Forum Thermal

Calgary, Alberta - Under Construction

Forum is an unapologetically urban thermal wellness experience embedded within Calgary’s Beltline neighbourhood. Rather than offering an escape from the city, the project embraces its energy, density, and atmosphere, transforming the surrounding urban environment into an essential part of the wellness experience.

Conceived as a sanctuary carved into the urban fabric, Forum unfolds as a sequence of contrasting spatial experiences. Visitors move between light and shadow, compression and openness, intimacy and monumentality, navigating a thermal landscape that encourages exploration, gathering, and moments of solitude. At its heart, a dramatic hydrothermal chamber brings together stainless steel basins, monolithic terrazzo forms, and carefully choreographed lighting to create an immersive, cavernous environment.

A series of saunas, steam rooms, hammams, meditation spaces, and open-air terraces extend outward from this central chamber, gradually reconnecting visitors with the city beyond. Rooftop pools and thermal spaces frame the surrounding towers and rail corridor, where the sounds and movement of the Beltline become part of the ritual rather than something to retreat from.

Through a restrained palette of terrazzo, concrete, stainless steel, warm wood, and carefully controlled light, Forum explores the relationship between architecture, atmosphere, and restoration. The result is a distinctly urban approach to wellness, where the contrasts of city life heighten moments of stillness, connection, and retreat.