Design and Architecture in Ourense

O lecer da auga

A public thermal baths design proposal in Ourense, set on the banks of the Miño River as a tribute to our origins and the forging of our culture.

Avoiding Asian trends and architectural clichés far removed from our land, we chose to create a fusion between Galician and Andalusian architecture, honoring the origins of the two partners at Amayadori.

While lattice screens take on a major role, it is the unseen part that evokes Galicia. The lattices would be crafted in cedar wood and brass; the pools are lined with black slate and finished at the surface with reclaimed wood from Galician coastal shipyards, framing the basins within time-worn Atlantic granite paving. Beyond these vernacular exteriors, one can take shelter under cover in a large hot-water tub clad in Macael marble, as the Romans or Almoravid architects once did.

Needless to say, all thermal water is of natural origin, allowing us to provide, in a compact footprint, a heated pool at 24°C, a thermal bath at 45°C, a hydromassage pool at 36°C, a hypo-thermal bath, and a sauna.

The ensemble gains meaning when materialized behind a lattice whose purpose is privacy and protection from the scorching summer heat so characteristic of the “Val do Miño–Ourense.”