Pause Studio – Manhattan Beach

Pause Studio Manhattan Beach is a completed wellness project in Manhattan Beach, California, by Studio Murnane. At about 2,900 square feet, the brief asked for an experiential customer journey that slows mind and body, an interior counter to the pace of constant connectivity and always-on digital culture in daily life.

Arrival is intentionally quiet. Satin-finished curvilinear wood walls, noted with a nod to Richard Serra sculptural language, draw visitors inward. Ambient lighting and roman clay plaster soften the first rooms, then an artful water feature marks a threshold inspired by Shinto hand washing (chozu), a purification ritual before entering a temple or shrine. Bold architectural arches and rounded corners set up a repeating rhythm the studio compares to patterns found in nature.

Zellige tile, limestone, and marble finishes reinforce a restorative material field. Scale is deliberately larger than the body, so guests move through rooms that feel enclosing without becoming cramped. As Manhattan Beach wellness interior design, the project uses geometry, water, and mineral surfaces to structure pause as a spatial sequence rather than a slogan for the brand. Photography by Lauren Moore.