Saucier and Perrotte - Scandinave les Bains

Saucier and Perrotte created a relaxation spa centre named Scandinave Les Bains in Montreal.

This spa centre has the particularity to have a thermal therapy experience that engages each of the body senses. Indeed, the aim of the project is to create different experiences that involve the human senses in different ways. 

For that, Saucier and Perrotte combined hot and cold temperature into the bath to create a reaction with the human body. Hence, they installed few white angular masses of glass formation and add to it the porosity of hot volcanic rocks. That part of the project concerns the sense of the touch but the sound, the vision, the smell and the taste are also included in the project.

The sound comes directly from the water. The Architects create cascades and water flows in the baths but also on the glass windows so that from outside we can only see the silhouettes of bathers which keep their intimacy.

The architecture of the building is related to the visual sense. Indeed, the way that the interior design has been created looks like a natural landscape. The floor has been made of wood and has slight undulations that form little inclinations.  The same phenomenon happens on the ceilings. Volumes emerged from the ground to define the steam rooms and baths. Opaque glass widows have been positioned on the existing opening of the buildings to create a natural light, the purity of the space and the intimacy allow bathers to enjoy a moment of tranquillity.