TaiOursea Laomendong Spa in Nanjing by RoarcRenew

The ancient city of Nanjing, China is home to the TaiOursea Laomendong Spa by RoarcRenew, drawing on Thai principles of rest and relaxation. With a client looking to bring Thai massage to China, the designers allude to the culture and symbolism of Thailand throughout the interior.

After being damaged by war, the government reconstructed buildings across Nanjing in traditional Chinese style, demonstrating the historical culture of the city. In the commercial cluster of Men Dong where the spa is located, black bricks are a particularly symbolic building material. RoarcRenew put a spin on this with their use of red bricks, a reference to the popular red clay bricks used in Thai architecture. The designers feel the roughly textured clay evokes the feeling of walking barefoot through the soil, a further reference to the landscape of South Asia.

“Identifying architecturally symbolic significance of bricks, Roarc Renew considers bricks as the ‘soul’ of a space. Black and red bricks are the same form of material, but they represent different cultures,” explain the designers.

RoarcRenew classified the bricks into five different sizes, laid in various formations throughout the spa. Thai characters that symbolize good fortune are embossed onto the surface of certain bricks throughout the interior. Some walls feature protruding bricks that function as shelves for glowing lamps, a symbol of prayer and meditation that creates a sense of ceremony at the spa. The custom square-shaped lamps echo the orderly formation of the bricks. An outer façade of the spa is lined with the lamps, too, creating a beacon effect come nightfall.

“The heart shaking effect brought by lighting-up of thousands of lamps is appealing. Actually, without being restrained by form, the ‘divinity’ and ‘field spirit’ of religion are completely inherited in this design,” explain RoarcRenew.

Furnishing and décor are minimal, with the all-brick surfaces providing wealth and pattern and texture as is. Carefully selected additional elements reference the artisanal handicrafts of South East Asia, such as basketry, carpentry, textile, printing and dyeing. These include unique printing moulds from Burmese textile workshops, golden chanting plates with ancient Thai characters meant to bring luck, and bronze lotus leaf-shaped disks sourced from India and Burma.