HOTEL VICHY CATALÁN
CALDES DE MALAVELLA,
GIRONA, SPAIN
ARCHITECT
SANDER CORNELIUS LAUDY
BO1 ARQUITECTES
PROJECT
SWIMMING POOL AND TERRACES
ROSE GRES COLORS
MISTERY SAND – SWIMMING POOL AND TERRACES
«…You have
to build
to meet
people’s needs,
not because
we want
to generate
income…»
WITHIN A CENTURY, ARCHITECTURE WILL BE
I am optimistic about the human species: in about 40 years, the world’s population will stop growing, and that will bring big changes to the rules of the economic game. Based on this, we architects will primarily work in rehabilitation. All the buildings will incorporate plants and generate energy, while the materials we will use will have such a low ecological footprint that the planet’s ecosystems will be capable of absorbing the impact of construction.
YOUR DREAM PROJECT IS
To rehabilitate an obsolete property and turn it into a multipurpose building in a strategic place in the city. In this case, the project would have a positive impact on its environs.
TO YOU, THE SOUL OF A PROJECT IS
Seeing what a place has been and what it could be.
WHAT WOULD YOU CHANGE IN THE WORLD OF CONSTRUCTION?
That many companies in the sector neglect the fact that construction has a social purpose and an ecological impact. You have to build first to meet needs and secondly to generate income. And you have to lower projects’ environmental impact, even if this means higher costs in the short term.
WHAT YOU WOULD NEVER CHANGE
The pleasure we can feel when we’re in a house, listening to people talk on the street, feeling a breeze, peeking through the trees at the buildings where our neighbors live.
ABOUT THE CREATIVE CONCEPT OF THIS PROJECT. A DEFINITION OF STYLE.
To maximize the healthy impact of nature.
THE MOST IMPORTANT PART OF THIS PROJECT
Showcasing the park, combined with the fact that the pool’s heating operates exclusively based on renewable energies.
LANDSCAPE, ENVIRONMENT, AND DESIGN: HOW DO THEY FIT TOGETHER?
We started with a very favorable situation, to tell the truth, and I think that blurring the boundary between the built part and the stone on the one hand and the lawn and the pine trees on the other has changed the sense of swimming in this pool.
HOW DO YOU CHOOSE COLORS?
Absolutely according to the environment.
WHAT CHALLENGES DID YOU FACE WITH THIS PROJECT?
Water recycling regulations that were written bearing in mind all the second residences in town. We were forced to create a concrete water reservoir, but we were able to turn it around and get the rainwater to gather in channels in the garden, so they end up working as reservoirs where the water can filter into the subsoil. And the delivery deadlines (3 months), but that’s more banal.
WHAT ARE THE CHALLENGES OF DESIGNING A SWIMMING POOL IN A SPA?
More than anything else connecting with the spirit of wellbeing, but in this specific case we also had to consider the relationship with the heritage building, next to which it had to be somewhat modest.
WHAT ARCHITECTURAL ELEMENTS/CONCEPTS DID YOU BEAR IN MIND TO ENHANCE THE PROJECT’S SUSTAINABILITY?
Essentially relationship with the plants, renewable energies, water cycle, and durable materials.
«…blurring the boundary between the built part and the stone on the one hand and the lawn and the pine trees on the other has changed the sense of swimming in this pool…»
