Grooming Retreat by Mariana de Delás + Gartnerfuglen

Sited at the center of a barley field sur­rounded by autochthonous bushes and wild olive trees, the Grooming Retreat is a wood shelf tower clad with cocoon-like layers of white mosquitos nets, enjoying a panoramic view meeting the Mediterranean sea and senses at the horizon the lush island of Cabrera.

Architects: Mariana de Delás, Gartnerfuglen Arkitekter
Location: Mallorca, Balearic Islands, Spain
Photographs: Courtesy of Mariana de Delás

Owner and designer Mariana de Delás is an urbanite young professional who decided to move back to her hometown to run the family agricultural legacy.

With the help of Oslo-based architecture studio Gartnerfuglen, this project is designed as a solemn refuge, consists of two parts: a 3×3 meters pavilion as a space for grooming and contemplation of one person; a sculptural horse station offer the benefits of one animal.

Inspiration from architect:

The retreat is envisioned as a solemn refuge in where personal-cleansing is acclaimed. Learning from the animal’s benefits from their act of social grooming and focusing mainly on the importance of the cleansing ritual preformed to a horse, the project intends to regain back the time devoted to one self that modern times has taken away. The conception of a space to take a break from the multitasking contemporary madness by implementing a fortress like structure in where cleansing and individual mental and body hygiene becomes the priority.