Wellnesspark ELSE-Club
Concept
As an expression of this other form of use and as an effective “advertising sign” we have completed separated the Else Club in formally architectural terms from the residential building opposite. A base with a larger ground plan than the residential storeys is “slid” under the building. A large roof clad with silver-coloured metal panels and projecting sidewise far over the façades, folded down on the north and south side and folded back at floor level on the first storey, holds the two Wellness storeys together.
The east and west façades are glazed throughout. Guests and visitors thus experience a relationship with the outside area, surrounded by a park-like landscape with lovely woodland. The outdoor areas in the immediate vicinity of the building have similarly been planned by us. The result is a “green-space Wellness park”. To give support to this design approach storey-high, revolving lamellas in various, powerfully fresh shades of green have been mounted in front of the glass façades of the first storey. On one hand these are superimposed as a filter while on the other hand linking inside and outside using the colour green. It could be said that in this way the building “breathes” through the façade.
The Else Club is functionally one single unit with a central entrance area from which the individual areas such as swimming pool, sauna, changing rooms, fitness, SPA and restaurant can be accessed. To give the club the appropriate generosity, the rooms merge smoothly into each other. Dividing walls are detached with glazed skylight strips from the ceiling in all places where this is structurally possible. All suspended ceilings are uniformly constructed as wooden lamellar ceilings. Galleries, airspaces and free stairs connect both storeys together. This results in a spatial sculpture that can be walked on and in which the individual functional areas merge to form a “landscape”.
Guests reach the Else Club via the generously proportioned and convenient entrance staircase or using the panoramic lift at the northwest corner of the building, or else using the lift from the underground garage directly to the reception in the entrance hall. This entrance hall is located on the first floor as there is no connection between the north and south sections of the building due as the residential high-rise building is accessible from the ground floor. The restaurant and the SPA and Wellness area are linked directly.
SPA and Wellness Area
The is the highest-quality area of the facility. At the centre is a relaxation room shaped like a stone. This is located in the middle of a decorative pool. Its external wall is coated in gold leaf. This relaxation room is reached across stepping stones standing in the water from small separate changing rooms, divided for male and female. After a short resting period, one is picked up for Wellness treatment in the relaxation room and guided back across stepping stones in the water into the treatment rooms. These are lined on the outside with finest-quality Italian veneer and panels covered with cowhide. Glass cabinets have been incorporated into this wall panelling presenting selected objects. The treatment rooms themselves are completely glazed on the outward-facing side. After entering the room, the storey-high green lamellas close slowly to produce an introverted atmosphere.
Bathing Landscape
The barefoot area, located in the north section of the building, is reached from the entrance hall via the generous communal changing rooms. A free staircase leads from a gallery to the bathing landscape on the ground floor. Four different pools, a swimming pool, a relaxation pool, an attraction pool and a hot whirlpool offer a variety of bathing options. The pools are lined with glass mosaic tiles while the floors around the pool are covered with Brazilian green-grey granite with a ripple-effect surface. The edges of the pools are also constructed with the same material without plastic grills. The details vary for each pool and the surface of the water in each pool is at different levels.
Sauna Landscape
A bridge across the swimming pool leads to the adjacent sauna landscape. There are three areas: the mixed sauna as a non textile-free area and two textile-free saunas separated for male and female. At the centre of each sauna area there is a shaped “stone” with a hot whirlpool and a cold immersion pool. Around this are grouped various saunas, steam baths, cold-water and multi-sensory showers. The floor and the “stone” are likewise covered with Brazilian granite. The walls are lined with partly inclined and partly curved high-quality veneered wooden panels. Backlit glass niches have been incorporated into this panelling. The lighting is almost exclusively indirect so that the unclothed guest never needs to feel as if he or she is being presented on a stage. The area along the façade is used as a relaxation area highlighted with a wooden parquet floor.
Fitness
The open fitness area is reached from the changing area on the first floor in a southerly direction beyond the entrance area. The rooms for aerobics, spinning, stepping, gymnastics etc. are located on the gallery level with a splendid view of the natural surroundings. The large airspace at the centre with a single-flight staircase leads to the ground floor. Further areas with fitness equipment are located here. The whole fitness area is fitted with bamboo parquet.
Materials
Unusual and high-quality materials underline the distinctive feature of this building.
flooring:
brazilian granite, bamboo parquet
ceiling:
wooden fins, siberian cedar
panelling:
alder, gold leaf, cattle fur, special italian veneer, coloured coated glass, coloured coated wall panel
high-quality tessellated tiling
