Goddard Littlefair, was appointed to design the luxurious spa and two dedicated Lifestyle Suites at the highly-anticipated, London OWO Raffles Hotel. The transformation of the historic Old War Office over a period of 8 years finally completed and opened in September 2023. The Raffles Hotel boasted housing London’s first Guerlain-branded destination spa, as well as a members-only health club powered by movement specialist Pillar.
Used as Winston Churchill’s base of operations during WWII, and reportedly the inspiration behind Ian Fleming’s 007, the Old War Office is a grand gentleman of a bygone era. The spa’s design scheme needed to preserve and celebrate the history of the building and its Edwardian and Neo-Baroque architecture and interior features, while balancing a feeling of serenity and timelessness for its latest chapter.
In this concept, Goddard Littlefair has created a classic design to cocoon guests with a sense of calm. The state-of-the-art spa spans four floors of the OWO, three of them subterranean, lending to this feeling of ultimate privacy and seclusion. Within the scheme, Goddard Littlefair created a wellness and gym space, spa treatment suites, juice bar, hair salon, haute couture skin suite, a double-height swimming pool, and heat experience areas as well as multiple changing areas. In addition, there are also two dedicated ‘Lifestyle Suites’, designed to provide health-conscious guests with a uniquely private experience with the most exclusive fitness services integrated into the space.
“Striking the right balance between relaxation zones and active areas was essential and the two should never cross. The unique architectural constraints of this historical property also added a layer of intricacy to our planning. The journey should feel natural, yet not overly predictable. Our aim was to craft an environment that encourages guests to truly disconnect and immerse themselves in the experience.” Martin Goddard, Co-Founder and Director of Goddard Littlefair
In addition to the wider wellness offerings, Goddard Littlefair designed two groundbreaking Lifestyle Suites. These elegant and holistic spaces were created to enable guests to enjoy in-suite butler service, in-room spa treatments, private consultations and fitness services from the comfort of their own suite. Sharing a neutral palette, finishes and tone-on-tone timber accents as seen in the spa, the classic and sophisticated look of the Lifestyle Suites are perfectly in step with the wider spa design, allowing guests to enjoy an immersive continuation of their experience and deep feeling of privacy and relaxation. Each space is designed to be tailored to the users’ requirements, with a lounge area that can be transformed to keep floorspace free for in-room personal training, nutrition planning or massages. The suites perfectly blend elegance with function, using luxurious and flexible bespoke joinery and timber flooring to house the most covetable fitness equipment on the market, including weight racks, skipping ropes, kettlebells and yoga mats. Guests can train alone with exclusive access to guided hologram sessions from the highly sought-after VAHA S Fitness Mirror.
