The Thermea - Halifax Public Bath House

Student Name: Rita Wang

School: Dalhousie University

Degree Program: Bachelor of Environmental Design Studies (BEDS)

Location of Project: Halifax, NS

Year of Project: 2020

Brief Description of Project:

The diversity of the space in the building allows interesting interaction to take place between people doing different things in the bathhouse. Through the different ceiling height and using skylight and mezzanine, the spaces are intimating a specific experience circulation for people. The building is raised up to the second level above ground and the way to support such a bold idea is the vertical ‘concrete towers’. The supporting concrete core only acts as the structure of the building but also the transfer media for the underground mechanical system to supply the above-ground bathhouse and having the solar chimney on the roof top to stimulate passive ventilation. The cores itself also has a program of ‘one-man sauna’ inside. Together it integrates the structure with the mechanical system and practices the aesthetic building principle of creating a neat cantilever. Motivated by the idea of ‘polyvalent’ introduced by Hertzberger, this design aims to run the Halifax bathhouse as well as benefit the public and communities by providing ground floor civil space and public free sauna. It allows people to have a comfortable and enjoyable experience in the bathhouse. While on the ground-level space, people would have exciting and creative community events and enjoy the harbor view.