SONNENBERG SWIMMING POOL

When studying the competition documents for the new Sonnenberg swimming pools we soon realised that the best answer for this wonderful site was to avoid building at all costs. The natural landscape of this enclave is truly beautiful. The topography forms a kind of large natural amphitheatre facing south with a broad plain at its base ideal for the outdoor swimming pools.

Those who built the first swimming pool project in this place, back in the 1920s, understood these qualities perfectly and made a beautiful proposal that enhanced the characteristics of the site. From what we can see on the postcard that appears in the bases, that project was mainly concerned with giving a precise shape to the perimeter of the enclosure, defining with simplicity and clarity an interior space that rests on the base of the natural amphitheatre.

Almost 100 years later, the requirements for the new pools are much more complex than they should have been then, but the qualities of the site are exactly the same. The Genius Loci, the spirit of the place defined by nature, is still present in all its splendour. For this reason, we think that the challenge should not be to place a building there to accommodate the requirements, but to build an active landscape where all the requested activities can take place both indoors and outdoors.