"East meets West" is the main concept behind the renovation of an old house in Bangkok's Sukhumvit Soi 35, turning it into the luxury Divana Spa.

"The main idea in renovating the old house, which was built about 20 years ago, was creating a natural setting and a warm welcome for customers visiting the home spa," says architect Pichai Suntiwong, who undertook the transformation.

He said that after a briefing from the customer, Taneth Jiraswakedelok, he began to survey the building and, only then, settled on the "East meets West" theme for rebuilding the old house.

"After providing new infrastructure, including water and electricity systems to serve the new use of the building as a spa, we selected white for the building," Pichai says.

It was believed that white would inspire a feeling of warm welcome, particularly as it would reflect the green colour from a big tree in the garden that has become the new spa's mascot.

Pichai also changed part of one exterior wall to become a tea bar, inviting visitors to relax for a while before leaving the garden to go inside.

"I wanted my customers to feel relaxed and warm when visiting the spa," Taneth says. "The tea bar is their first impression, before receiving a warm welcome from my staff, who then take them into the spa."

From the tea bar, which is decorated in white with contemporary furniture, visitors pass by the big tree in the garden before entering the spa.

Originally, the house had two bedrooms, two bathrooms, and a large sitting room. It now has seven spa rooms, each with a bath, and a reception area.

"The seven spa rooms had to have different designs because we want our customers to feel the difference when they come back to use the spa again, so we set different themes for each room before informing our architect to decorate them," Taneth says.

To comply with the seven different concepts, Pichai selected different furniture for each room. Most of them retain the "East meets West" flavour by using Chinese, Japanese or Thai furniture with some Western pieces, including Louis and modern styles.

The rung dow (rainbow and star) room has an "outdoor" concept. It uses white wood under a polycarbonate roof to provide natural light and a feeling of closeness with nature. The wash tub is of antique eastern style, matching other items of furniture in the room, including the spa bed, table and desk.

"When you decorate a spa you have to be concerned about inspiring your customers to return. Our concept for Divana Spa is all of our customers can feel what they see, what they smell and what they touch. All of it aims to make them relaxed, warm and comfortable, so they will come back again," Taneth says.

Pichai says the main concept of Divana Spa is the use of nature, and as a result the architecture and decor use warm colours and a closeness with nature. Nevertheless, the overall theme allows the use of both antique and modern styles by controlling colour.

"We can say that this is a real 'East meets West' concept that stays close to nature," he adds.

Somluck Srimalee

The Nation