The dawn of eco-indulgence

Energy use in a spa is typically high, but one Berkshire establishment is changing the energy-guzzling reputation of the relaxation industry – starting with the lighting. Jill Entwistle reports

One rarely associates the average spa and its patrons with eco awareness. The closest most get to green issues is a seaweed wrap.

Coworth Park Spa is an exception. Despite the apparent oxymoron, it is an eco-luxury spa with impeccable ecological credentials, from its lime hemp walls and living roof to its subterranean setting in the contours of the Berkshire landscape.

This presented a self-evident challenge for the lighting, which not only had to be pared down to its energy minimum, but also work alongside green building techniques. “One of the real challenges was that we couldn’t recess much in the ceiling because of the sustainable, bio-composite materials they were using,” says Ben Stephens of Light and Design Associates. “We had to find ways to hide our light fixtures wherever possible.”

Indirect LED light

The answer was indirect lighting and the key source – high output LED. “We used the soft colours and natural fabrics to reflect the subdued lighting,” says Stephens.

“SOFT COLOURS AND NATURAL FABRICS REFLECT THE SUBDUED LIGHTING” BEN STEPHENS, LIGHT AND DESIGN ASSOCIATES

Circulation routes, for instance, are lit by a combination of linear inground wallwash uplights that provide the main illumination, and concealed roof light wash lights. The customised inground troughs (using 3000K Duo Luna LEDs with 120° beam) create a line of light that follows the form of the curved wall. Linear LED modules (also 3000K and 120° beam) are mounted at a 60° angle on the sill of the clerestory windows to direct light at the barrel ceiling. Not a downlight in sight.

“During the day, daylight floods into the corridor all the way along,” says Stephens. “We tried to replicate a sense of daylight in the evening by having these LEDs washing on to the curved ceiling.”

Treatment rooms

The treatment rooms are lit with custom-made LED reed lights (the reed motif crops up both inside and out), which project from the ceiling over the treatment couch to create gentle relaxing illumination. The rooms, which also have a curved ceiling feature, have the same sill-mounted LED detail in the window used in the corridors. “Part of the brief was they wanted natural light during the day, a kind of Scandinavian feel, and then in the evening they wanted much more subdued lighting, almost down to candlelight levels,” says Stephens. “We used dimming as much as possible to achieve those really low levels.”

Dimming was approached carefully. “You can’t dim down to absolute zero with LEDs, only to about five to 10 per cent, without flickering or changing colour. We were careful from the beginning to ensure we knew the exact limits of the dimmability, so we could get down to the levels we needed.”

In such a luxurious environment it was hard to avoid tungsten halogen altogether, says Stephens. “We tried not to use halogen downlighting wherever possible, but there were occasions when we wanted to use decorative light fixtures, like table and wall lamps, where there was no alternative but to use halogen.” Limited use was made of tungsten halogen downlights to the spatisserie area, but these will soon be replaced with GU10-equivalent LED replacements.

Colour change

Outside, the pool area is lit by a combination of in-pool colour-change LED fixtures. The same inground fixtures used in the corridor accentuate the curved line of the retaining structural wall. Natural stone crystal sculptures are accentuated by LED spotlights and contemporary wall lights, with a limited use of tungsten halogen sources to lift the space. On the roof of the pool room, sculptural internally lit reeds echo the ceiling feature in the treatment rooms, which look out towards it.

While challenging, continued improvements in LED technology made the scheme a lot easier to pull off than it would have been only comparatively recently, says Stephens

“You’re now getting enough output from LEDs, they’re bright enough and powerful enough, but the energy consumption remains relatively low. Quality and consistency is also much better. I don’t think it would have been possible, or at least it would have been very tricky, to realise a quality scheme at such low energy levels, say five years ago.”

Ultimately, however, the need to drive down the energy figures proved an inspirational rather than an inhibiting factor, he says. “It was a creative and interesting process. The constraints are what help you to be creative.”

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