For many of us who live in a cold climate, our vision of a backyard paradise is synonymous with a lush, green, almost tropical environment. As we wait for spring to arrive, though, the ideal landscape should also invite us to experience more than just its view from indoors during the long winter months.
The Canadian Horticultural Therapy Association says interaction with the natural landscape helps to improve cognitive, physical, social, emotional and spiritual well-being. How can we create a backyard oasis that draws us outside to not only interact with nature but to relax and regenerate even during the coldest months of the year? Could you see yourself, for example, relaxing in your backyard in the middle of winter, soaking up the sun's rays, wearing no more than a bathrobe?
Located a few minutes from downtown, near Crescent Drive Golf Course just off Pembina Highway, is Thermea by Nordik Spa-Nature. Nestled in a beautiful, natural setting, Thermea's innovative avant garde design shows us new and exciting possibilities for a year-round landscape that is both intimate and interactive.
Visitors arrive at the gracious main building (it appears more like a luxurious private residence than that of a commercial building), shed their parkas, boots and the rest of their attire and slip into something more comfortable. There are services such as massage, body treatments and a restaurant but it's the philosophy that guided the design of Thermea that succeeds in stimulating all of the five senses and inspires anyone wanting to cast aside a limited perspective, enhance their own outdoor living environment and reinvent their relationship with the outdoors.
Guy Préfontaine, principal of GPP Architecture Inc., is the project designer of Thermea. One of the most iconic features in the Winnipeg landscape, the Riel Promenade, was designed by Préfontaine and âtienne Gaboury.
With the sensibility of an experienced architect, Préfontaine selected the site on Crescent Drive for Thermea's debut in Winnipeg.
"Imagine," said Préfontaine, when we sat down together at Thermea in mid-January.
That is what Préfontaine did when he drove to the Crescent Drive site after visiting Nordik Spa's facility in Chelsea, Que. Surveying the scene, he took note of its dimensions, contours and natural backdrop. He was looking for a space that could accommodate his new project but without manipulating, managing or changing too greatly the surrounding natural environment. Préfontaine knew he had found what he was looking for.
The land was once a putting and chipping green. A flood plain, as well, it was necessary to resculpt the land before building. Crafting the outdoor space involved careful selection and placement of trees. Evergreen varieties that were newly planted include a quantity of white spruce, Colorado spruce, Swiss Stone pine, Scots Pine and Baby Blue Eyes spruce. Many of these were planted around and inside the courtyard, where the thermal pools are located so the winter scene is alive with greenery. Several evergreens in the centre of the courtyard have been planted in containers.
In addition to an existing magnificent old elm tree with a huge spreading canopy, situated at the outer edge of the courtyard and adjacent to a cosy outdoor seating area with a firepit, deciduous trees such as Delta Hackberry and Amur Maple have been planted as well as singular specimens such as American Linden, Amur Cherry and Japanese Tree lilac. Vertical elements such as tall, narrow boulders and mass plantings of columnar Karl Foerster grass punctuate the terraces and plateaus throughout the landscape without overwhelming it.
Préfontaine says there are three levels of view: distant, intermediate, and intimate. "Trees make up the distant view, they relax and enclose you and are a preface to the intimate view."
The second level, the intermediate view, consists of the buildings and pools that are readily seen and accessed. The third level is the intimate view.
"The scale of every space, every walkway," Préfontaine says, "is crafted for two people only in order to create intimacy."
To stimulate the sense of sound, soft music floats through the air (speakers are hidden inside rocks). Combined with the smell of the crackling fire, it's easy to imagine decompressing and de-stressing as you stroll along the heated snow-free walkways.
Stroll? In your swimsuit on a freezing cold winter's day? Préfontaine directed me to look at the way the snowflakes were gently falling, just the way they do inside a snow globe. This, too, is by design. The sun's path in relation to the changing seasons, the movement of air, shadow patterns and windbreaks were all studied carefully before deciding on the arrangement of outdoor structures that are situated at different angles around the courtyard and in close proximity to the pools.
The sun shines on the snow that's on the ground and reflects warmth. Because there is so little wind in this user-friendly environment, steam billows and the smoke from the firepit wafts upward. Colours are natural and repeated. The result is there is no visual noise. When the sun sets, this Zen retreat is enhanced by soft ambient lighting.
Préfontaine wanted to build an outdoor walled feature that would complement the agrarian courtyard aspect. His inspiration was to look at the vernacular of an abandoned, semi-dilapidated agricultural wood-log building, so common to the Manitoba psyche. Heated by fireplaces within, the roofless enclosure creates a proximate and welcoming setting.
It is the thermal cycle -- hot, cold, relaxation -- that really enhances this outdoor experience, Préfontaine says.
First, patrons warm up for 10 to 15 minutes in a sauna or steam room. Next, a quick transition from the hot environment by stepping into a cold or temperate pool for a few seconds or minutes. And finally, a 15-minute rest. Repeating the thermal cycle three times produces the most benefits, Préfontaine says, and results in a feeling that is restorative and therapeutic.
Could Thermea change how we view and interact with our winter landscape?
Darren Seymour, co-owner of Arctic Spas Manitoba, has had his own backyard spa for several years. He practises his own thermal cycle by warming up first in a hot tub, then cooling down in a swim pool called an all-weather pool. Seymour says the transition is exhilarating.
Often, says Seymour, he relaxes in his hot tub for 20 minutes before going to bed. In addition to the health and wellness aspect associated with outdoor activities and fresh air, he says, many of his customers are looking for relief from stress, sleeping difficulties and aches and pains. The all-weather pools are designed for extreme climates and are equipped with up to 60 therapeutic jets. They can be used for a solitary soak or a workout.
Seymour has situated both of these above-ground units within easy access of his deck, which is directly adjacent to his patio doors.
Seymour stresses the importance of location when deciding where to place a newly purchased outdoor spa. If it is located too far from the access point in and out of your house, and you must first shovel snow to clear a pathway, you will be too cold by the time you are ready to jump in, and it will soon lose its attractiveness. It's important, too, says Seymour, to install your hot tub without having to access it by stairs, which can become slippery with snow and ice.
Seymour has installed an Arctic grill house in his landscape. A Scandinavian-influenced concept, the grill house features windows, benches and a centre grill for cooking and enjoying a meal with friends and family. Once inside, even in extreme cold, there is no need for outerwear.
After relaxing in these comfortable environments, says Seymour, some people have even been known to roll around in newly fallen snow much like Tian Tian, the panda at Washington's Natural Zoo who joyously celebrated last week's record snowfall.
Not too long ago, radiant in-floor heating throughout a home or beneath ceramic tiles in rooms such as the kitchen and bathroom was a new concept. Now it's common. It may be far into the future before heated sidewalks are de rigeur, however the technology exists for not only heated sidewalks but patios, steps and driveways as well.
Matthew Pipes, owner of Titan Concrete, a Winnipeg company, says heat pipes can be installed in either an existing or new landscape. Hot glycol supplied by a central heating boiler and pump located in a garage or house is circulated through pipes. As the snow falls and hits the surface, it melts and drains away.
Winnipeg, Préfontaine says, is a winter city. Whether our dream landscape is fully realized or not, the outdoor lifestyle is meant to be enjoyed year-round.
colleenizacharias@gmail.com
