The Parisian firm Chatillon Architectes have completely restored the Bains Municipaux Strasbourg and brought it up to date technically. In addition, new wellness facilities have been created in this historicist gem from the early 20th century.
The Parisian firm Chatillon Architectes has completely restored the Bains Municipaux Strasbourg and brought it up to date technically. In addition, new wellness facilities have been created in this historicist gem from the early 20th century.
The Strasbourg municipal baths are a magnificent architectural heritage from 1905, designed according to ancient models, but built with the most modern construction technology of the time in reinforced concrete and decorated with numerous Art Nouveau elements. The “Bains Municipaux Strasbourg” are a listed building. They were designed by the architect Fritz Beblo, Strasbourg’s city planning officer from 1910 to 1919. The citizens are very fond of their magnificent baths, perhaps similar to the Müllersche Volksbad in Munich. If the local neo-baroque Art Nouveau building from 1901 is already a gem, the Strasbourg baths are even more impressive in their design.
In both cases, it is modeled on ancient Rome, where bathing was also sumptuous and luxurious. Back then, the bath was not only used for relaxation and cleansing, but the social aspect of bathing together was also very important and therefore required an appropriate setting. Valuable mosaic and marble floors, several bathing pools, rooms for sweating and steam baths made them very special prestige buildings. The public thermal baths were built by specialized architects and builders from all over the empire. And just as in ancient times, the Bains Municipaux Strasbourg naturally included various facilities: Indoor pools, public showers, a steam bath, a solarium – and even a separate dog salon.
Adapting valuable historical substance to modern wellness concepts is a delicate and complex task. However, the Parisian architecture firm Chatillon is predestined for this task. They have already made a name for themselves as specialists in dealing with historically significant buildings. Together with Snøhetta, they recently completed the renovation of the Musée Carnavalet(Baumeister 10/21), Paris’ museum of urban history. Above all, however, they gained a wealth of experience with a similar construction project, the renovation of the Parisian swimming pool “Piscine des Amiraux”, a building from 1927 by architect Henri Sauvage. Here, too, the aim was to give an architectural jewel of the early twentieth century a new lease of life while at the same time meeting our modern requirements.
At the Bains Municipaux Strasbourg, Chatillon Architectes were entrusted with converting the building for contemporary use in addition to restoring it. The existing building had to be upgraded and elements and ornamentation that had disappeared or changed over time had to be restored. Above all, however, safety, accessibility and barrier-free accessibility – in all areas for both children and users with limited mobility – were to be improved. For example, the historic stained glass windows were fitted with a second inner glazing. It goes without saying that the technical installations have also been comprehensively renewed. The aim of the renovation was of course to ensure that the facilities are comfortable to use for today’s bathers. This also includes new wellness facilities.
Restoration and energy efficiency
As the owner of the building, the City of Strasbourg put together a whole consortium of planners. In addition to the architects from the construction company Eiffage Construction Alsace, this also included the agency TNA for the water and sports facilities. They all had to ensure that water and energy resources were used more efficiently in the future. The Bains Municipaux Strasbourg were therefore connected to the district heating network and old systems were demolished. The old high boiler room could now be divided into two levels. There is now a fitness room upstairs and a cooking studio downstairs. The newly installed water treatment, renewal and heating system is expected to reduce overall water consumption by 80 percent in future. In other words, from 850 liters to 150 liters of water per bathing guest.
A new feature in the organization of the rooms is that guests can now move between the two swimming pools from the large to the smaller pool. A relaxation zone with a herbal tea bar has been created by the “Grand Bassin”. Some of the cabins along the large pool have also been redesigned to create more space at the edge of the pool. The new lighting concept also makes a significant contribution to safety and better orientation. The improved vertical access also makes access to all areas of the popular city pool with its many guests safer and more fluid. Five new staircases have been added to the building volume. Chatillon Architekten also completely restored the Roman-Irish steam bath. And a whirlpool, a salt grotto and a sauna were housed in former technical rooms. At this point, the bathing facilities are extended to the green areas outside the building. On the site of the old Bains Municipaux Strasbourg parking lot, there is now a stainless steel relaxation pool and sauna in the middle of a meadow.
The Bains Municipaux Strasbourg are located at the transition between the medieval old town and the new town, in a historic district that emerged from the expansion of the city by the German Empire from 1870 to 1918. As a result, the Stadtbad has been listed as a “Monument historique” in the middle of the UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2017. After two years of renovation, the Bains Municipaux Strasbourg have been open to bathers again since last November. (sas)
France is not the only country that knows something about sensitive restoration. In Lauffen am Neckar, a museum has been created in the birthplace of the poet Friedrich Hölderlin.
