Therme Group to build UK’s first city-based wellbeing resort in Trafford
Plans to build the UK’s first city-based wellbeing resort in Manchester, in Peel L&P’s TraffordCity, have been unanimously approved at a meeting of Trafford Council’s planning committee on Thursday evening. Therme Manchester will combine hundreds of water-based activities with wellbeing treatments, art, nature and technology to create a unique experience never before seen in the UK. With an estimated cost in the region of £250m, it is forecast to attract up to two million visitors per year, within five years, making it the most visited water-based attraction in Europe. Global wellbeing organisation Therme Group, plans to open Therme Manchester in 2023.
At 28-acres, the size of 19 football pitches, Therme Manchester will be opposite intu Trafford Centre next to Barton Square, with a Metrolink station directly outside. EventCity, which currently occupies part of the site, will be relocated and redeveloped as a state-of-the-art events venue in TraffordCity. Therme Manchester will be situated opposite intu Trafford Centre next to Barton Square, with the new Metrolink station, due to open later this month, directly outside.
Therme Manchester’s natural environment, with thousands of plants and trees, will be created by world-leading designers, artists, architects and engineers to achieve the highest levels of experience, quality and sustainability. Combined with hundreds of activities for all, visitors will have an experience far beyond anything offered in a hotel, gym or holiday resort, at a fraction of the cost.
The central focus of the project is a two-acre wellbeing garden in the shape of a Rose, the national flower of England. This bio-diverse garden for all seasons will be an evolving work of art, with petal-shaped terraces and beautiful pools and water features. It will act as a focal point for socialising, learning and discovery.
A large family zone will include waterslides, a wave pool, indoor and outdoor pools, steam rooms, exotic palm tree relaxation areas and dozens of other fun, relaxing and healthy activities, all in a perfect tropical environment.
A dedicated adults’ area will have warm-water lagoons among spectacular botanical gardens, swim-up bars, therapeutic mineral baths and beautifully designed steam rooms and saunas. Daily programming will include water-based fitness classes, and beautiful gardens will surround the area, creating spaces for yoga, Pilates and other activities.
Therme Manchester helps to address the vital modern-day need for physical and mental wellbeing for all, of which there is a growing awareness worldwide. It redefines the concept of wellbeing, with activities for children, adults and seniors offering both fun leisure time and the benefits of an active, healthy lifestyle.
A wide range of individual wellbeing treatments will be available, with programmes tailored for guests of all ages and needs. With advanced body scanners and skilled therapists, each guest can have a unique programme designed especially for them, inspired by traditions from across the globe.
Throughout Therme Manchester there will be a range of bars, cafés and restaurants offering everything from snacks and light bites to à la carte service. Menus will be expertly created to appeal to all visitors while offering healthy choices that both adults and children will love.
Nature and art are integrated in the Therme Manchester experience, as essential elements in maintaining and restoring physical and mental health. Thousands of trees and plants will create a bio-diverse environment and Therme Manchester will work in collaboration with world-leading artists to create accessible art experiences which provide opportunities for active engagement, reflection and contemplation.
Speaking on the approval, Stelian Iacob, Senior Vice President of Therme Group Worldwide and CEO of Therme Group UK, commented:
We are delighted that planning has been approved so we can bring the UK’s first Therme Group city wellbeing resort to Manchester. This will transform life for city residents and people further afield, creating a fun and accessible experience with profound health and wellbeing benefits for all.”
Whittaker, Peel L&P Group Development Director, added:
The creation of Therme Manchester will bring an accessible, yet world class health and wellbeing attraction to the people of Greater Manchester and beyond. It will transform TraffordCity, bring fantastic employment opportunities as well as bolster the regional economy including tourism and be a key contributor to the Northern Powerhouse.”
Andrew Western, Trafford Council Leader, commented
We are delighted that this Therme Group development, the first of its kind in the UK, is coming to Trafford. It is a huge scheme which will be a fantastic addition to the area and supports several of the Council’s priorities including health and wellbeing. It will bring thousands of jobs to the borough and millions of visitors each year, who will benefit our local economy on a massive scale. We are proud that Therme Group has selected Trafford for this superb development.”
Therme Manchester is the latest development in Therme Group’s global expansion programme, to create the most advanced wellbeing resorts in cities around the world. It is the first of a number of new generation projects in development by Therme Group, including other UK locations, mainland Europe, North America and the Asia-Pacific region.
Posted on Friday 6th March 2020
Connected Green Architecture for the Cities of Tomorrow
Therme Arc is Therme Group’s in-house architectural practice. The leading architects at Therme Arc develop spectacular and environmentally friendly architectural concepts, that ensure an optimised environment of wellbeing in all Therme Group resorts.
Therme Group facilities are world-renowned for their ambitious and complex structures. Through state-of-the-art technology, Therme Arc designs some of the most sustainable buildings in the world. Therme Bucharest, for example, is accredited with LEED platinum in sustainability, equivalent to BREEAM Outstanding in the UK.
Therme Group facilities’ architectural design is central to creating their unique wellbeing ecosystems.
Designing Wellbeing for all
Therme Arc creates environments that foster wellbeing, where guests can connect both with nature and each other. In line with Therme Group’s overarching mission of ‘wellbeing for all’, each resort is designed to encourage social interaction and ensure equality of access to space and facilities – a healthy, inclusive environment to spend free time in the city. Furthermore, navigation throughout the space is designed to be intuitive, generating a sense of openness for guests.
Patricia Popescu, Head of Architecture explains the Therme Arc process further:
“I believe that the function of architecture is to design spaces that generate wellbeing. Therefore, we focus our work on our guests, analysing every area, every angle from their perspective. The act of creation means, for us, proving the complex context that increases the general state of the individual, intellectually, morally, socially, emotionally, and physically. We are complex systems: we function well when all our systems function well. We forget ourselves in this process, so our facilities are never an expression of the architect as the artist but rather of the architect as the enabler of wellbeing.
We believe that architecture should be in harmony with humans and their surroundings, that nature is key to our health and should be easily accessed by everyone, that social interaction is central to wellbeing and that technology will make everything possible.”
The biophillic architecture of Therme facilities bring humans and nature together in harmony.
The combination of state-of-the-art technology and design methods with natural elements ensures Therme Group resorts are truly unique.
An Interdisciplinary Approach inspired by Nature
Inspired by nature and bringing together specialists from botany, material science, philosophy and psychology, Therme Arc ensures that each new Therme Group building is a perfect ecosystem, catering to both human and environmental need.
Using Therme Group’s propriety BioTrue™ system of development – a system founded in material and structural biomimicry – Therme Arc replicates highly sophisticated natural processes to develop structures that are sustainable, technologically advanced and in harmony with the natural world. These concepts of biophilic design also help to support visitor’s wellbeing.
Therme Arc’s BioTrueTM designs takes inspiration from nature, using biomimicry to create environments optimised for human wellbeing. The shape of Therme Manchester is inspired by the delicate folds of a rose.
BioTrueTM Architecture
Therme Arc understands that nature holds the answers to many design challenges. BioTrueTM architecture is Therme group’s interdisciplinary design system that, through technology, applies mechanisms from the natural world to inform visionary design concepts.
The BioTrue system replicates with mathematical precision natural shapes, structures and functionality, resulting in ‘living structures’ that endure over time and are self-sustaining. Using this system, Therme Arc’s architects have found that nature can offer integrated solutions to a range of design elements including stability, wind dynamic responses, hydraulics and light and ventilation.
By embracing nature as the original architect, Therme Arc applies natural design solutions that are high performing, visually appealing and energy efficient.
