{"id":80515,"date":"2025-08-20T16:11:10","date_gmt":"2025-08-20T16:11:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/80515\/"},"modified":"2025-08-20T16:11:10","modified_gmt":"2025-08-20T16:11:10","slug":"five-architectural-retreats-where-forest-bathing-is-the-main-attraction","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/80515\/","title":{"rendered":"Five architectural retreats where forest bathing is the main attraction"},"content":{"rendered":"

Nature is a formidable therapist. It soothes the soul, refocuses the mind and calms the nervous system. In short, it has the power to support almost every aspect of our physical and mental wellbeing. So, why not go all in?<\/p>\n

Forest bathing, a mindfulness custom developed in 1980s Japan<\/a> also known as shinrin-yok, is the ultimate in natural immersion therapy. Once billed as \u2018the new spa day\u2019, the practice is now believed to offer a great deal more than simple relaxation. It can be medicinal.<\/p>\n

Research from the NHS, Harvard Health, the American Psychological Association and even the Mayo Clinic suggests that ensconcing ourselves in nature for as little as 20 minutes can reduce blood pressure, lower stress, improve cardiovascular and metabolic health and lift depression. The healing properties have been widely recognised within the medical profession, as evidenced by the growing trend for \u2018green social prescribing\u2019, which sees healthcare professionals refer patients to non-clinical interventions in nature.<\/p>\n

The good news is you won\u2019t require a prescription. On a basic level, forest bathing is simply access to, and mindful appreciation of, the natural environment \u2014 quite literally an exercise in seeing the wood for the trees. But as the trend gains momentum, those who want a more elevated experience have options. Here are five design-led forest bathing retreats, spas and hotels across the globe.<\/p>\n

Casa de Ba\u00f1os, Mexico<\/p>\n

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Photography: Cesar Bejar Studio.<\/p>\n

This circular bathhouse in 450 mountainous acres west of Mexico City<\/a> offers the ultimate forest bathing experience. Designed by Robert Hutchinson Architecture and JSa Arquitectura with vertical tongue-and-groove pine siding and southern yellow pine, the 700 sqft structure is more than just a loo with a view. Intrinsically connected to nature, it looks out to the forest from all of its four distinct zones: hot bath, sauna, steam shower and washroom. And a cold plunge pool at the centre opens to the sky.<\/p>\n

Shishi-Iwa House, Japan<\/p>\n

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Photography: Shishi-Iwa House, Karuizawa.<\/p>\n

It comes as no surprise the country that popularised forest bathing is a pioneer in intuitive natural design. The 34-room Shishi-Iwa House hotel unfurls over three architecturally striking buildings in the small forest town of Karuizawa, less than an hour outside Toyko. The first two were designed by renowned Japanese architect Shigeru Ban<\/a> in 2018 and 2022 and the third by Ryue Nishizawa in 2023. The gardens feature more than 250 trees \u2014 evergreens, cherry blossoms and Japanese maples \u2014 and natural materials throughout. Every room has a private balcony overlooking the gardens, forest and mountains, and interiors have been kept purposefully stripped back and simple to allow a deeper focus on the outside world.<\/p>\n

Wulingshan Eye Stone Spring spa, China<\/p>\n

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Photography: Guowei Liu<\/p>\n

The juxtaposition of this industrial-style structure against the cliffs and forest of Wuling Mountain\u2019s Yanshi Village adds to the distinctiveness of Vector Architects\u2019 spa design. Created to look like a \u2018piece of hot spring apparatus\u2019, the bathhouse is topped with eight lightwells that resemble chimneys. Surrounded by poplar trees 30 metres high, the prime location is something of a double-edged sword. With the lower levels suffering from a lack of natural light, shower and changing facilities were built at the bottom, benefitting from the natural veil of privacy. Further up is a relaxation room with floor-to-ceiling windows in the thick of the tree canopy. The spa itself is at the top.<\/p>\n

Treetop Hotel Lovtag, Denmark<\/p>\n

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Photography: Soeren Larsen.<\/p>\n

Nine treetop cabins perched six to eight metres off the ground on Denmark\u2019s Als Odde peninsula have nature at their heart, quite literally. Not only do each of these Sigurd Larsen-designed cabins, part of the famed Lovtag retreat, have unbroken forest views over the treetops from their panoramic windows, they also have tree trunks running through their interiors. Outdoor showers mounted to each fa\u00e7ade allow for forest bathing in a very real sense.<\/p>\n

Arcana, Canada <\/p>\n

\"Arcana<\/p>\n

Photography: Andrew Latreille<\/p>\n

Part forest bathing experience and part optical illusion, this immersive cabin retreat two hours north of Toronto<\/a> harnesses the power of reflection to blend into the woodland. Snaking along 3,000 feet of waterfront, the 23 steel structures meld into the forest, each designed to facilitate solitude and minimise disruption so no interaction with staff or fellow guests is required. Open year-round, the retreat leans heavily on its location to promote and support a deep connection with nature.<\/p>\n

Read next: Asif Khan designs a bright red boardwalk for experiencing colour and nature in a London wetland<\/a>
\nA new hotel in the Algarve\u2019s wild west tells a different story<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Nature is a formidable therapist. It soothes the soul, refocuses the mind and calms the nervous system. In…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":80516,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[26796,6225,6485,6486,626,891,3602,1120,96,41019,386,41020,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-80515","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-arts-and-design","8":"tag-architecture-in-mexico","9":"tag-arts","10":"tag-arts-and-design","11":"tag-artsanddesign","12":"tag-canada","13":"tag-china","14":"tag-denmark","15":"tag-design","16":"tag-entertainment","17":"tag-forest-bathing","18":"tag-japan","19":"tag-natural-design","20":"tag-uk","21":"tag-united-kingdom","22":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/80515","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=80515"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/80515\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/80516"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=80515"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=80515"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=80515"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}