In the ever-increasing bevy of sauna spaces in New York, how can a new one stand out from the rest? How about a hyperbaric oxygen chamber? A selection of targeted vitamin IVs? The Altar offers all of it and more. The latest health club from Henrique Castro, former financial analyst Sheba Jafari, and Emmy-nominated photographer and director of photography Stuart Winecoff rethinks bathhouses as a joyful, social approach to wellness on New York’s Fifth Avenue.
“The Altar came to us with the approach that they didn’t want it to be a solely contemplative space,” said Wallo Villacorta, cofounder of Mexico City- and New York-based studio Marsollier Villacorta. “They wanted it to also be a social gathering hub where people can actually talk and where there’s music.” Occupying a former site for Gap with two disjointed units on the ground-level and cellar, The Altar’s layout references both ancient bathhouses as well as nightclubs.
The best clubs offer nooks and crannies for sidebars and side quests, places to meander and cool off from the dance floor. So too does The Altar, designed as a procession of reveals.
Entry begins on the ground floor, where a wood-paneled reception area’s sloped ceiling draws the eye into the narrow corridor. As bush-hammered stone granite continues underfoot, the corridor opens up into a stairwell, topped with an oculus, inserted deep into wood paneling. To descend the steps is to journey through the firm’s careful sequencing, from the darker, enclosed stairwell to the circular room that looks more like a cozy carpeted listening lounge than a place to get IVs (offered in partnership with Drip Hydration).
“It’s like edging in a weird way,” said Cyril Marsollier, the other half Marsollier Villacorta. “It’s the experience of compression, release, different geometries, different lighting; it’s seductive.” All roads lead toward the central gathering space, a granite-clad atrium where the sauna, cold plunge, and showers circulate around.
The plan is anchored around pre-existing columns that were arrayed centrally within the spaces. The architects use the columns to reinforce the geometry and materiality of each space. In the atrium, the stone-clad column runs into the stone seating. In the sauna, the columns are clad in wood, puncturing through the curved benches. In the IV lounge, the columns are left exposed as a raw contrast.
Spaces are also united through a radial design. The atrium, square in plan, is lined with seating that looks to a central granite fountain, inset with a custom faucet. The sauna similarly features stadium seating, facing the oven. On my visit, guides performed ceremonies around the oven like a stage, fanning its flames or throwing essential oils. The radial plan makes it so “people are automatically forced to face each other,” said Villacorta. An abundance of places to sit, particularly near the cold plunge, further ensures, as Marsollier put it, “built-in third spaces.”
Lighting ensures the subterranean area feels even more clublike. The studio designed lighting to be indirect and warm in temperature, filtered behind layers of fiberglass or fabric. The shower, clad in stainless steel panels, is awash in light from an analog lightbox, whose moody hues are further reflected off the panels. Pedro Ávila collaborated with the studio on a gridded fixture atop the atrium where rounded and rational forms create a sculptural glow.
Ávila also helped design the ceiling lights above the cold plunge. In guided sessions, guests are gently encouraged to test their boundaries with a two-minute plunge. The lighting helps soften the intense, introspective moment. “On the ceiling, we’re mirroring what’s happening down on the floor,” explained Marsollier. “There’s four fabric light boxes that are kind of deconstructed and respond to the cold bath.”
These kind of experiences can be intense and, in New York, are siren calls for the hyper-wellness aficionados who bring their own intensity. But The Altar’s kind staff, soft yet dramatic lighting, and third spaces invite guests looking for a range of experiences, whether it be chilling in the cold plunge for three minutes or just dipping a toe.