Therme spa, an ultra-modernist design statement in grey Valser quartzite, a place that somehow crafts a near-religious experience out of little more than stone, water and judiciously applied light.
Therme Vals Spa
Design Team: Peter Zumthor
Cost: € 16500000
Location: Vals, Graubünden, Switzerland
When to visit: Do check their website for updated visit date & time.
The new thermal spa, formally opened in December 1996 and already listed by the Canton Graubünden as a protected building in 1998, is a self-willed construction set into the mountain slope. It replaced the bathing facilities of the hydro hotel (built between 1962 and 1970) which were too cramped and in need of repair. The new separate spa building is built in Valser gneiss. Stone by stone. A massive element set in to the gradient of the slope and dovetailed with the flank of the mountain. The great slabs of the roof are grassed over: sections of flower studded alpine meadow.
Design Team: Peter Zumthor
Cost: € 16500000
Location: Vals, Graubünden, Switzerland
When to visit: Do check their website for updated visit date & time.
The new thermal spa, formally opened in December 1996 and already listed by the Canton Graubünden as a protected building in 1998, is a self-willed construction set into the mountain slope. It replaced the bathing facilities of the hydro hotel (built between 1962 and 1970) which were too cramped and in need of repair. The new separate spa building is built in Valser gneiss. Stone by stone. A massive element set in to the gradient of the slope and dovetailed with the flank of the mountain. The great slabs of the roof are grassed over: sections of flower studded alpine meadow.
2009 Pritzker Prize winner Peter Zumthor was selected as architect for the spa, despite his limited track record at the time, and the facility was built between 1993-1996. The baths were designed to look as if they predated the hotel complex, as if they were a form of cave or quarry-like structure. This is particularly evident from observing the grass roof structure of the baths, which resemble the foundations of an archaeological site, and reveal the form of the various bath rooms which lie below, half buried into the hillside.
Built using locally quarried Valser quarzite slabs, the spa building is made up of 15 different table-like units, 5 metres in height, with cantilevered concrete roof units supported by tie-beams. These units fit together like a giant jigsaw puzzle. The nature of the construction is revealed through close inspection of the roof – the roofs of the units don’t join, but are covered by glass to prevent water ingress through the 8cm gaps. Inside, this provides a dichotomy – the concrete makes the roof appear heavy but the gaps between the units also makes the roof appear to float.
There are 60,000, 1 metre-long sections of stone forming the cladding of the walls. Whilst these initially appear random, like an ashlar wall, there is a regular order. The cladding stones are of three different heights, but the total of the three is always 15cm, so it allows for variety in arrangement, whilst facilitating construction.
The architect intended to not include clocks within the spa, as he believed that time should be suspended whilst enjoying the baths, but three months after the baths opened, the architect relented to pressure from the client by the mounting of two small clocks atop brass posts.
This building is one of Zumthor’s finest, and as the man himself would say, it’s better seen than merely read about.
Photo credits: AKorour | Métempsycose
via Therme Vals
Built using locally quarried Valser quarzite slabs, the spa building is made up of 15 different table-like units, 5 metres in height, with cantilevered concrete roof units supported by tie-beams. These units fit together like a giant jigsaw puzzle. The nature of the construction is revealed through close inspection of the roof – the roofs of the units don’t join, but are covered by glass to prevent water ingress through the 8cm gaps. Inside, this provides a dichotomy – the concrete makes the roof appear heavy but the gaps between the units also makes the roof appear to float.
There are 60,000, 1 metre-long sections of stone forming the cladding of the walls. Whilst these initially appear random, like an ashlar wall, there is a regular order. The cladding stones are of three different heights, but the total of the three is always 15cm, so it allows for variety in arrangement, whilst facilitating construction.
The architect intended to not include clocks within the spa, as he believed that time should be suspended whilst enjoying the baths, but three months after the baths opened, the architect relented to pressure from the client by the mounting of two small clocks atop brass posts.
This building is one of Zumthor’s finest, and as the man himself would say, it’s better seen than merely read about.
Photo credits: AKorour | Métempsycose
via Therme Vals
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