Lagoa Comprida Baths

Competition

Serra de Estrela, Portugal

2016

Sited originally on the east end of the reservoir near the trailhead of a popular hiking trail, this proposal relocates the proposed bath complex to the hydroelectric dam on the west end. Stone tholos hotel units are distributed throughout the reservoir, while the thermal bath complex is situated on the dam itself.  A ferry that docks at two light towers on either end of the lake provides access between the units, the bath complex, and the hiking trail. The views from the main complex, which stretch out over the reservoir in one direction and over the Portuguese landscape in the other, reaching the Atlantic Ocean on a clear day, draws attention to the connection between the bath complex and the constructed nature around it.