Architect Nadia Kwiecinska
ArchitectTemporal Agora
FINALIST of London Urban Retreat: Haggerston Public Baths
+ FINALIST
London Urban Retreat: Haggerston Public Baths
[20001]
Temporal Agora: Revitalizing clubbing through adaptive reuse for health and connection
Team
Name: Nadia Kwiecinska
Instagram: nad.oeuvre
Nationality: British/Polish
In response to Haggerston’s urban intensity and the historic Public Baths’ cultural heritage, “Temporal Agora” transforms the derelict structure into a vital Urban Retreat: a pause within the city’s relentless rhythm, offering refuge and reconnection without escape.
Challenging conventional notions of mindfulness, the retreat redefines wellness as a provocative, boundary-pushing serene introspection with immersive, sensory-disrupting experiences that expand perceptions beyond standardized calm. Through sensitive adaptive reuse, the project preserves the building’s raw industrial framework while introducing shifts from the existing functions. Reimagined pool mechanisms support sustainable atmospheric control, fostering distinct sensory environments with minimal structural intervention. Lush greenery integrates with the arched steel skeleton, creating a light-filled atrium that merges historic identity with contemporary vitality.
With a temporal-based occupation of different demographics, the Temporal Agora fosters inclusivity, well-being, and social connection across diverse rhythms, proving retrofit architecture can transcend pragmatism to heal, reconnect, and resist urban isolation.
The dual program balances fixed and flexible functions. Fixed elements include an intimate retreat pool, promoting healing, stillness, and wellness rituals; a movement studio for quiet reflection; and communal areas for workshops and shared silence. Like a therapeutic prescription, the space administers energy across a spectrum: from serene repose to collective exhilaration, precisely dosed to support varied personal rhythms of rest and healing. Flexible interpretations extend to a roof top space and a transformative greenhouse that shifts from serene daylight bathing to an immersive night time.
Jury Comments
– Josefine Fokdal
Creat text but the images does not communicate well what the intention is. Also no context or spatial program is included.
Responses