Household has created the interior, exterior and customer journey for a new 'active relaxation' experience at North Cornwall's surfers paradise spot, Watergate Bay Hotel.
Active and social relaxation lie at the heart of the hotel's most extensive developments to date. From this month there will be a 25-metre ocean view infinity pool encased in glass, allowing natural daylight to pour in and flowing out to timber-decked terraces with built-in seating and large comfy cushions. A wooden boardwalk will take you straight down to the beach and past a cedar-wood hot tub and there's a new cafe-bar and an ocean living room.
There are also treatment rooms, a well-stocked gym, exercise studio and a temperature controlled 'surf-in-surf-out room' for wet suits and surf gear to be stored and dried. All elements have been designed by London based Household, who have solid expertise in designing for the ultimate guest stay.
Watergate Bay is described by its managing director, Will Ashworh as a 'ski-resort on the beach'. "The experience at Watergate Bay Hotel is all about the balance of life," Ashworth said. "It's being active, getting amongst the elements, eating and drinking well, spoiling yourself a little, chilling out, getting cosy and most of all, having a good time.
We were really impressed by Household's approach to the design. They've worked with us to successfully reflect that feeling of understated luxury and comfort, right on target with our core customer. Collaborating with Household and the architects Stride Treglown has resulted in giving our guests an experience that will underpin Watergate Bay Hotel as the perfect choice for a year-round escape."
To reflect the informal 'ski-resort' feel, Household created elements for the hotel that would challenge the traditional way of thinking. The new leisure facilities steer away from the typically formal, hushed, clinical and sterile 'spa' offers, to present an active, relaxed, stylishly warm, 'lived-in' and sustainable space.
"Watergate Bay Hotel is about family friendly year round relaxed beach living, there are no rules, just the way it should be," said Sarah Page, Creative Director at Household. "It's perfectly imperfect. Our design approach offers guests an environment that gives that something extra, something that invites you to leave the chaos behind and feel free to create your own space.
We've thought carefully about all the customer touch-points, not just the core facilities, but the important spaces in between. For example, the boardwalk acts as the link for all that's available to find at Watergate Bay. You're taken on a journey to discover what fits your mood, whether that's hideaways, social hubs, lookouts, foodie treats, feet-up, snooze spots or sun-spots. Our eye for detail and experience in understanding what customers want is designed to make people feel right at home, all year round."
Household won the project to design the new active, relaxed facilities at Watergate Bay Hotel on the basis of their work for Soho House Group's exclusive members club, Shoreditch House. They worked closely with the team at Watergate Bay and architects Stride Treglown, to place a focus on the use of locally sourced materials.
Photography: Kirstin Prisk