Current Situation and Solution: Thermal Sauna Palais Swimming Pool Cover – Elevating the spa experience at an architectural heritage
The Graf-Eberhard Baths in Bad Wildbad, built in 1847, were once one of the most beautiful bath temples in Europe. After several extensions and modernizations, the complex is now being developed with an outdoor spa area. The challenge was to create a new outdoor spa space that integrates harmoniously with the historic structure, while ensuring privacy, weather protection and making the most of the natural landscape. The Thermal Sauna Palais pool cover emerged as a pioneering tensile membrane architectural solution, consisting of a thin white membrane that not only protects bathers from the elements and prying eyes, but also serves as a unique aesthetic highlight, adding value to the new spa area.
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Technical Requirements Analysis & Solution Context
The extension of the spa area in an architectural heritage such as the Graf-Eberhard Baths, and in particular the addition of an outdoor swimming pool on the roof of the 1970s terraced structure, posed a number of complex technical requirements. It was necessary to create a welcoming space, characterized by warm wood tones, that would make the most of the idyllic Enztal valley landscape. Specifically, the roofing solution had to: 1) Block views from the nearby hotel to ensure privacy for sauna users; 2) Provide protection from the weather (rain, sun, snow); 3) At the same time frame and optimize the impressive views of the valley to the south and east. The biggest challenge was how to design and construct a lightweight, suspended membrane structure that was geometrically and structurally compatible with the existing building, with minimal interference with the original structure, while also dealing with very steep and very flat roof areas (winter snow problem).
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Technical Solutions
The Thermal Sauna Palais swimming pool cover was designed and constructed by membrane specialists formTL (responsible for the membrane roof project) and the architectural firm Kauffmann Theilig & Partner (spa landscape design), overcoming geometrical and structural challenges.
Structure and Design Principles
The basic structure of the Thermal Sauna Palais swimming pool cover consists of a pre-tensioned membrane with three high points and lateral anchors. To provide effective protection from prying eyes, the membrane roof is tilted on its longest axis, forming some extreme geometric shapes. The construction includes some very steep areas and some very flat areas, the latter posing a particular challenge due to the winter snow that required careful load calculations. Furthermore, the organically shaped high point rings of the Thermal Sauna Palais swimming pool cover around the mast are perfectly integrated geometrically into the double-curved membrane surface, providing an unobstructed view of the sky.
Adaptability to Existing Structures
The unusual length of the free front of the structure is unique. Even on open ground, this construction was already a challenge. However, the fact that the construction was carried out on an existing structure in Bad Wildbad increased the level of difficulty. Both the membrane protection and the external swimming pool by Kauffmann, Theilig & Partner had to be planned with as little interference as possible with the existing structure. When laying the footings and anchor points of the Thermal Sauna Palais pool cover, extra care had to be taken regarding the positioning of the beams on the lower floors. In terms of complexity and sophistication, this construction can compete with any challenging large-scale project in the membrane specialist's portfolio.
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Results and Performance Evaluation
The installation of the Thermal Sauna Palais swimming pool canopy has been a remarkable success in solving complex technical requirements. The fibrous membrane structure not only effectively blocks out onlookers from the nearby hotel, providing the necessary privacy for users, but also provides reliable protection from the weather. At the same time, the canopy cleverly frames the views to the south and east of the valley, creating a welcoming and impressive spa landscape, enhanced by specially selected lighting. The new outdoor rooftop pool, together with the seemingly floating light structure, has transformed the area into a unique highlight, demonstrating the ability of tensile membrane architecture to combine functionality, aesthetics and respect for existing structures, even in the most complex construction conditions.
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Contact Technical Consulting
FlexiiForm is a professional Tensile Fabric design and construction company in Vietnam. We are proud to be the only unit in Vietnam to receive professional advice from Fastech Company – the leading design and construction company of stretch canvas roofs in Thailand, with nearly 30 years of prestige and experience in the industry and successfully implemented more than 1,000 projects on stretch canvas in Thailand and Southeast Asia. With the predecessor of FasTech company, FlexiiForm team gathers experts with over 10 years of experience in the industry and a team of consultants providing the right solutions according to the requirements for a variety of models and projects at home and abroad. To learn more about service and product information, customers please contact FlexiiForm directly via phone number +84 867 868 830 or visit Fanpage FlexiiForm and Website FlexiiForm to learn more about service and product information.
