What ancient thermal culture can teach us when designing today’s wellness spaces

Have we really invented anything new when we talk about a wellness journey?

Probably not. Even in ancient Rome, wellness was not conceived as merely having a basin or a warm room. The thermal baths were complex, structured spaces built around water, temperatures, transitions, and varying lengths of stay.

Environments like the tepidarium, calidarium, and frigidarium guided individuals through different physical sensations. Heat prepared the body, water introduced contrasting temperatures, and dedicated spaces encouraged rest and recovery.

In other words, long before the term SPA existed, the concept of a wellness journey was already established.

Not a collection of rooms, but a sequence

This is perhaps the most compelling lesson we can revisit today. When designing a contemporary SPA, we often risk thinking in terms of individual components: sauna, steam bath, emotional shower, whirlpool, relaxation area.

However, simply having all these elements does not mean you have designed a good wellness experience.

The key question should be different: In what sequence will the guest encounter them, and what will they feel as they move from one space to the next?

This is precisely where ancient wisdom becomes surprisingly modern. The true value lies not merely in the individual space, but in the relationship between spaces.

Warm and cool.
Water and rest.
Light and shadow.
Stimulation and silence.

It is this rhythm and alternation that construct the experience.

The lesson for small SPAs

This principle becomes even more crucial when working with boutique hotels, historic relais, masserie, and properties with limited space. A compact SPA doesn’t need to offer a endless list of services.

What it needs is a clear, intentional journey. A sauna can connect with a refreshing shower and lead into a relaxation area overlooking the landscape. A hammam can be followed by an emotional shower, a moment of immersion, and finally rest. A small pool can serve as the seamless connection between indoor and outdoor spaces.

A few elements, when designed in the right sequence, can create a far more profound experience than a large SPA that merely accumulates equipment.

Because every element must serve a purpose within a broader narrative.

And that is perhaps the greatest legacy we can inherit from ancient thermal baths.

Two thousand years have passed, technologies have changed, and wellness architecture has evolved.

Yet one fundamental principle remains strikingly relevant:

Wellness is not designed by adding elements. It is designed by building relationships between elements.

And it is precisely from these relationships that a truly memorable experience is born.

Nadira Benessere
Supporters and builders of wellness.

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