In harmony with nature
Given the location of the sports and leisure pool on the edge of the Schwaketen and Mainau forests, Behnisch Architekten developed a project whose distinctive appearance is based primarily on a natural world of colors and materials. The bathing landscape under the sculpturally folded roof is characterized above all by the harmonious interplay of ceramic tiles from Agrob Buchtal.
The new Schwaketenbad in Constance is considered the largest sports and family pool on Lake Constance. It is located between open-air sports facilities and allotments in a natural green area that merges seamlessly into an idyllic forest and meadow landscape. The site is steeped in history, as the old Schwaketenbad, built on the same site in the 1980s, fell victim to a major fire in 2015. Less than a year later, the Bädergesellschaft Konstanz launched an architectural competition for a new building. The desire for more water attractions and expanded water and catering areas made it clear that a new chapter was to be opened here. Two sports pools and a course pool with a lifting floor were to be available to bathers in the future, as well as a toddler pool and a non-swimmer pool with a slide, a whirlpool, a diving area, two giant slides and a water playground. Behnisch Architekten realized all of this in a 10,000-square-meter new building with a sculpturally folded roof and expansive bathing area. The architects' goal was a building with "natural materiality" that would create references to the adjacent landscape spaces and thus generate "familiarity." With this in mind, they decided to design the bathing landscape with Agrob Buchtal in almost all areas.
Harmonious color scheme
Arriving bathers encounter a building that, despite its considerable size, has a pleasantly small-scale feel. Characteristic in this context are the large-area glass façade projecting forwards and backwards and the cantilevered roof surfaces, under which protected transition areas between inside and outside are created. However, the unagitated natural colors and surfaces are also characteristic. In the foyer, the harmonious coexistence of materials is particularly striking: 30 x 60 cm cream-beige floor tiles from the Nova series laid in a wild bond, ceiling cladding made of spruce-canthwood, and some exposed concrete walls. The first subtle color accent is provided by red privacy walls, which lead into the adjacent changing room area, also equipped with cream-beige floor tiles from the Nova series.
Versatile room experience
After passing through the changing rooms and showers, bathers enter a passageway with 2.5 x 2.5 cm mosaic tiles from the Fresh series on the floor and walls. The mosaic mix midnight blue-mix, shimmering in noble shades of blue, lends this intermediate area a certain mystique and makes the way to the light-flooded expanse of the open bathing area an experience. There are several reasons why visitors immediately feel at ease after arriving in the bathing hall. First, they find themselves in the same natural world of colors and materials that they already know from the entrance area. Secondly, from here they have a view of all the water attractions and, thanks to the large glass facade, also of the outside area. And thirdly, they experience the roofscape, composed of three folded strips, as a fascinating three-dimensional spatial structure under which very different areas are created. While the roof, which lies high above the pools, creates an airy spaciousness, it provides a protective visual and acoustic sense of security at the toddler pool - as it does in the changing rooms.
Colorful accents with mosaic
The 11.5 x 24 cm white-bluish swimming pool tiles of the Chroma Pool series provide a harmonious, soft world of color in the pool hall in combination with a total of 2800 m² of the unglazed sand-white, 5 x 5 cm floor tiles of the Plural series. The small format not only reliably meets the required slip resistance class R10/B, but also facilitates the aesthetic formation of connections to other structural elements (e.g. drains, supports, gutters) or drainage surfaces with slopes. These tiles characterize almost all floor areas of the bathing complex - the pool surrounds as well as the catering area of the bathing hall and the steam bath. The 2.5 x 2.5 cm mosaic tiles of the Fresh series with the mosaic mixture coral red-mix, on the other hand, set specific accents. The harmoniously juxtaposed red tones of the benches, which at the same time separate the pool areas, indicate their function as a warming lounge area. Coral red-mix also creates an impressive effect in the steam bath, which is placed as a stone cube at the edge of the bathing hall: thanks to the seating steps and walls in this mosaic mixture, its interior presents itself as a glowing red crystal, where visitors can warm up in the cool water after their bath. In both cases, the seating surfaces were designed in the slip-resistant R10/B version, because it cannot be ruled out that they, too, will be walked on. The 2.5 x 2.5 cm mosaic tiles from the Fresh series in the toddler pool provide a discreet, subtly staged color mood. The mosaic mix light blue-mix at the bottom of the pool is interspersed with circles of various other mosaic mixes, some of which extend over the edge of the pool into the pool surround, which is also covered with 2.5 x 2.5 cm Fresh mosaic tiles. The pool and its immediate surroundings can thus be experienced as a homogeneous play and bathing area. The pool and the surrounding area are separated only by the flat Wiesbaden pool head system, in which the outflowing water produces a gentle murmur reminiscent of crashing waves through a specially shaped channel.
Fit for the future - finished with Hytect
The ceramic tiles used here feature Agrob Buchtal's factory-applied "Hytect" finish, which ensures a long service life for the building thanks to the durability and high quality of the materials. Hytect ceramic naturally releases active oxygen in interaction with light and oxygen, which inhibits the growth of mold, viruses and bacteria directly on the surface and completely without chemicals. This not only minimizes the cleaning effort, but also reduces air pollutants and unpleasant odors. But the Schwaketenbad is also fit for the future thanks to the interplay between the timelessly natural materials and surfaces and the surrounding natural landscape. In this way, and thanks to the durability of the ceramics, the bathing landscape will continue to be attractive in every respect for many years to come.
