When noa* Network of Architecture designed the original cantilevered swimming pool in 2016, the studio envisioned it as a rock stranded between earth and sky. In 2019 a new assignment was presented to the architects: to design a dedicated wellbeing extension to suit it. It was not an easy task for a building that had already found its symbol in the original swimming pool, yet this served as inspiration for the new project.
In an initial research phase, the team of architects examined the new starting situation and captured the house’s atmosphere in its natural context. From the observation of the surrounding landscape reflected in the swimming pool, the design concept came to life: to materialise what one sees mirrored on the surface of the water, as if the image were a transient rendering ready to be converted into reality.
Lukas Rungger, the architect in charge of the project and noa* founder, explains, "The essence of this project is the overturning of horizons, with the resulting effect of wonder for the observer. If you think about it, however, changing perspectives is a common exercise in wellness areas, where, depending on whether you are lying in the sauna, sitting in the relaxation area, or diving headfirst into the pool, the views are constantly changing."
The two levels are characterised by a different treatment of privacy, with mainly exposed spaces above and protected spaces below. On the upper floor are two whirlpool baths, two panoramic showers and a changing room. The lower floor houses the foyer, which has access to the soft sauna, the Finnish sauna, a shower cabin, an ice mist shower and a third outdoor pool, from where one's gaze can sweep over the surrounding landscape.
The decision to work with inverted pitched roofs was both formal and functional: designers aimed to reproduce the architecture of a mountain village while still considering the space needed for the water purification system of the swimming pool and the seating tiers for the sauna. Moreover, the offset of the huts and the alternating orientation of the roof ridges allow a 360° view of the landscape, the real centrepiece of the project.
The choice of colors and materials is reminiscent of the mountain scenery: aluminium panels in natural brown tones suit the cabins, as well as the thickness of the slab, which is formed by a steel load-bearing beam structure. The brise soleil system that screens the windows is also of the same material and color. The floors are light beige ceramic, while the floor is oiled white oak in the relaxation room.
In this new assignment, designers were able to revive the imaginative drive from which the original design was born, designing a platform that, with its 20-metre overhang, marks a new floating outpost between heaven and earth—a project where the force of gravity seems to vanish to make way for unexpected scenarios.
