Grössling-Baths – Bratislava

Locality: 811 02 Bratislava, Slovakia
Tenderer: Municipality of Bratislava, Metropolitný inštitút Bratislavy
Area: 7935 m2
Year: 2020

The rehabilitation of the downtown spa and public baths, built at the end of the 19th century, was designed in response to an international tender launched by the City of Bratislava’s Urban Development Centre (Metropol Institute of Bratislava). We were attracted by the location and the density of the space envisaged in the programme: it was designed to preserve the building’s values and to provide two independent community functions – the spa and the downtown branch of the city library.

The design was based on the historical and functional deconstruction of the layers of the three-street complex, with the aim of creating a liberated square world that meets today’s needs. The concept was based on the restoration of the Neo-Renaissance and Classicist-Functionalist bathing areas, completed in 1895 and extended at the beginning of the 20th century. The aim was to preserve as much as possible of the outstanding features of the 1914 building and to clarify the connection between the modern wing, completed in 1930, and the rest of the space.

Our concept was to create a fabric-like structure between the preserved historical cores, providing both visual and physical connections. In order to create a clearer sense of space, we have removed the rows of rooms wedged between the pool decks, which had become fragmented and structurally obsolete over the years. Their place and role is taken by a new structure, gently inserted between the existing masses, which weaves through the fragmented blockwork, embracing the different ages and volumes of the building. This neutral contemporary element accentuates the over-lit halls of the pools, the staircases, the boiler house and the industrial monument chimney. A fundamental idea in the massing was to create a structure of solid and openwork blocks that could handle the differentiation that resulting from the different functions. Closed cubes contain the service block of the spa, the smaller community spaces of the library (board games room, conference room), while transparent blocks contain the rest and bathing areas.

Courtyards and green spaces have been defined to blend into the fabric and provide natural light to every part of the building. For example, the densely planted relaxation garden and reading grove were created to complement the internal function. As the buildings in the block are much taller than the baths, the skylights at the boundaries between the old and new baths play a prominent role. As part of our concept was to create a subtle separation of the ages, they span the entire mass of the building, providing light and visual connection between the different levels. A corner location at the intersection of Medená and Kúpel’ná streets provided a point of arrival. From here, the main entrance leads to the ornate foyer, which in turn leads to the café and the spa ticket office. The common area of the library is located in the extension of the café. The library can also be accessed directly through the side entrance from the tree-lined square created by the demolition of the existing car park on Medená Street.

The cellular spaces of the Kúpel’ná Street wing, built up over decades, will also be opened up: on the ground floor there will be a classic cabin, a shower room and a vaulted cellar with lockers for changing rooms and workshops. The library will occupy the floors of both street wings of the original building, connected to the children’s library in the attic by gallery openings, and the former gate on Kúpel’ná Street will serve as a barrier-free entrance to both the baths and the library. It was considered important to harmonise the preserved historical spaces with the new parts of the building.

Building on the traditional functional relationships, the treatment rooms, steam room and all the other complementary spa services will appear as floating units, largely in their former locations, lined up along the sometimes interconnecting pathways of the day spa and the spa. The arcade walls of the old pools will be rebuilt in places to create a direct link to the relaxation area and the outdoor adventure pool, from where a spiral staircase leads to the sundeck.

On Kúpel’ná Street, in the direction of the Danube, we leave the existing building and arrive at the entrance to the new spa building of the Day Spa. As soon as you enter the foyer, you can see the rich interior, the old boiler house, which has been preserved as a memento, and the brick chimney. Passing through the reception area on the ground floor and the changing rooms on the first floor, you enter the quieter area of the day spa, which operates independently of the town spa and is connected in places to the historic spa grounds for the use of guests.

The staff entrance is on the bank of the Danube. The same access – via a separate entrance and staircase – leads to the spa offices and the guest apartments connected to the library, created by the renovation of the 1930s wing. It was fascinating to unravel the juxtaposition of eras, to interpret the current function, to shape the new massing, to bring together and connect the disjointed and dilapidated spaces. Bringing out historical forms and spaces (bathing rooms, foyer, ceremonial staircase, drinking fountain), combining and reinterpreting old and new layers, the familiar and yet new environment of the monarchy era was a joyful game for us.

architecture:	Csaba Balogh, Ágnes Deigner, Levente Sirokai, Péter Sónicz
architect associate:	Krisztina Ancza, Zsófia Dombrovszky, Dávid Toronyi, Ági Vértesy

publication:

2021 | Építészfórum