AHC Waterful Desert Spa is the new flagship location and a renewed spa brand of the Korean beauty brand AHC.
The soft-hued, open and airy spa provides an antidote to the endless hustle of the 9.8-million-inhabitant city’s Gangnam (Gangnam-gu – South of the River) district that is the capital’s modern high-end, high-energy centre with its skyscrapers, nightclubs and shopping.
Local design firm FLYmingo created the calm and pleasing atmosphere using a smartly edited set of visual effects. FLYmingo directors, Kim Junho and Hwang Jiyeon with team members Oh Hwayoung, Lee Suji and Kim Minji selected a soothing colour palette of white accented with warm off-whites and sand-tones, and a set of gentle curving elements that direct the eye and create a sense of flow.
Located by the Han River, Seoul has an intimate link with flowing water, so the central winding water-feature is a natural. The soft, curving form repeats gently in the arched doorways and windows and in the shapes of the furniture, mirrors and lighting.
Lush plants add a touch of outdoors and provide an accent colour. The lovely sail-like awning stretching over the terrace projects once again the lightness and breezy calm expressed so beautifully in the entire 330 square-metre (3,552 sq.ft) spa.
The goal of the design team was to provide a place for a spacation for the wary pandemic-stressed urbanites, a relaxing and calming break from the constant noise and crowds of the city. And they have more than succeeded. It really does feel impossible to believe that this is located right in the middle of a super-busy metropolis and not in a beach-front hotel.
Carver Korea https://www.ahc.co.kr/ and the AHC product line were originally established in 1999 by as a skincare product brand. It has since expanded from a fairly exclusive product line to a mass-appeal brand, and its Play Zone beauty salon/spa/shops provide not just the products but also skincare, spa, makeup, nail and hair treatments. In 2017, Carver Korea became part of the Unilever group of companies. Tuija Seipell
Images Yongjoon Choi
