hugo wennmyr

Project

A public bath house south west of Stockholm, working from the inside and out. Emphasising spatial quality and experience. 

​

Concept

Experimenting with the interaction between those in the water and those walking alongside the edges. The initial concept was to place the pools on the ground (not excavating them into the ground) and using their volumes as spatial dividers. The ceiling mirrors the spaces created by the pools, hanging down over some areas and opening up over others.

 

During this project I tried to define my own process, in order to understand it myself and also communicate it to others. Map it all out and hopefully find genuine sources of inspiration. Filter everything and find the essence of what I’ve learned from my first three years in architecture.

 

 Process.

​

1. Project and context.

Understanding a site and relating to it's conditions. Running around with a a few sheets of paper and a camera, searching for details to get inspired by. Västertorp bathhouse is being redeveloped and a new bathhouse is being built on the slope of Hägersternsåsen. The site is a stretch of land in between two residential areas, stretching from Hägerstensåsens subway station south until it's cut off by the "E4" highway. The site is something in-between a park and a roadside edge. The proximity of the highway is an issue with the constant noise of traffic. It's an intriguing site to work with, whatever I choose to do with it, the site will only get better.

 

2. Topography and things to draw from.

The first pure source of inspiration, allowing the project to be formed by the landscape. Incorporating existing urban / natural elements and using them as guidelines. The area is grass covered near the roads and a forested at the top of a small slope. The variations in height allows for interesting spatial sequences, if I let the sloping angle of the site always be present in the new bathhouse. The older existing pool provides guidelines to draw the new bathhouse from. it´s orientation follows the highway.

 

3. Conceptual idea.

Here it is, the freedom and inspiration, finding a way for the new bathhouse to take whatever form it wishes. myself not knowing the outcome. A simple thought allowing the layout of the bathhouse to generate itself. The first spatial concept of placing the pools on ground instead of excavating them into the ground, their configuration responds to the existing topography. All the pools share a horizontal plane (water surface) but have varying depths. Shallow pools are closer to the forest while the deepest finds itself closest to the road. It's like filling the site with water and carving out the pools from a single volume of water. The periphery around each pool creates enough space to organise the bathhouse's program around. The topography of the site becomes noticeable through the entire structure.

 

4. Programming the complex.

Spatial sequences move with the landscape up towards the "water surface", where the bathhouse is an open space. The entrances are located to the south, surrounding the deepest pool. Visitors are welcomed by a big open shaft with a rectangular object in the middle. The open space above is noticeable but still distant. The spatial sequences of changing clothes and showering slowly climbs up the slope, gym and training facilities follow the same topographical nature on the other side of the main pools. The open "surface" area is interwoven with sunken corridors, stairs, water areas and accessing floors.

 

5. Structure and construction.

This has been relatively straight forward. The pools are concrete, highly polished (to seal all pores) then glased matte, to prevent leakage. The roof of the large open space is constructed with concrete girders, supported by steel pillars. The facade is steel beam grid, standing with a little distance from the concrete girders. This allows the roof to "float" above the underlying structure. The platforms of the diving tower are hanging from the roof.

 

6. Tectonics and spatial quality.

The concrete girders supporting the roof need to be stabilised, these elements counteract the whole structure falling down like a house of cards.

They double as daylight intake, each slot is set a little different from the previous, perforating the constructive elements and using the dynamics of natural light. Steel plates fan out from the opening, light passes through at various times during the day and changing with the seasons. The plates reflect light on one side while the other absorbs it.

In summer the ceiling can open for ventilation. Canals run alongside corridors and stairs, water can spill over the edges of all the pools. The water is lead down beneath the pools to be cleaned and reused.

 

7. Facade and relation to the surroundings.

The external construction hints at what's inside the building, partly glass, in a gradient from translucent to transparent. Translucent to the south towards the highway and transparent in the north towards the forest. At certain times sunlight falls through the roof openings, reflecting in the water. The lights reflection on the pools is during this time visible on the facade.

 

8. The human element and uncertainty.

The last thing I can't predict and haven't yet experienced. All I have are scale figures and my own (highly) personal view of how this bathhouse will be used. How it would play out in reality would be interesting to witness.

​

The project is over and I've spent it constantly trimming and simplifying everything. Landscape, concept, program, construction, spaces, facade and people in order to make a project as free / open as possible for as long as possible. 

Each part is added without disturbing the core of the previous, working from the inside outwards. In the end I have a project that is rooted to a site, but this concept can be applied anywhere and would result in a very similar building.

I've defined essential and childishly simple rules, a way to find inspiration in any project I can undertake.