Bathhouse Flatiron options atmospheric interiors by Rockwell Group

Bathhouse Flatiron,  by New York studio Rockwell Group, was reworked from a Manhattan parking storage into a complicated vacation spot for rest and socialising. The second Bathhouse outpost to open in NYC invitations patrons right into a communal house the place they will transfer between cold and hot swimming pools, identical to the Greeks and Romans did two millennia in the past. However not like the bathhouses of antiquity, the interiors listed here are intriguingly darkish and futuristic, extra akin to a trendy nightclub than classical thermae.

Inside Bathhouse Flatiron, New York

The brand new Flatiron location for Bathhouse follows the success of the corporate’s inaugural outpost in Williamsburg, housed inside a former soda manufacturing unit that’s filled with uncovered brickwork, subway tile, and different industrial particulars. Not lengthy after opening in 2021, co-founders Travis Talmadge and Jason Goodman employed Rockwell Group to conceptualise a second location, throughout the East River on West twenty second Road, which started welcoming guests earlier in January 2024.

Though lacking the identical wealthy architectural bones, the empty concrete shell provided a clean slate that allowed for giant open areas and offered freedom to implement a newly developed visible language for the situation. ‘Our design idea for Bathhouse’s first Manhattan location was the thought of the hero’s journey, the frequent template in our tales from mythology that entails a hero who embarks on an epic journey or quest, encounters challenges with a decisive apex, and returns dwelling reworked by the journey and private progress,’ stated Rockwell Group principal and studio chief Michael Fischer.

Upon arrival, guests are greeted at a street-level reception and retail house, with a central stone counter that funnels incoming and outgoing foot visitors on both aspect. As soon as registered, the visitors embark on their ‘journey’ as they descend down a sequence of dramatically illuminated staircases and thru a number of portals, which every point out entry to a special practical space. ‘The view is all the time obscured as you progress alongside the route, so that you by no means fairly see the vacation spot,’ stated Fischer, whose workforce deliberately configured the labyrinthine locker rooms and quarter-turn stairs so as to add to the sense of thriller.

A moody materials palette additionally elevates the ambiance. Travertine, fluted glass, stone, concrete, tile, and patinated metals are used collectively to create ‘a brand new architectural language, permitting visitors to really feel as if they’ve found futuristic remnants from an historical civilization,’ Fischer stated. For instance, a sequence of inverted pyramid buildings coated in patterned markings are suspended over among the bathing swimming pools, revealing lighting installations inside when considered from beneath.

Together with the new, chilly and temperate swimming pools, facilities embody a hot-coal dry sauna, a banya, an infrared sauna, and a steam room—all stored at completely different temperatures. A separate space for many who’ve booked remedies like massages and scrubs has a further salt-water pool, and there’s additionally a restaurant serving drinks and snacks. Bathhouse day passes can be found, providing a perfect winter exercise in NYC.