Rose Retreat Spa
Cyfarthfa Park, Merthyr Tydfil
Spa Extension & Wellness Retreat
Rose Retreat Spa sits beside Cyfarthfa Park and Cyfarthfa Castle in Merthyr Tydfil, within a highly sensitive historic parkland setting.
The brief was to extend the existing spa and create more private relaxation spaces for guests, while responding carefully to the surrounding landscape.
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Located beside a woodland entrance into the park, the design takes inspiration from the stone, timber and greenery already defining the site.
The timber screen mimics the organic rhythm of surrounding trees, helping the proposal blend into the landscape while giving spa users privacy.
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The building was kept low and single storey so the trees, stone walls and park entrance remain the dominant features. Rather than a typical extension, it takes inspiration from parkland pavilions, which have historically sat lightly within gardens as places of shelter, leisure and retreat.
​The planting strategy was inspired by the Crawshay family, who built Cyfarthfa Castle. The castle even had its own Victorian fernery, linking to the wider “fern craze”, when ferns appeared everywhere from gardens and glasshouses to wallpapers, textiles and clothing. The site’s history became a big influence on the planting around the spa.
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