Interiors

Zen reimagined

To celebrate its 25th anniversary, Seaham Hall’s Serenity Spa has revamped its outdoor space. Suzanne Bearne paid a visit

Seaham Hall, located on the Durham coastline in the North East, has spent £1m redesigning its Zen Garden as part of its acclaimed Serenity Spa. Finished at the end of spring, the redesign forms part of the spa’s 25th anniversary celebrations.

Outside edge

Working with architectural and structural design company PD Design Consulting, the redesign saw the outdoor space extended with the introduction of two infinity-edge pools and a new cold plunge pool featuring a waterfall, all supplied by Castillo Pools. The outdoor deck was extended, encouraging guests to spend more time relaxing outdoors, with loungers offering views across the landscaped gardens, fire pits next to a curved seating area, and a sundeck added to the top terrace.

Previously, the garden featured two wooden hot tubs, which had run their course, an infinity pool at the bottom of the garden and some daybeds.

Of the hot tubs, spa director Amanda Jennings says, “Running them wasn’t really sustainable – we replaced them quite a few times. We'd done two refurbishments of that space, but on a smaller scale, and we were just ready to take the next step.” Plus, the wider intention was to provide a bigger outdoor space, which Jennings says has also “projected a lot more light back into the main part of the spa”.

Contrast therapies

The focus of the redesign has been shaped around Seaham Hall’s core pillars of intentional wellbeing, focusing on restoration, movement, thermal contrast, nature, presence, social connection and personalisation.

It centres around hot and cold contrast therapy and creating a social space for people to rest and relax, as well as creating more of a connection between the indoor spa and its garden.

The team wanted to replicate the contrast therapy inside outside. “A traditional spa experience is all about hot and cold so we wanted all of our guests to be able to have that real traditional spa experience, then have the cold plunge for the recovery,” says Jennings. “But equally, we have the lounge space for quiet and relaxation and then the fire pits for that social and rounded element as well.”

Staying natural

The design involved the use of natural materials, with dark brown Millboard decking for the flooring, bamboo for part of the walls, white Japanese stones surrounding the pools, and Japanese bonsai trees to add texture against the walls.

“It’s an Asian-inspired property with feng shui principles incorporated into the spa and we wanted to create a fluidity within the spa to feel like you’re guided through that journey,” says Jennings. “It really has that connection and touch point across each place.”

Making it pay

Seaham Hall has introduced a Zen Garden Escape package – a 9-to-5 spa day, including lunch and a 60-minute treatment, costing £225 – as well as Golden Hour Twilight sessions, with a glass of Champagne on arrival, canapés, a dining experience and access to the outdoor space.

Alongside this, a Summer Spa Garden Wellness campaign ran from June to August, featuring expert-led sessions including breathwork, meditation, sound bathing, fire and ice experiences, skincare consultations, mini spa treatment rituals and an SPF bar with cooling towel station.

“It’s to celebrate the space and encourage people to come together,” says Jennings. Seaham Hall is also working with more local businesses to offer retreats and partnerships.

The return on investment is already shining through, with Jennings confirming that revenue was up an average of £12,000 per month year on year within the first few months of opening the new space.

“It's actually flipped, which is good,” she adds, pointing out that this is due to the closure of the outdoor area for several months for the renovation.

Future focus

However, there’s no resting on their laurels for the team at Serenity Spa, which has 17 indoor treatment tooms across two floors and can cater for 100 guests per day.

“We want to bring the main indoor pool up to scratch now,” says Jennings. “We'd like more greenery in there and more mirrors to connect the space with the outside. That's the next step.”

These light redesigns will take place by the end of the year and follow refurbishments for Harvey's Bar in the main hotel and the introduction of the Japanese-inspired Gecko restaurant this year.

“I've never seen as many projects done here in the time that I've been here,” says Jennings, who has worked at the spa for 13 years.

As we wrap up our tour of the garden, Jennings enthuses: “Guest feedback has been brilliant; better than we expected. We had a vision in our minds and we weren’t quite sure how it would come together, but it's better than we could have imagined.”