Remedy Place Believes Artful Design Is An Act Of Wellness

Dr.Jonathan Leary wants you to have a first date in an ice bath. The founder of Remedy Place—or as their slogan reads “The World’s First Social Wellness Club”—seems to be onto something. Just outside the 7,200 square-foot flagship in New York’s Flatiron, temptations and toxins have long awaited the city’s hopeful daters. A first date is a cocktail. A birthday party is a bottomless brunch. A business meeting is an indulgent meal. Take a step back— and we might just notice that the health of our social lives has been at the expense of our personal health. Remedy Place was designed in the hopes that we might just rewrite our social stories.

At the club’s entrance on West 21st, a balmy aura of sage seeps through its glass doors and onto the street. I’d quickly learn that at Remedy Place, nothing is scented or placed without purpose. Through his Doctorate in Chiropractic Medicine and years as a private practitioner for Olympic athletes and actors alike, Dr.Leary discovered design plays a vital role in speeding up the healing process. He shared that “People feel at ease when they’re at home, but I was never going to change healthcare by seeing one patient at a time.” And so he began to envision the plans for what would become Remedy Place.

Without prior experience in interiors, Dr.Leary imagined every last detail of what he believes could be the future of wellness centers. He drew custom furniture pieces inspired by his chiropractic background—including an ergo dynamic couch composed of three cylindrical tubes. While the curved furniture follows the human form allowing for rest and relief, its soft, upholstered fabrics foster a sense of luxury. Remedy Place’s monochromatic color scheme was carefully chosen by Dr.Leary for its calming qualities. Throughout the space, warm grays, Venetian plasters, and natural stones set the tone. And if there was ever a case for dim lighting, Remedy Place makes it. The warm glow is easy on the eyes, and certainly a welcome juxtaposition from the bright lights in the big city outside.

When we picture a traditional treatment center, olive trees and honor bars seldom come to mind. The clinics and hospitals we’ve come to know aren’t designed with design in mind. The very places we go to heal, are often places associated with discomfort—laden with white lights and bleak interiors. So, why the emphasis on ambiance at Remedy Place? According to Dr.Leary, our environment plays a major role in our health. “When you walk into a hospital setting, you have a negative physiological response. Your body tenses up, and your heart rate elevates. If you are trying to improve your health and the way you feel, that environment is working against you,” he says.

The design at Remedy Place is the physical manifestation of Dr.Leary’s vision of social self-care, which he describes as “The act of deepening human connection and enhancing health through experiences with others.” It is, quite literally, a remedy to the conflicts we face between the toxins prevalent in our social lives, and the lifestyle changes needed to fix the root of our health issues. “I used human psychology when considering every single design detail so that visitors would have a positive physiological response,” he notes. In doing so, he hopes to enhance our health and social life at the same time.

So, what are the remedies? Well, at Remedy Place, there’s a whole host of them. You won’t find Technogym machines or trendy facials. Here, you’re welcomed to an extensive array of holistic treatments. Facilities include a Japanese Wabi-Sabi-inspired infrared light sauna, acupuncture and cupping rooms, lymphatic compression suits, on-site professionals for consultations, cryo chambers, hyperbaric chambers, a sound-absorbing meditation room, and of course, their already-Instagram-famous ice baths. Any treatment can be done solo or in a social group setting, and visitors can book services à la carte or through a membership.

As the way we socialize changes, Remedy Place offers a timely alternative to the happy hours and nightcaps we’ve grown accustomed to. Wellness may be a buzzword, and non-alcoholic elixirs may already be a hot commodity in the millennial fridge, but where products and prose fail to make space for new social dynamics, Remedy Place has plenty of it. Dr.Leary believes good design has a direct positive effect on our internal physiology, and after a 6-minute session submerged in a 39-degree ice bath, I can see why a date here might just break the ice.