Guerlain SPA at the Waldorf Astoria in Jerusalem

Guerlain, a french house of fragrance, makeup and skincare house established in 1828, offers a new kind of spa: the Guerlain Spa & Wellness, a beauty lifestyle spa with a strong emphasis on its high-end retail spaces, embodying an essential aspect of a holistic guest experience. Its concept is built on the values of beauty, well-being, responsibility, and authentic personalised services utilising cutting-edge technology.

We designed the signage system for the Spa & Wellness area using brass, expressing the brand values and in a fruitful dialogue with the interior design, planned by Keren Offner in order to create a contemporary, yet timeless and luxurious design in the spiritual capital of the world.

The Guerlain company has about 20 Spas around the globe, all in exquisite locations. Each one of them with a unique design that flatters the local atmosphere.

Waldorf Astoria Hotel in Jerusalem is a five-star hotel that was built partially on the ruins of the historical Palace Hotel. The Palace was a luxurious Arab hotel that closed in 1935, It was later used as an office building occupied by the British mandate, but stood deserted for years. The Waldorf Astoria was built and opened in 2014. In 2018 the owner of the hotel requested to build a SPA that would meet Waldorf Astoria standards – the high-end cosmetics brand Guerlain was chosen.

The greatest design challenge came from the connection between the 3 aspects of the project:
Waldorf Astoria, Guerlain Paris, and the city of Jerusalem.
Each one is loaded with character, values, history, and heritage of its own. Another challenge for the designed signage system was a technical one. choosing a material that is noble and also fits any surface: textiles, marble and stone.

The Jerusalem stone is the most typical material for construction in Jerusalem for centuries.
Although the city experienced over the course of history many different regimes, it stayed classic and modest, and therefore this authentic local stone was the obvious choice to be the anchor for the project, wrapping the space like a box. The materials that were chosen to accompany the natural stone, are plain finished oak and matt finished brass.

The space of 1,500 sqm includes a 35sqm indoor pool, changing rooms, double saunas (2 Hammam experience and 2 dry saunas), 7 single treatment rooms, one classic double room, and one suite for couple treatment with a private dry sauna, a relaxation room, a 100 sqm gym, and a waiting salon.

The materials and color scheme, natural, mineral, clean and pure, create a warm, calm atmosphere, providing the ultimate zen and well-being experience.