1. Korean Football Park in Cheonan | UNS

 

In Cheonan, South Korea, Korean Football Park by UNS creates a new national home for the Korea Football Association. The 450,427 sq.m. campus brings together training, recovery, education, public engagement and institutional identity within a single landscape-led masterplan.

The project includes 11 football fields, an indoor climate-controlled arena, an outdoor stadium, gyms, physical therapy areas, healthcare facilities and athlete accommodation. Athletic performance is treated here as a wider ecosystem, where training, medical support, recovery and mental balance remain closely connected to landscape and public life.

 

2. Telekom Center Athens at OAKA

ek Issue: 293 | December 2024

 

At OAKA, the renovation of PAO BC Arena transforms the indoor basketball stadium into the new home venue of Panathinaikos BC, through an intervention that combines technical upgrading, functional organization and a renewed spectator experience. The project was developed by Decathlon, Markos Vouzounerakis / RICHE, K-Division and Eva Lantzouni / SEED Architects, covering more than 50,000 sq.m.

The first phase included waterproofing, assessment and reinforcement of the roof space frame, hydraulic and electrical upgrades, new circulation areas, food-and-beverage spaces, press facilities and hospitality zones. At the same time, the interactive glass sports floor, new screens, lighting and suites turn the arena into a contemporary sports and entertainment infrastructure, without erasing the identity of the existing shell.

 

 

 

3. Hidden Spa – Water Hope in Vietnam | IDEE Architects

 

In Cam Ranh, Vietnam, Hidden Spa – Water Hope by IDEE Architects is designed as a wellness space emerging from the landscape of coastal sand dunes. Rather than imposing itself on the natural setting, the architecture follows the terrain, creating a calm experience of therapy, water and shade.

At the heart of the composition, a central water courtyard works as both a spatial and environmental device. Reflecting water surfaces, planted islands and shaded walkways create gradual shifts in temperature, humidity and light. Water is therefore not treated as a decorative feature, but as infrastructure for cooling and sensory recovery.

 

 

4. Minthis Spa in Paphos | Woods Bagot

ek Issue: 281 | October 2023

 

In Paphos, Minthis Spa by Woods Bagot is part of a wider hospitality and wellness landscape, where the experience of care gains architectural scale. The project is not limited to a series of treatment rooms; it organizes a relationship between water, light, movement and the calmness of the surrounding landscape.

As a resort spa, it works as a place of distance and restoration, where atmosphere is as important as programme. Materiality, views and the connection with the environment shape a wellness experience based less on the image of luxury and more on duration, physical relaxation and a sense of retreat.

 

 

5. Hekate Fitness Club in Athens | Studio Maneo

 

In Metaxourgeio, Studio Maneo transforms a former warehouse into a 140 sq.m. exercise space with a calm, restrained atmosphere. Instead of the aggressive image of a conventional gym, the project is based on natural materials, diffused light and carefully controlled boundaries.

The architecture connects exercise with a sense of safety and decompression from the city. The gym therefore works not only as infrastructure for physical strength, but also as an everyday space for mental reset.

 

 

6. Sentō Urban Shop & Spa in Athens | PHOS Architects

ek Issue: 299 | July–August 2025

 

In Athens, Sentō Urban Shop & Spa by PHOS Architects combines beauty, care and wellness services with references to Japanese bathing culture. The project forms a sequence of reception, treatment and relaxation spaces, where materiality and light control degrees of visibility and privacy.

The spa experience is based on gentle transitions. Natural materials, fabric filters and carefully designed surfaces create an urban retreat, where care for the body is connected to silence, touch and a sense of distance from the rhythm of the city.

 

 

7. +One More Gym | BIVA Design

 

In Muscat, Oman, + One More Gym by BIVA Design organizes a CrossFit center with a strong industrial identity and a complex wellness programme. Reception, café, two sports halls, locker rooms, steam bath, sauna, swimming pool and Jacuzzi come together in an environment that combines exercise, recovery and social experience.

Lighting plays a decisive role in the atmosphere. Reception areas convey a calmer mood, while the sports halls gain energy through directional lighting. The result is a gym that treats the intensity of training and the process of recovery as parts of the same experience.

 

 

8. Pow Box Fitness Boxing Club in Athens | GJP Design & Construction

ek Issue: 258 | June 2021

 

In Athens, Pow Box Fitness Boxing Club by GJP Design & Construction occupies a neoclassical building, creating a strong contrast between the historic shell and a radically contemporary interior identity. Marble, metal mesh, neon, boxing gloves and theatrical lighting turn the gym into a scenographic environment for exercise.

