HMGB Architects shared with us their first prize winning proposal in the competition to design the new Paracelsus Spa and Pools in Salzburg, Austria. Located at the northern edge of the Mirabellgarten Park, the project will replace the existing Paracelsus Spa and Pool from the 1950s to include a spa with 7 different pools (6 internal and 1 external pool), sauna and therapy spaces, as well as offices for various city departments. The design defines the northwestern park edge through the building’s clear volumetric mass and is divided into a southern part including all pools and a northern part including therapy and office spaces. More images and architects’ description after the break.
In order to make the most of the south-facing orientation towards the sun, the park and views over the city, all interior pools are assembled in a completely glazed vertical pool landscape that faces the park southwards. Visitors feel as if they were taking baths inside the tree canopies. All pools are connected into a continuous, forking and re-connecting vertical landscape. Some of the pools have glazed openings in the bottom and sides to allow for more views in- and outside. A slide and diving boards are integrated into this landscape. The whole pool landscape including pools, slide and circulation elements is cantilevered from a collective back wall.
This back wall is partly opaque, partly transparent and translucent to allow for views from the sauna, therapy rooms and offices in the northern part through the pool landscape into the park. A wide passage connects the southern park with the urban context northwards. Inside the park-facing part of the passage, the main public entrance and an outdoor café are situated.
Architects: HMGB Architects Location: Salzburg, Austria Project Team: Heike Matcha and Günter Barczik with Farzad Akhavan, Antje Heymann, Milad Golmohammadi Architectural Consultant: Dr.Ing.Arch. Bartbara Hirzberger-Zaic Landscape Architecture: Christiane Schwarz, Berlin Structural Engineering: Bollinger and Grohmann, Frankfurt HVAC: HL Technik, Munich and IBHW, Cottbus Acoustics: Akustik Moll, Berlin Quantity Surveyor: Prof. Christina Maas, Cologne/Aachen Renders: bloomimages Status: 1st Prize in International Open 2-Stage Competition 2012 Size: 14,000 m2 Budget: 37 mio € Estimated Date to go on Site: 2014
