The fast pace of 21st century has led to a very distorted work-leisure balance among urban settlers. This has caused numerous lifestyle-related mental and physical issues like stress, depression and other chronic ailments. This has shifted the focus on wellness and its importance in leading a happy and fulfilling life. We are getting aware and more conscious of the fact that wellness is more than the absence of disease and is acareful holistic balance of the mind, body and spirit. The dialogue has been initiated and we can see an upsurge in the wellness tourism sector, as people demand for a more accessible and wholesome experience.

Designing for health and wellness is inherent to architecture. Great architecture is rooted in real world outcomes that foster healthier spaces and environments. The aim of the competition is to design a wellness retreat in the picturesque setting of Alps that can incorporate different aspects of wellness under a single roof and create a therapeutic and immersive experience for the user through architecture.

Architecture constantly evolves to meet the needs of society and part of its social role is to assist the well-being of those who transit and use their spaces daily. Architecture for Wellness is a niche responsible for the development of captivating architectural experiences that can facilitate and support the search and the achievement of the psychophysical wellness. Architecture can have a deep healing effect on a person if it can stimulate the human senses. The Wellness Retreat should be resonant with an elemental materiality and a deep sensual pleasure that can be a very good medium for instilling emotions, i.e.the aura of space should bring a positive change in a person’s perception and mood while using the space.The Wellness retreat should enhance the olfactory, tactile and visual experiences of the visitors.

The participants should integrate nature with the Wellness hub in a meaningful manner. The transition between the natural-artificial, interior-exterior should be fluid and seamless to the extent that it becomes one continuous envelope. The combinations of light and shade, open and enclosed spaces should create sensuous and restorative experience. The built form should not just be created with beautiful materiality and facia but resonant with atavistic memories of weight, contiguity and enclosure, of sound and enticing illumination.

The Wellness retreat should have a ‘music-like’ rhythmic quality to it. It should help people unwind in solitude and slow down. The retreat should indulge in various spiritual, physical and psychological activities. The participants are free to impart any function they feel are needed inside the retreat. All generic functions like rooms/cabins for stay, meditation and yoga halls, spa, heated pools/baths, sauna, massage rooms, gym, restaurant, healing rooms etc. should be provided for an all-in-all experience under a single roof.