Spa district

Photos: Gianni Baumann

The new design of the spa district in Baden comprises the realisation of a contemporary thermal bath with various indoor and outdoor pools, saunas, steam baths and treatment and therapy rooms as well as a new medical and residential building with a diagnostics centre.

The name of the new thermal spa, Fortyseven, refers to the temperature of the escaping thermal spring water. It replaces a thermal facility designed by architect Otto Glaus in 1964, where a Grand Hotel from the Belle Epoque period stood even earlier. Right next to it, a medical and residential building, Residence 47, was built at the same time.

This renewal of the neighborhood was preceded by a lengthy development process: Based on a development guideline plan of the city of Baden and the municipality of Ennetbaden, the city of Baden and Verenahof AG launched a study commission procedure in 2008, from which the project of Mario Botta Architetti emerged victorious. The scope of services provided by HRS included the function of general contractor with full cost, quality and schedule guarantee as well as the planning of the building services/building technology.

The thermal bath and the residential and medical building as well as the building services have been planned, built and certified according to the Minergie standard. The thermal bath and the residential and medical building are operated by generating energy from the thermal water, which at 47 degrees is still too warm for a bath. In the thermal baths, the ventilation system uses a closed-loop system to return around 80 percent of the energy contained in the exhaust air to the outside air intake in the form of heat. The service water from the pools and showers flows into the tank of a wastewater heat recovery system.

The new buildings were completed on schedule, despite a number of challenges, such as the difficult subsoil, the protection and preservation of two archaeological excavation finds, covid measures, and material supply difficulties for wooden elements and the façade made of Veronese natural stone (Gialletto di Verona).