Urban Angel Spa set within a Grade II Listed Building
Within the Grade II listed Victorian Great Western Arcade in the heart of Birmingham city centre, the brief was to create an urban retreat day spa that could serve both express treatments for busy city life and more leisurely relaxation. The design needed to work within the arcade's historic constraints while still delivering a full spa offer across a compact footprint, and to strike a considered balance between eastern philosophy and western tradition throughout the interior.
The Challenge
Our Response
The design is split across two floors: a small, retail-led ground floor conceals a larger first floor housing a chill-out zone, four treatment rooms, a spray tan room and ancillary facilities. Bespoke joinery, including a retail display unit that showcases key products to passers-by, sits alongside feature lighting such as a lowered ceiling plane with a star-effect arrangement. The graphic design was deliberately split in character: the shopfront respects the traditions of the arcade, while the internal graphics take a more contemporary approach, reflecting the spa's blend of eastern and western influences.
The Outcome
The result is an urban retreat spa that makes the most of a constrained, historic footprint, offering guests a genuine sense of escape behind a shopfront that respects its Grade II listed setting. The mix of considered joinery, feature lighting and dual-character graphics gives Urban Angel a distinct identity within one of Birmingham's most historic retail arcades.
