It was personal health concerns that initially inspired business and life partners Neil O’Sullivan and Su Tuttle to launch Nimbus Co – Australia’s first infrared sauna studio – back in 2016. That, and a desire to make the benefits of infrared saunas – which use a high-frequency light to penetrate the body’s cells – accessible to the Australian market.
What started as a boutique Bondi studio has since become one of Australia’s leading wellness brands, with Nimbus Co now comprising four studios across Australia, a newly launched product line and an online platform designed to help Australians add to their wellness toolkit from any location. Its newest addition – Nimbus Co Manly – opened in November with four state-of-the-art infrared saunas, a private ice bath and three light-flooded private practitioner rooms.
The new studio sits in a heritage-listed building, just back from The Corso, and opens onto a busy laneway that will soon be home to an Aesop store and other wellness-focused businesses.
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SIGN UP“We share the building with Studio Pilates – it’s a neat little wellness hub, we really couldn’t have asked for a better location,” O’Sullivan tells Broadsheet.
As well as its saunas, ice bath and careful curation of wellness products, the studio is a base for a lymphatic massage practitioner, a Vedic meditation teacher, a naturopath and a nutritionist. There’s also an in-house dietitian, Lyndsay Dalton, who’s taking on the role of co-manager at the Manly studio alongside her fiancèe Matty Hill.
“People might start by coming in for a sauna, but we want them to leave with more. We’re not going to have the solution for everything, but if we don’t, we can point you in the direction of someone who does,” says O’Sullivan.
Designed in collaboration with Bambi Interiors, the space adds a playful, Mediterranean energy to Nimbus Co’s signature minimalist aesthetic. Polished concrete floors and whitewashed walls sit alongside designer chairs from Larkwood Furniture and custom-built shelving lined with Nimbus Co’s new retail offering, including a gua sha, or Chinese massage stone, and a lightweight face oil packed with botanicals like turmeric, sea buckthorn, frankincense and lavender.
Reflecting the brand’s community-focused approach, each site has been designed with its location and local clientele in mind. “Each studio has its own identity because they each have a different location and demographic, but the undertone is the same: an energy that encourages relaxation,” says O’Sullivan.
Nimbus Co Manly
5 Rialto Lane, Manly