Liquid Heritage

HM of London Urban Retreat: Haggerston Public Baths

+ HONOURABLE MENTION

London Urban Retreat: Haggerston Public Baths

[20016]

Liquid Heritage_ Transforming hygiene facility into a Public Landscape

Team

Name: Junwei Pang

Instagram: toomanyweis

Nationality: Malaysia

Institution / Company: University of Applied Arts Vienna

Name: Jiayi He

Instagram: jiayi_hee

Nationality: China

Institution / Company: University of Applied Arts Vienna

Name: Mintong Lu

Instagram: icccccccoo

Nationality: China

Institution / Company: University of Applied Arts Vienna

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This proposal repositions the historic Haggerston Public Baths as a Public Water Garden and Urban Spa, reframing the building from an obsolete hygiene facility into a contemporary civic retreat oriented toward wellness, sensory engagement, and social cohesion. Although the need for communal bathing has diminished, water retains strong spatial and cultural agency. Here, it is utilized not for cleanliness, but as an instrument for gathering, micro-climate regulation, and psychological restoration.

The intervention opens the street-facing façade to establish a permeable urban threshold, expanding the narrow pavement and improving public accessibility. Programmatic functions are concentrated on the east side, where a continuous vertical circulation sequence allows visitors to experience the water garden from multiple elevations and eventually access the rooftop. This transforms the building from a single-use hall into a layered spatial promenade.

The former swimming pool is preserved as a sunken planting terrain, with its depth informing soil volume, hydrological performance, and species selection. Vegetation is strategically distributed to create graded privacy and reduce disturbance between users and passersby while maintaining visual connectivity.

Water acts as the primary design driver—structuring movement, defining atmosphere, and mediating human-nature interaction. Through planting and topographic adaptation, the project reactivates heritage as a living public landscape for retreat within the city.

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Jury Comments

– Pablo Castillo

Liquid Heritage builds on the hydric history of the site to address contemporary needs through a coherent integration of architecture, landscape, and water systems. The project stands out for treating water and landscape as primary drivers of design, skillfully linking architectural form, environmental performance, and ecological concerns. Its clear programmatic resolution and the careful design of naturalized areas result in a compelling and exemplary proposal.

– Ziyang Xu

This work shows a strong sensitivity to spatial materiality and movement. The clear organization of circulation and program, combined with a bright and boundary-free interior, enhances the relationship between the spa and botanical spaces and offers a thoughtful reading of the urban retreat theme.

– Josefine Fokdal

Lack of sensitivity towards the surroundings and the building itself. Too generic in ist response.