique as claimed. You're going to need to match up to some strong frontrunners.
The results of our visions - the actual doing - over both the short and long runs, come up against all kinds of 'reality' checks (building and operating costs, staffing, environment and community issues).
However high our aspirations might be (mine included) it's not easy to translate the language of ideal into actual practice.
Below are some questions that arose for me after reading your concept documents. I think these establish an important background for any such development.
The construction materials, technology incorporated, and layout reflecting what will actually be offered in your spa, will all want to convey this background philosophy.
The concept text reads: 'we plan to meet with native people and find out first hand'.
- Do you now have such people on board locally? How do you determine that they are authentic and supportive?
(All over the world - including the US - indigenous peoples do not share much enthusiasm for 'western' land development projects or the adoption and adaptation of their sacred practices.)
The concept text assumes a warm welcome from willing nature spirits.
- Are you or [the resort] really collaborating with the land/spirits? How do you know or show this?
(It has been suggested that the very structure of a technological and consumer/product-orientated culture prevents it from communicating in any depth with the native peoples or the nature spirits.)
The text assumes experienced local staff with the ability to interpret and share such wild spirit knowledge with clients.
- Do you have such people, or are you confident they can be found?
- Do you think it is possible to 'train' spa staff to offer or represent that highly skilled practice?
(Right now, the spa industry is both expanding and failing, true 'healer' staff are lacking, and those that exist are not infrequently very poorly compensated for the work that they do.)
- Where does [the resort] stand regards solutions to the challenging state the industry finds itself in?
The text talks about 'premium' and 'profitable' signature treatments based on natural local ingredients and tiling and lighting that captures the feel of moss-covered river rocks.
- Is [the resort] fully acquainted with local conservation issues regards both plants and materials and the potential impact of harvesting these?
(The taking of wild medicinals from the land is on the increase in the US, largely unregulated, and a cause of great concern to those who are trying to protect, conserve, and make good use of such herbs.
In order to create the spa retreat that my ex-husband and I ran in the Ozarks, I had to address local mining issues that threatened water-quality in the environment in which we were working.)
- Is [the resort] prepared to take an active and proactive response to help protect the natural environment in which it is sited, as part of the eco-spa ethic it purports to represent?
(Where I live in Missouri, the forest is being impacted by increasingly wild storms that some suggest are related to climate change, and the effects of economic recession on the US timber trade.
We are becoming painfully aware of our lack of understanding and knowledge when it comes to really taking care of the forest land and doing what is best for it's survival as well as our own.)
- Is [this particular region], is [this company], that different? How are businesses and the local community working together to face this?
(For Vision Spa Retreat, ecospa means a venture that is concerned with both safeguarding and celebrating the natural world.
I believe we need to find ways to articulate the truth about what, as a culture (or as a business within that), we are trying to repair and reclaim; without fantasizing a paradisical past or pristine present.)
- Do you envisage that prospective customers want to participate in the reality that faces us all, or to escape from it?
- Can you dare to present the ecospa concept more openly, honestly and realistically than the hotel and spa industry generally does?
Vision Spa Retreat believes it is possible and necessary to develop promotional materials that accurately reflect both a company's mission and the current state of its development.
What do you think?
We invite you to write in (see comment box after this post) with any thoughts that are sparked off by what you read below. Please share in the spirit of the positive (how this project could be even better) rather than negative (what is wrong with this picture). Feel free to draw on examples and experiences of your own in order to develop the dialog. And if you have an idea for another Future Spa post - let us know!
