Honzo spa

Bath facility at the core of VISON

2021@Taki, Mie Prefecture

Honzo Spa received the highest award of Five Stars in two ASIA PACIFIC PROPERTY AWARDS categories in the ‘LEISURE ARCHITECTURE’ and ‘LEISURE DEVELOPMENT’ categories.

The ASIA PACIFIC PROPERTY AWARDS are organised by International Property Media in the UK. The judging panel is chaired by Lord Best and Lord Waverley, members of the House of Lords in the UK Parliament, and is judged by an independent panel of over 90 industry experts. Judging focuses on design, quality, service, innovation, originality and commitment to sustainability.

Honzo spa is a bath facility that comprises the core of VISON, with a background of herbal medicine. Visitors can enjoy seasonal medicated baths according to the calendar of the Honzo 72 Pentads, which tastefully arranges and follows the model of the Honcho 72 Pentads (*1), revised in the Edo period. To have the visitors enjoy the regional history and nature, we focused on the landscape and visitor experience of a story with regard to design.

*1 “72 Pentads” is a way of expressing seasons formulated in ancient China (Chinese lunisolar calendar). Each solar term (of the 24 solar terms) is divided into three pentads, and each pentad consists of about five days. (omitted) The 72 Pentads were revised by Shibukawa Shunkai and other scholars during the Edo period to suit the Japanese climate and environmental conditions, creating the Honcho 72 Pentads. (Excerpt from Wikipedia)

The 72 Pentads Room (Photos by ToLoLo Studio (all of this page unless otherwise mentioned))

Building Overview

With the introspective resting area called the 72 Pentads Room at its heart, the Honzo spa has an intermediate zone around the 72 Pentads Room where people can communicate with the environment. We decided to construct a landscape by placing people’s enjoyment within the building’s boundary area that separates the inside from the outside. A landscape including people brings life into the building and creates an atmosphere of communicating with the environment. For example, “Wide veranda” overlooks the majestic view of the mountains and greets people with a gentle expression. You may find people enjoying a refreshing feel as if dancing in the sky at “Big moment.” On the other hand, we pursued a facility layout that can do without shielding fences so that people can enjoy the subtle bathing sensation of connecting with the nature in the bath. To sharpen your senses and enjoy the connection of your body with the environment—that is the experience Honzo spa aims to achieve and is the foundation of the landscape of the entire VISON.