Studio Apostoli has designed an immersive water-based spa experience called Arché Water Path Luxury Experience, based on a concept by live entertainment production company Balich Wonder Studio.

The modular concept is sold as a product that can be built in many different environments to deliver long-lasting benefits for operators. The various experience modules can sit independently of one another or be combined.

The creative concept was devised by Balich Wonder Studio while Studio Apostoli developed the layout, adding treatments and technologies. It blends wellness facilities with entertainment.

Water is the core theme of the design, representing the origin of wellbeing. Arché also takes its name from the Ancient Greek meaning of origin and beginnings.

To stimulate all five senses, the project includes the use of metallic and mirrored surfaces, vegetation, aromatherapy, soundscapes, digital content, lighting and dramatic effects.

Alberto Apostoli, founder of Studio Apostoli, said: “Arché Water Path Luxury Experience is not simply a project but a concept. Wellness is ‘on demand’ and tailored to the needs of each guest as well as the requirements of the hospitality venue, including its spaces and the type of offering desired.

“The entertainment component is a central element, responding to the growing leisure trend in getaways and more structured wellness journeys,” added Apostoli. “Designing Arché alongside Balich Wonder Studio has been an invaluable experience: their expertise in major international events and technical and engineering expertise has been the perfect complement to our more than twenty years of wellness design experience.”

Below are the zones that can be interconnected to create the full bathing circuit:

1. Threshold – The experience begins with a suspended walkway over water, with waterfalls.

2. Purification Tunnel – This is a mist-filled space to help guests transition into the bathing circuit and disconnect from the outside world.

3. Aquatic Maze – A circular labyrinth is divided into interconnected zones that offer a pool for swimming, a hot tub around a fire pit, water features and showers, a beach of dark volcanic sand and digitally-projected wall patterns and soundscapes.

4. Navel – This underwater passage leads to a cave that features bioluminescent effects.

5. Latitudes – Users can enter concentric tunnels that replicate contrasting regions of the planet, such as desert, jungle, Arctic and volcanic landscapes. These are enhanced with sound, visuals, textures and aromas.

6. Greenhouse – This is a tropical decompression garden that hosts a space for food and beverage.

7. Biosphere – A space with square geometry with LED screens on the walls and ceiling that display natural phenomena.

8. Cocoon – A sensory-deprivation dome for meditation in a salt-infused flotation pool

9. Rain Renewal – This space represents a bamboo forest with a rain effect with four private treatment areas: a halo room with negative-ion salt therapy, a hammam, a Finnish sauna and salt baths.

10. Eden – A food and beverage offering is provided in a lush garden

Gianmaria Serra, co-founder and group executive president of Balich Wonder Studio, said: “We are delighted to have collaborated on the Arché project – a sensory, emotional, and spiritual experience that brings together our two worlds: on one hand, the realm of wellness, in which Studio Apostoli is a recognised expert; on the other, live entertainment, a sector in which Balich Wonder Studio has operated for years, exporting wonder across the globe.

“Supported by the emotional masterplan underpinning our creative concept, mind-body wellbeing is elevated through encounters with hypnotic, immersive landscapes crafted from water, light, and materials,” added Serra. “Through a diverse range of experiences, water – in all its forms and states – becomes a medium for play, contemplation and regeneration. It is blended with video, lighting and sound within immersive, ever-evolving environments that bring to life fluid and surprising worlds.”

“By recreating external landscapes and internal spaces through the transformative power of water, we have been able to offer visitors an intimate journey of discovery - both of the world around them and of themselves,” concluded Serra.