Tamina Thermal Baths in Bad Ragaz, Switzerland

March 25, 2010 Category: Commercial Building, Hotel, Leisure, Public Buildings

Located in Bad Ragaz, Switzerland, the white wonderland was designed by architects Smolenicky & Partners, Tamina thermal baths are grand twist on Swiss traditions. Linked to the additional Hotel complex, the Tamina thermal baths is situated in extensive landscaped parkland, on a cul-de-sac that directly accesses the existing resort’s public features, including a golf club house, conference facilities and casino.

In the area of the open-air baths, the volume of the architectural design is stepped back and opens out onto the sunbathing lawn. These expansive landscape views continue on to include the wooded slopes of a nearby mountain ridge. Views extend beyond the line of existing buildings which are screened by newly planted trees, merging the park landscape with those of forest and mountain slope in an effort to expand the compact manner of the building itself.

Smolenicky designed the Tamina thermal baths to fit in directly with the culture of other so-called ‘grand hotels’, attempting to include elements of both Swiss tradition and the grand hotels of the Baltic Coast. With this in mind, the windows in the building are formally fanciful oval constructions which act as full length picture frames when looking out from the interior. White timber battens were used both inside and out in the construction of the Tamina thermal baths, to create an effect where there is no actual interior design, simply the whole architecture of the building. The Tamina thermal baths are the result of a two stage competition in 2003, that won by Smolenicky & Partners.

Tamina Thermal Baths by Smolenicky and Partner in Bad Ragaz Switzerland