25 Jul 2018
Virgin Voyages cruise ships to ride the wellness design wave
BY Luke Cloherty
The current trend of incorporating wellness into design shows no signs of stopping as renderings and animations from the latest Sir Richard Branson project, Virgin Voyages (a rebrand of the former Virgin Cruises), show a heavy wellness focus in its public areas.
Featuring a running track, boxing ring, yoga deck, wellness pool and hydrotherapy pool, the ambitious cruise ship project is looking to change the way people think about sea holidays with its whole design concept, which it labels ‘Epic Sea Change for All’.
The wellness offering comes under the design moniker ‘Vitamin Sea’, which Virgin Voyages CEO Tom McAlpin said will leave passengers “feeling rejuvenated, not like they need a holiday from their holiday”.
On-board the ships will be the Crow’s Nest, designed by Concrete Amsterdam – a “secluded sundeck for sunrise and sunset yoga”, which will link to the Athletic Club – a multifarious outdoor training area that incorporates a boxing ring, strength and gymnastics equipment “like you’d find in the New York sports clubs of the 1920s”, a gaming area for “outdoor adult play”, cabanas and a sports bar for “socialising post-workout”.
Virgin Voyages on-board wellness features from Leisure Media on Vimeo.
Elsewhere on the ship, the B-Complex allows for strength, spin, yoga and cardio training in its ‘Build, Burn, Bike and Balance’ rooms and will house ‘Burn and Build’ gyms, which will each be equipped with Technogym Artis equipment.
The ship will also be home to a wellness pool, juice bar and a spa, called Redemption, complete with a hydrotherapy pool, mud room, salt room, cold plunge pools, quartz beds and spa treatments.
Virgin Voyages Wellbeing Pool from Leisure Media on Vimeo.
Earlier this year, Virgin Voyages released renderings of other leisure areas on-board, with designs from Tom Dixon’s Design Research Studio, Roman and Williams, Concrete Amsterdam, Softroom and WorkAC.
The series of designs were in line with Virgin’s design ethos of the ‘Modern Romance of Sailing’, which aims to accentuate the modern as “representative of a contemporary holiday aesthetic” and romance, as a “nod to a love of the historical glamour and sophistication of a sea voyage”.
Dee Cooper, senior vice president of product design for Virgin Voyages, said: “Ranging from gritty to glamorous, we’ve collaborated with a collection of brilliant interior designers and architects to create a variety of spaces that our sailors will love.”
Virgin Voyages will operate three vessels in total, the first of which will arrive at PortMiami, US in 2020.
Close Window