Careless Kingdom

WINNER [3] of London Urban Retreat: Haggerston Public Baths

+ WINNER [3]

London Urban Retreat: Haggerston Public Baths

[20353]

Careless Kingdom: There is great beauty in inventing things that serve no purpose.

Team

Name: Solomia Korol

Instagram: @solomiiasol

Nationality: Ukrainian

Name: Oleksandr Pidlubnyi

Instagram: @oleksandrpidlubnyi

Nationality: Ukrainian

Name: Maria Pakhomova

Instagram: @andonieva

Nationality: Ukrainian

Name: Albina Zvarych

Instagram: @eilyka5

Nationality: Ukrainian

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After familiarising ourselves with the property and its history, we concluded that adapting the building for public use would be appropriate. Through an honest dialogue with the space, we divided it into two parts: one open to the community and the other intended for individual retreat. 

In our view, true luxury today lies in the ability to be offline. The project is therefore conceived as a disconnected space, where all electronic devices are left in lockers at the entrance, allowing visitors to fully detach from external stimuli. 

The former pool area is opened to the public and accessed directly from streets Whiston Rd and Laburnum St. New entrances lead from the streets into the hall, while additional windows are added to the façade to open the building towards the city. 

The swimming pool hall functions as a public space and includes children’s areas, creating a place of relaxation for everyone; tea rooms inspired by the image of a tree house; an amphitheatre under an artificial sun for shared celebrations and relaxation; and a sand-covered pool forming a beach-like atmosphere, with a large central tent for collective retreats reminiscent of a children’s blanket tent. Plants are integrated throughout as elements of nature and comfort. A small office space to the right of the main hall is intended for shared use by creative users. 

A restaurant is located on the roof, oriented towards the river and the creative hub across the road. We consider it important for the building and the creative hub to function together and establish a shared connection to the river. 

The individual retreat is conceived as a sequential spatial journey of purification. 

It begins in a black room with a meditation stone, creating separation from external influences. Visitors then pass through a labyrinth, which serves as a ritual walk. The next space allows visitors to choose an atmosphere — dawn, forest or clear sky — completing the stage of visual and acoustic purification. Physical purification takes place in a space with a pool and waterfall. Next is the library of silence, where interaction with information takes place in tranquillity. The journey continues to a viewing bridge overlooking the labyrinth, then leads to an area for light exercise or meditation. It ends in a room filled with light and wood, symbolising new life.

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Jury Comments

– David Aldana

The project is promising but it is divided between a well thought program and beautiful graphics and a not so powerful, over elavorated and sometimes contradicting story such as th pool hall that is a retreat for relaxation but there are also children and dogs in it. I believe the idea to have a more public community area and a more secluded one is indeed a succesful one and more so with the obligation do disconnect from technology which in our time and in a city like London is greatly needed. Lastly I would also suggest a better circulation for the individual retreat, if I go one time it might be interesting to experience the spaces as a galery but if I am part of the comunity that experiences this spaces multiple times a week I would prefer a more direct route to the activity or disconection I am seeking that day.

– Leire Álvarez

The interpretation of the main space is very compelling. At the same time you have managed to address with great sensitivity the big challenge of `preversing the essence of a building with such a strong cultural value while introducing a very powerful artefact.

– Josefine Fokdal

While this project offers a lot of functions, it lack a narrative statements related to the surroundings and the architecture.