YTK Hotels will debut The Gainsborough Bath Spa in Bath, England, this spring.
In designing the property, Champalimaud Design and EPR Architects London drew on Bath’s classical roots, resulting in a fusion of contemporary style and Georgian influences. The property is situated on the remains of a Roman settlement and ancient baths. In fact, as the property’s redevelopment began, archaeologists found more than 17,000 ancient coins.
The building was originally the United Hospital, designed by John Pinch. The hospital operated between 1824 and 1932, and the building subsequently housed the Bath School of Art & Design until 2005. The hotel will draw its name from the property’s scholastic history: Thomas Gainsborough was a Bath portrait artist. YTL has chosen three students from the school to create commissioned artwork for prominent display in the Gainsborough Bath Spa’s public spaces.
The hotel’s 99 guestrooms overlook the UNESCO World Heritage City and the countryside, with long draperies framing the windows. Antimacassars over the headboards of the two-poster beds depict a classic Gainsborough pastoral scene on toile. The custom, built-in wardrobes have lit, burl wood interiors with drawers and lots of hanging space. The marble bathrooms have heated floors and alcove roll top bathtubs; the tubs in three Spa Suites will have a third tap to allow guests to bathe in thermal water in their own rooms.
Spa Village Bath will have direct access to natural thermal waters, which YTK says is unique among U.K. hotel spas. The design of the spa blends modern touches with architecture typical of surviving Roman baths. A glass atrium covers three pools of warm thermal water. In keeping with Roman tradition, the pool temperatures differ by a few degrees and are intended to be experienced in sequence. The spa also offers treatment rooms, an ice room, saunas, and a steam room as well as a Romanesque colonnade, contemporary interpretations of Georgian lanterns, and a replica of a Roman mosaic floor discovered by 19th-century archaeologists.
The spa’s second level draws inspiration from YTK’s Green Leaf Niseko Village in Japan with a tatami and VIP room with a wooden Ofuru-style soaking tub with river rocks. The Fountain Room gives bathers a chance to taste the thermal water.
The Gainsborough Bath Spa is also home to a country bistro that seats 94, with butterscotch-colored leather seating, herringbone floors and banquettes in window niches. The space also includes an open fireplace, a wine wall, and a mural by a Bath School of Art & Design student. The bar is built from oak with a white calacatta gold marble top; a de Stijl-inspired composition of metal and glass panels in shades of pink, peach and pastels hangs behind the bar.