A closer look at the 1st-place entry of Rebirth of the Bath House in Liepaja, Latvia
By Bustler Editors|
Friday, Jul 11, 2014
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Now here's a refreshing project. We've got the details behind the 1st-prize proposal of the recent "Rebirth of the Bath House" ideas competition. The competition is part of a series to renew the iconic Liepaja Seaside Park, a 70-hectare recreational park in Liepaja, Latvia.
Designers proposed flexible concepts to redevelop an on-site historic Bath House complex designed by Paul Max Berchi in 1902. Bodega & Piedrafita Architects of Uruguay took 1st prize out of over 70 submissions.
Check it out right below.
Project description:
"Taking sides: The size of the suggested program - 20 room hotel and spa - and the spirit of the competition demands a new building. A quick glimpse of the original structure indicates that the old fashioned thermal baths could be easily swapped into hotel rooms, likewise a more complex and demanding program such a thermal bath would be housed more adequately in a new construction.
Implant: The true challenge was to couple the two buildings together. The spa was designed as a whole new entity that gets very close but never touches de old building - except for a meter long glass connector -- in this manner the original structure is recovered without almost any changes. The intervention bets for a longitudinal block that runs parallel to the main volume of the ex-spa, drawing itself into the park as well as defining different areas in the surrounding woods. To the North East the park is treated as a natural expansion of the spa and the whole complex."
"Liepaja is known throughout Latvia as 'The city where the wind is born', likely because of the constant sea breeze. The new volume cuts the wind, creating a 'shelter' between the hotel and the spa.
A more protected area in order to take advantage of the outer space, even if it's windy outside. The South area closed between the two buildings serves as an access plaza, bringing life to both structures. Parking is placed in that same direction due to its closeness to the road that runs perpendicular to PelduIela Street. Finally the service and support areas are placed to the west, hidden from the public.
We also took in place the road connection. We saw a problem on this item, nowadays the road comes too close to the building, generating an unusual and stressing border. Our contribution in this sense was to bring the street backward, creating a more relaxed way of approaching the building regarding views and urban space."
"Spa and Thermal Bath: There has been a paradigm shift around the thermal baths, the logic of privacy in the bathrooms changed to a more natural and shared relationship amongst users. We looked forward to a reliable interaction, maximizing views and sights, resulting in a large parlour with a unique atmosphere.
The space resembles that of a wooden ecclesiastical nave or a ships inverted hull. Where wood, water and concrete are combined to create a color palette of basic elements, letting the raw materials count as they are, regarding texture and shape."
"In order to grant a formal and visual empathy with the original structure roof was pushed down at the middle of the volume, reaching maximum height (8m) in the opposite ends. Inside the spaces/programs flow from south to north in accordance to the shifting curved ceiling."
"From dry to wet, program is organized considering height and openings to the surrounding forest. As the space is more defined by this wooden shell, the plan is more closely related to the concrete base that runs through it. Which changes its altimetry regarding the original building plan height (+1,3m) the park (0 m) the underground plan (-1.3m) and the pools.
Hotel: The Neo-classical architecture bears resemblance to the Tsar days, the monumental building shines upon the ground, with a perfect conceived perspective from the renewed fountain. We decided to leave the whole facade outline in order to maintain that historic design. The only intervention was to conceive a more relaxed reception that combines a high-tech curtain wall, which is located behind the columns."
"The hotel sits on the old bath house structure, taking advantage of its original project, the rooms layout fits perfectly to the hotel scheme. Room’s area range from 18 square meters to 40, the differences between areas resides in the features they contain. In one hand we have the standard family rooms, that bears all the needed accommodations and in the other hand we equipped more sophisticated rooms, ranging from a simple water thermal Jacuzzi to thermal baths."
Project credits:
Firm
Bodega&Piedrafita architects
Authors
Arch. Pablo Bodega, Arch. Guillermo Piedrafita, Arch. Fabrizio Devoto, Arch. Leandro Villalba, Arch. Nicolás Rudolph
Colaborators
Emiliano Dutra, Nicolás Diaz
Area (m2)
building site: 13,252
construction area : 2,560
hotel: 1,310
spa: 1,250
All images courtesy of Bodega & Piedrafita Architects.
Click the thumbnails below to see more project images.
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