On Giudecca Island, an exclusive luxury residential complex is being developed in Venice, featuring a private wellness area with views overlooking the Lagoon.
The former convent of the Canossian Sisters overlooks the Giudecca canal on the centrally located Venetian island of the same name. Palazzo Ponte Piccolo comprises a collection of buildings dating from various historical periods, spanning the fifteenth to the nineteenth century, and is currently undergoing significant restoration and repurposing. Studio Apostoli has designed a private SPA for the future residential complex, featuring eight prestigious housing units. This distinction makes Palazzo Ponte Piccolo unique as the sole luxury real estate complex in Venice offering exclusive wellness services.
The water element serves as the foundational design concept for the wellness area. This space ideally extends the surrounding landscape context and translates indoors the natural and urban layout characteristic of the lagoon city and its canals. Executed entirely in soft tones and featuring extensive use of wooden elements, the SPA opens with large arched windows that admit light and provide panoramic views of the dedicated green terrace. Here, an outdoor pool is nestled on a stepped stone platform, flanked by two sides of transparent glass, creating a sense of intimate interaction with the water and vegetation.
Inside, mosaics covering large portions of the walls – a nod to Venetian artistic tradition – envelop the pool, from which various volumes emerge that compose the SPA, appearing to float suspended and accentuated by submerged light passages. The sauna is made entirely of glass and interacts with other elements, such as the ice fountain – ideal for lowering body temperature after a hot treatment – adorned with wooden slat cladding reminiscent of Venice’s typical Briccole. The wellness area also features a sensory shower, a whirlpool bath, a counter-current swimming pool, and a fitness area enhanced by elegant herringbone wood flooring, offering dual views of the outdoor terrace and the indoor pool.
“Palazzo Ponte Piccolo combines elements rooted in Venice’s cultural and artistic traditions with more contemporary interior choices, offering future owners exclusive and private amenities such as Istrian Stone gardens, water features, boat docking, and dedicated concierge services,” comments Alberto Apostoli, founder of the Studio. The architect continues, “I wanted the wellness area to not only express the refinement and exclusivity of the real estate development but also to particularly highlight the beauty of the lagoon city, which is unique in the world.”
