Inside Recess, a social wellness club in Montreal designed by Future Simple Studio, where the room is built to do the social work.
Modern bathhouses such as RECESS are becoming some of the most compelling design spaces to pay attention to.
In many big cities, from Singapore and Paris to Montreal, modern bathhouses are becoming some of the most compelling design spaces to pay attention to. They offer a communal space that gives city dwellers a reason to gather that feels lighter, healthier, and leaves them with a clear head. They are also beautifully designed, which makes each visit worthwhile.
It is easy to dismiss this as another wellness trend. But that would miss the larger shift in how cities socialize. Across North America, Europe, and major cities in Asia, a new generation of social wellness clubs is reshaping how cities gather, turning contrast therapy and communal bathing into a shared social ritual.
Courtesy of Future Simple Studio (Design) | Photography by Félix Michaud
An excellent example of this change is RECESS, a social wellness club designed by Future Simple Studio, located in Montreal, Canada. Also known as RECESS Thermal Station, it is a 75-minute social sauna and ice bath experience, moving guests through a hot and cold circuit that begins in a circular sauna built for fifty people and continues with a cold plunge. The space also features Aēsop as its amenities partner.
RECESS is built around a design conviction that the room itself has to do the social work. Instead of the typical rectangular sauna, which places people in rows, Future Simple Studio chose a circular form, which places sauna goers in a ring, facing each other and sharing the same temperature. The ice plunge for twelve does the same. After the heat and the cold, the lounge offers a softer place to relax, with art and music in the background. Each zone has its own atmosphere and its own reason for being there.
Courtesy of Future Simple Studio (Design) | Photography by Félix Michaud
We love this shift, and we believe it carries a wider meaning. Modern bathhouses such as RECESS suggest a new way of social gathering that is slower, clearer, and a little kinder to the body. A generation of designers and operators is now creating social bathhouses and urban saunas organized around the concept of a healthier kind of gathering. RECESS, designed by Future Simple Studio, is one of many projects making the case, and the way cities gather is quietly being redesigned. Wellness architecture is now becoming a more serious conversation within the industry.
