Inside Watershed Spa: How Design Details Enhance Well-Being

The design strategy behind a pioneering communal bath and spa in Minneapolis

March 30, 2026

Photography Graham Tolbert
Styling Dimitria Klein

To create the serene projections on the lower level, Rueckl tapped Watershed hypnotherapist Josh Sundby, who also happens to be an expert in digital signage. Sundby rotates images quarterly, often bringing Minnesota’s seasons indoors.

For thousands of years, communal bathhouses have been a staple in cultures around the world, but for modern-day Minneapolis it has remained a largely unfamiliar concept— that is until Watershed Spa opened its doors in 2022.

The communal bathing and holistic wellness destination stands apart from the spaces often seen in luxury resort spas in several important ways. Treatment rooms on the upper floor are clustered in the center, resembling a beehive, rather than lining the perimeter. On the lower level, the communal bath sits adjacent to a frigid cold plunge pool and sauna while a projection wall featuring images of the cosmos and nature glows above.

Watershed’s design details break from conventional spas, too. Nell Rueckl, its founder and a spa industry veteran, spearheaded much of the interior design strategy and tapped some of the town’s best minds to inform her decisions along the way. Interior designers Anne McDonald and Jen Cirone were frequent collaborators, among other creatives in Rueckl’s network, including Dimitria Klein. The lower floor is especially unexpected: In lieu of neutral, earthy tones associated with luxury spas, Watershed opts for bright accent colors like cobalt blue, lemon yellow, navy, aqua, fuchsia, and red.

“I do understand earth tones in spas because there is a calming element to those colors that we see in nature, and bringing that inside is a healthy perspective,” Rueckl says. “But there are rocks that are neon yellow. There are rocks that are cobalt blue. When you have lack of natural light, we want to make sure we can keep things flowing. Those higher energetic colors really help.”

These modern design details and pioneering wellness stations mingle with the past. Watershed resides within the Switch House near the Mississippi Riverfront in the St. Anthony Main neighborhood, where exposed beams and brick walls call to the building’s beginnings in 1883.

Preservation Protections: The Beauty and the Challenges

When collaborating with PLAAD to design the upperlevel treatment rooms, Rueckl pulled inspiration from images of the domed buildings in St. Petersburg, Russia, and beehives. “I said, ‘Let’s cluster everybody together,’” she explains. “I kept joking that I wanted it to feel like a city in a diorama.” — When collaborating with PLAAD to design the upper-level treatment rooms, Rueckl pulled inspiration from images of the domed buildings in St. Petersburg, Russia, and beehives. “I said, ‘Let’s cluster everybody together,’” she explains. “I kept joking that I wanted it to feel like a city in a diorama.”

Rueckl says it was not her original intent to house Watershed in a 19th-century building. But after nearly two decades of refining her bathhouse concept for Minneapolis and searching for its home, the available space at the historic Switch House presented a unique opportunity.

Rueckl partnered with Buhl Investors and architecture firm PLAAD LLC to bring Watershed to life. One of the greatest challenges they faced was the historic preservation protections placed on the building, which caused some difficulties in creating connections between Watershed’s multiple floors.

“Spatial continuity and the restrictions on creating a larger opening had to be carefully considered,” says Mark Stankey, design principal and architect for PLAAD LLC. This required reconsideration of where experiential spaces were placed and why— specifically, which level they were on. “The upper level has a much lighter and airier feel than the lower level,” he says. “Adjusting the program spaces to be on levels that better reflected their intended experience was an important move.”

The hard work paid off. So much so, that a new location is in the works in the North Loop, and the flagship location is already embarking on an expansion that will nearly double its footprint to 19,000 square feet. To complete the expansion, Rueckl is partnering with RSP Architects to add a new salt room, infrared sauna, and dedicated outdoor relaxation area. Derek McCallum, design principal at RSP Architects, says he’s impressed by Rueckl’s design sensibilities and her vision. “She is a true inspiration to be around and is deeply connected to wellness and the authenticity that comes along with that,” says McCallum. “A lot of clients aren’t quite grounded at that level, thinking about how design affects how we live.”

With Rueckl at the helm, every detail is designed to provide a restorative experience for every person that walks through Watershed’s doors. “We’re just trying to create an environment where people feel whole, human, and like they can relax,” she says.

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What’s Next for Watershed Spa

Watershed plans to open a second location in the North Loop at the former site of Bev’s Wine Bar. The building, once known as the Traffic Zone building, has been renamed the Wheelhouse and is currently undergoing redevelopment by St. Louis Park-based Crowe Cos., which also owns the property.

The new location will feature four massage treatment rooms, private soaking tubs, a unique tatami-style room, a communal bathing space, and a tranquil meditation area with garden views.

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