Italian spa and wellness design firm Studio Apostoli has been appointed to help renovate a nature-centric spa complex, Terme di Comano, in Trentino, Italy.

Known since the mid-19th century for its healing mineral water, Terme di Comano is located between the Brenta Dolomites and Lake Garda. The local water is high in calcium-magnesium bicarbonate and is claimed to help treat skin and respiratory issues.

Designed as a retreat in nature, the existing destination sits within a 14-hectare park and is home to an expansive day spa and hotel, Grand Hotel Terme di Comano.

"To be allowed to redesign a historical healing space like Terme di Comano is amazing,” says Alberto Apostoli, studio founder. “The project aims to preserve its founding values by combining them with a more contemporary philosophy to reinvent it as a place of total wellbeing focused on physical, mental and social health."

The vision

Tasked with redesigning the 11,135sq m complex, Studio Apostoli’s vision is to create a seven-floor building dedicated to personal wellbeing with 12 themed areas all anchored by the central theme of water.

Designed to cater to families and individuals, planned therapies include thermal bathing, phototherapy, sensory stimulation and nebulisation.

A water experience area will be flanked by a medical spa, wellness pathways, an outdoor pool, whirlpools, a panoramic sauna and a classically-inspired Thermae Romanae.

A fitness area will also be on offer and accommodate rehabilitation and recovery treatments for professional and amateur athletes alike, thanks to the use of innovative technologies including virtual reality.

A beauty and nutrition-focused area will be juxtaposed with rooms dedicated to spiritual care, mindfulness and meditation – both indoor and outdoor.

Finally, the complex will be completed by a preventive and diagnostic medicine section with an operating theatre and inpatient ward, a retail space, an F&B area with a restaurant bar, a 70-seat congress hall and offices.

The project is set to be completed by 2025. The first phase, including strategic planning and project consulting, was concluded in 2022 and the basic guidelines of the project were defined and set.

Sustainability, innovation, care for the local area and performance are the pillars underpinning the project. The overarching goal is to create an international landmark of wellness.

Organic inspirationThe wellness facility’s interior concept will symbolise the layering of the natural environment shaped by the element of water – from the riverbed to the mountain peaks – with different levels and gradient colours, enhanced by lighting and the presence of green details, biophilic walls and blended indoor/outdoor areas.

Neutral colours will recall the surrounding landscape and be contrasted with multiple shades of blue.

Meanwhile, geometric volumes will be complemented with organic and fluid forms. Natural stone and the continuous shape of the circle will also feature strongly in the layout of the rooms and the lighting scheme.