Sol Elements: The Hinterland Bathhouse Redefining Rest

Set within the tree-clad hills of Mount Tamborine, you’ll find Sol Elements, a wellness offering complete with saunas, pools, and private suites, all housed within a Japanese-inspired space.

Positioned within the surrounding landscape, Sol Elements is designed to help people relax, rejuvenate, and reconnect with nature. From ancient charred Yakisugi timber creating a dark, tactile backdrop to wabi-sabi-inspired interiors layered with our Antique Bronze finish, every material echoes the bathhouse’s raw, authentic architecture, for a deeply immersive experience.

“The inspiration behind Sol was Japanese architecture. We fell in love with Yakisugi, which is the burnt Japanese wood. It’s one of the oldest traditions, and it’s around 600 years old,” shares owner Russ Raven.

Set on the fringe of a pond, a concrete base allows the pools and sunken firepit to sit almost level with the surrounding water and wildlife.

“The fact that we’re on a lake with the submerged firepit, we really wanted to make it so that you could sit as close to eye level as possible with the turtles, the fish, and all the birds,” says Russ.

At the core of the circular structure lies a serene Zen garden and blossom tree, forming the central heart of Sol Elements that every surrounding space looks out onto. Inspired by bathhouses visited throughout the world, Russ and Shae set out to create a unique wellness experience in Australia. After spending time in the hinterland, the vision for Sol Elements quickly fell into place. 

“We thought something like that would be so incredible here, because you’re only an hour from Brisbane and 45 minutes from the Gold Coast, yet it feels like you’re disappearing into the rainforest and entering another world,” shares Shae.

With layered, organic architecture throughout, elements like raw timber slabs, Italian travertine tiles, fossil coral stone lighting, and Antique Bronze tapware draw their tones and textures from the earth itself. Together, they offer a sense of warmth that contrasts the dark, charred appearance of the Yakisugi, creating depth and richness throughout every space.

“The Antique Bronze that we’ve used from ABI Interiors, alongside all the really beautiful red timber we sourced, worked so well together. Having incredible collaborators like ABI Interiors to bounce ideas off and ask, ‘What do you think about this?’ was such an important part of the process,” shares Shae.

By letting every texture contribute its own distinct patina and pattern, Sol becomes a space that tells a story, where the grooves, veining, and tactile qualities of the materials reinforce the sense of serenity the space is designed to evoke.

“Everything we did, we wanted to be a little bit more moody and rustic and earthy,” Shae adds.

Given the nature of a bathhouse as an extremely high-traffic environment that must still uphold a sense of luxury, material selection was crucial. Longevity, quality, and durability guided every decision, as Russ explains: “We followed wabi-sabi, which means the perfection within the imperfection of nature. Everything that Shae put in, it all leans into wabi-sabi being imperfect, but in that way, it's still perfect.”

Choosing an Antique finish elevated the spaces at Sol Elements while introducing a materiality that embraces imperfection from the very start. Where other finishes may show signs of wear or degradation over time, our Antique Collection upholds its character, with its lived-in patina only adding to the authenticity of a space.

As they reflect on the project, the two share a genuine appreciation for the power a place holds in shaping how people feel within it. What was once a quiet pocket of nature has become a sanctuary for calm and connection, where thoughtful design and wellness come together to encourage presence with the surrounding tranquillity.

“It's easy to build a building, I say that after the fact, but the difficulty is making it have a life or a heart. And that's what Shae created, along with our therapists and our team, to give it the blood that pumps around — and that's what you feel when you float out of here, people leave holding hands and connecting and laughing, because they feel like they've just left somewhere that's given back to them,” Russ reflects.

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