The different floors organize reception, changing rooms, the boxing ring, a multi-purpose gym and a basement training area with a strong club-like atmosphere. The project shows how architecture can translate the energy of boxing into a complete spatial, visual and kinetic experience.

 

 

9. Molon Labe Gym | ADP Architecture Design Practice

 

In Engomi, Cyprus, Molon Labe Gym by ADP Architecture Design Practice transforms an abandoned industrial building from the 1960s into a contemporary fitness space. The programme includes free-weight areas, equipment zones, an MMA cage, martial arts areas, changing rooms and support functions, while the intervention maintains references to the industrial memory of the shell.

The new façade redefines the gym’s relationship with the street, combining the impression of a solid corten volume with a curtain wall that opens visibility toward the main exercise space. Inside, exposed services, the new metal roof and targeted lighting highlight bodily intensity and use as central elements of the architecture.

 

 

10. Nao Longevity Hub in Minos Palace | Stones & Walls

ek Issue: 302 | November 2025 – The Hotel Issue

 

At Minos Palace Resort in Agios Nikolaos, Crete, Nao Longevity Hub by Stones & Walls explores how interior design can support a broader approach to wellbeing and longevity. Movement through space, contact with the natural landscape, light, materiality and atmosphere are treated as interconnected elements.

The experience is organized around the concept of flow, from personalised assessment to movement, treatment and rest. Rather than being revealed from a single point, the programme unfolds through a sequence of thresholds. Changes in light, enclosure, texture and atmosphere shape a gradual transition towards a calmer rhythm.

 

A Former Warehouse Transformed into a Wellness Space

In Metaxourgeio, Athens, Hekate Fitness Club by Studio Maneo transforms a former warehouse into a bright and calm wellness space. The project is guided by the architectural idea of disconnecting from the intensity of the city, creating an interior where exercise, safety and sensory decompression are brought together.

Although the owner comes from the world of sports, the ambition was not to create a conventional gym. The design instead seeks to shape a space that first conveys a sense of personal safety and respect for each visitor’s identity, while offering a moment of retreat from the dense rhythm and visual noise of the city center.

A Space of Disconnection from the City

The project approaches wellness as a broader physical and mental experience. The goal was for visitors to feel closer to nature, but also to their own physical and spiritual condition. In this sense, the interior is conceived less as a place of performance and more as a protective environment for movement, concentration and recovery.

This atmosphere is developed through natural materials, clean geometries and light as a primary design tool. Wood cladding, terracotta tones and earthy shades create a calm setting, where the balance between light and shadow becomes part of the spatial experience.

 

 

Natural Materials and Soft Opacity

The façade is treated with milky glass, establishing a balance between light diffusion and soft opacity. This gesture protects the interior from direct visual exposure while allowing light to enter gently, forming a secure and atmospheric environment for exercise.

Inside, the 140 sq.m. space is organized across two levels. The ground floor hosts the reception and workout areas, while the upper level contains support functions, including changing rooms and washrooms. The plan is structured through the idea of a “box within a box,” clearly defining uses without fragmenting the overall atmosphere.

The “Box Within a Box” and the Martial Arts Area

The martial arts area is defined by wooden wall panels, distinguishing it from the rest of the program and reinforcing the perception of an inner volume nested within the larger space. This architectural strategy gives the project clarity and depth, while preserving a sense of continuity between the different functions.

The reception is also conceived as a wooden box-like structure. Its clostra surface visually connects it with the rear martial arts area, allowing the idea of nested spaces to be repeated across the interior through material and rhythm.

 

 

Linear Skylights and the Stair as a Light Filter

Two key elements define the lighting qualities of the project: the linear skylights and the central staircase leading to the secondary level. The skylights allow natural light to enter softly throughout the day, gradually transforming the atmosphere of the interior as time passes.

The staircase is framed by a tall freestanding wall, which acts as a spatial filter between the two main uses. A vertical slit in the middle of the wall is fitted with clostra panels, creating shifting effects of light and shadow, opacity and transparency.

Indoor Planting as a Transitional Gesture

As visitors move through the space, they encounter indoor plants placed within built-in planting beds. This gesture introduces nature into the interior not as decoration, but as a transitional filter.

The planting supports decompression both upon entering from the intensity of the city and when leaving after physical exercise. Through this sequence, Hekate Fitness Club shapes wellness as an experience that begins before training and continues after it, connecting body, light, material and atmosphere.