Stylt wins global award for spa design

Posted in News on 3 July, 2017

The Well, Scandinavia’s largest day-spa, located in Oslo, has won a global award for its design. The designer, Erik Nissen Johansen (Norwegian by birth) and his agency Stylt continues to amaze the industry, winning one prestigious award after another. This time the prize, The International Hotel & Property Award, was presented at a gala on the Amalfi coast in Italy.

“This award is especially meaningful as the winners are chosen not by a jury but by our peers – designers, hotel industry people, and of course the guests themselves,” said Erik Nissen Johansen, founder and creative director of Stylt.

With its 10500 m2, The Well is the largest spa in Scandinavia. The experience comprises baths, saunas and showers inspired by spa traditions from all over the world – from Japan, Turkey and Morocco to the tropics and of course the Nordic countries.

“We wanted to create a tranquil environment with something of the fairytale about it, something that would fit well with the surrounding Norwegian forest,” continued Nissen Johansen. “At the Well, anything is possible and you never know quite what you’ll find in the next room.”

In collaboration with spa consultancy Thermarium and building architects Halorvsen & Reine, Stylt were responsible for developing the overall concept and creating a coherent guest experience with a red thread. The work spanned everything from interior design to graphic design and coming up with names for the various experiences.

Stein Erik Hagen, the Well’s owner, is a huge fan of continental spa culture and his ambition was to introduce something completely new to the Scandinavian spa market. The NOK500m budget has resulted in a completely unique attraction.

2017 has been a remarkable year for the Gothenburg-based multi-award-winning design agency. A few weeks ago, Stylt’s Swiss hotel project Spedition was awarded the Prix Versailles, a global interior architecture award. Not bad for a hotel housed in a former cheese store. The clients, a local team backed by Credit Suisse, were understandably over the moon.

Stylt’s international expansion continues apace, while Sweden and Scandinavia remain important markets for the agency.

“I have one foot in Norway, where I grew up, the other in Sweden, where I live, and a third in the rest of the world where my work is,” says Erik Nissen Johansen.