Spa garden design special: Phil Jaffa, Scape Design

Philip Jaffa, founder of Scape Design, discusses the importance of reconnecting with nature and how spa garden design can enhance the spa guest journey.

Humankind’s deep-rooted emotional response to nature has been integral to everything my practice has created. We are committed to engaging with and furthering the debate on how best to reconnect humanity with nature through our tourism projects.

One of the greatest challenges we face as humans has come from our separation from the natural world. Our work via the landscapes we create is to find simple yet pioneering ways to promote inner balance and harmony for spa guests through a reconnection to the natural world and with it, a deeper connection to oneself.

A holistic approach to wellbeing requires us as designers, and hotel operators, to embrace the opportunity for wellbeing throughout the experience of each resort and for the entire duration of each guest’s stay. Hence, all the landscaped environment of a resort can become an opportunity to promote health, wellbeing and connection to the local environment and the wider beauty of nature.

Exploring the benefits of nature In several of our current projects we are opening up the opportunity for guests to really explore the entire grounds of a destination for the purpose of finding that deeper connection to nature, with remote massage pavilions offering spectacular views, yoga decks aligned to the morning sun located on coastal rockscapes, crossfit stations added to the usual tennis and sports areas, or a sauna cave hidden away.

Organic garden spaces, when used creatively, can add an entirely new dimension to the wellbeing experience. Dietitians can promote and educate guests on balanced diets and ways to grow healthy vegetables, chefs can host organic cooking classes in an outdoor kitchen.

Some braver hotels are taking it a step further with stronger ties to ancient indigenous health practices. This may include the creation of labyrinth and Chakra gardens for colour and sensual therapies, and the building of Yoga Shala, tepees, yurts and sweat lodges for dynamic group sessions.

We strive to incorporate natural contours and encourage architects to blend the buildings into the landscape as much as possible. Most importantly our work involves deep listening to what the land wants to tell us: where to place the sunset yoga deck or to position and orientate a grove of shady trees, for example. We seek the unexpected, like a unique rockface that cries out to be integrated into our design solution. www.scapeda.co.uk