The project was taken care of by Design Group Italia with interiors requiring a collaborative effort with Basalt Architects of Iceland.
In Iceland, Nature Is Stronger Than You
The Retreat at Blue Lagoon Iceland
It may sound like an unusual statement, but once you experience The Retreat at Blue Lagoon Iceland, you get it. That’s partly because the 62-room resort hotel is embedded in the lava formations and turquoise-coloured geothermal pools of the Blue Lagoon complex. The complex sits comfortably within the UNESCO Global Geopark.
The project was taken care of by Design Group Italia with interiors requiring a collaborative effort with Basalt Architects of Iceland. The interiors are not what you may expect at a resort of any kind as they contain colours and materials that mimic the landscape surrounding the Blue Lagoon complex.
In other words, expect the colour of lava, vivid green moss, and bright blue water.
Chief design officer Sigurdur Thorsteinsson says that was part of the inspiration and helped to tie the building together with the landscape it is located on. This means the surfaces on the interior of the hotel and in the rooms are more like what you would see outside of the hotel. As an example, lava blocks were brought into the building and used as both a building and furniture material.
Thorsteinsson puts it into perspective with the statement,
“We wanted basically to have continuity between nature, the interior, and exterior.”
Probably the most impressive feature of the hotel is the spa. It provides a series of indoor and outdoor baths and treatments that draw on the local inventory of natural products. This means a spa treatment at The Retreat at Blue Lagoon Iceland is going to involve the mineral-rich geothermal waters, silica, and algae.
The goal of the resort hotel is to reconnect visitors with the natural world around them and to impress upon city folk that nature is stronger than you and as a result, you should be humbled to be in its presence. Well, at least Thorsteinsson feels that way.
“In Iceland, it is very easy to get connected (to nature) because nature is so strong and you’re aware of it and you know it’s stronger than you.”
Ideally, the setting for The Retreat at Blue Lagoon Iceland is relaxing as a resort with a spa should be. However, the setting is also meant to inspire hotel guests so that when they go back to their homes, they’ll have a better appreciation of nature.
It’s a lofty goal if you consider the hustle and bustle of the average city dweller. But that’s the point of the Blue Lagoon complex. It’s a place that removes you from the rat race you live in daily. Think of The Retreat at Blue Lagoon in Iceland as unplugging you from your daily scurrying about and connecting you to a slower, calmer pace where you can relax and recharge.
They must be onto something.
The Retreat has already won an award. The facility was honoured at the AHEAD Europe hospitality awards last November in London. It was entered in the Resort Hotel category.
Hot water pools, algae, moss and lava blocks aside, if you needed to get away from it all, wouldn’t Iceland be about as far as you’d go?
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