Are the kids alright? In the city that never sleeps, where the youth once boshed a shit load of drugs in disco clubs, or drank until they collapsed at wild hardcore nights in CBGB, a Toronto-born concept hailed as an ‘oasis for the sober-curious’ has arrived at a cavernous Flatiron District space where guests are invited to “embrace emotions and feel empowered to open themselves up to meaningful connections with others.”
A vast 75-person performance sauna, private cold plunge room, amphitheater-style tea lounge with a focal fireplace, and ‘celestial’ lighting, makes up Othership Flatiron, the third location of a brand born just before the pandemic that has quickly garnered over social media 50,000 followers and over 100,000 downloads of their guided breathwork app.
“People are tired of going to a bar or restaurant in order to have a social night out; there needs to be a better way,” explains Amanda Laine, co-founder and lead facilitator. “People want to reconnect with themselves, relax, drop their guard, and feel safe. Othership is a way to socialise without the distractions of technology and reap the health benefits of these practices along the way.” Rapidly expanding from a Toronto backyard ice bath to a wide and engaged community, Othership’s two locations in the Ontario capital and their current movements south of the border (a location in Brooklyn will open next year) seem to prove Laine’s claims.
Designed by Futurestudio, led by founding principal Ali McQuaid Mitchell, their first foray into the United States is an impressive one, the designers drawing on the transformative power of nature to purposefully cast Othership as a sanctuary for connection with oneself and the community of ‘journeyers’ that surround them.
One of the only spaces in North America offering immersive emotional wellness programming combined with hot and cold therapy, Othership’s ‘performance saunas’ offer a clean, fresh heat up to 190°F, with aromatic snowballs providing humidity that feels 200°F; the custom-designed ice baths kept as low as 32°F. Guided group classes (up, down, and all around for energy, relaxation, or emotional connection) offer elements that include breathwork, aromatherapy, towel waving, and a curated soundscape. Longer evening socials with louder music and guided conversations are designed to foster deeper community-building.
“Our third location is a testament to New Yorkers’ desire for spaces to connect with themselves and their communities,” says Robert Bent, co-founder and CEO. “As a society, we’re starting to think much more about how much our emotional state impacts not only our physical health, but day-to-day life. Othership’s unique take on hot and cold therapy has helped over 200,000 people de-stress and transform their relationships.”
A fascinating concept that goes hard against the traditional concepts of connection and socialising in big cities, Othership’s arrival in New York is sure to engage many a hip young thing with its towel-waving, ice-bathing rebuttal of boozy nights out.
Othership Flatiron Photography, Ian Patterson / Graydon Herriot (fourth photo).
