The new thermal spa in Vals, Switzerland designed by Peter Zumthor is built directly into the mountain slope using local stone. It replaced an older bathing facility and is designed to have a profound connection to the natural surroundings through its raw materials and emphasis on the relationship between the spa and the local geology and landscape. The interior provides different atmospheric experiences for visitors as they move through the spa.

1. Peter Zumthor
The new thermal spa, formally opened in December 1996 and already listed by the
Canton Graubünden as a protected building in 1998, is a self-willed construction set
into the mountain slope. It replaced the bathing facilities of the hydro hotel (built
between 1962 and 1970) which were too cramped and in need of repair. The new
separate spa building is built in Valser gneiss. Stone by stone. A massive element set
in to the gradient of the slope and dovetailed with the flank of the mountain. The
great slabs of the roof are grassed over: sections of flower studded alpine meadow.
The architectonic language of the new spa has nothing to do with the design of the
hotel complex built in the sixties. It is more profound underlining the essential in
the context of a new interpretation of the constructional challenge; emphasising the
special relationship of the new Therme to the primordial forces of nature and the
geology of the mountainscape, reacting to the impressive topography of the valley
and the position of the warm spring which rises out of the primeval mountain just
behind the new spa.
http://www.therme-vals.ch/en/home
Interior Architecture and Design . Liana Brent. Collaborative Practice. Research

2. Peter Zumthor Peter Zumthor
This year’s Pavilion is the 11th commission in the Gallery’s annual series, the world’s first and most ambitious architectural pro-
“mountain, stone, water - building with the stone, into the mountain, building out of the gramme of its kind. It is the architect’s first completed building in the UK and includes a specially created garden by the influential
mountain, being inside the mountain - how can the implications and the sensuality of the Dutch designer Piet Oudolf
association of these words be interpreted architecturally?” Peter Zumthor
The concept for this year’s Pavilion is the hortus conclusus, a contemplative room, a garden within a garden. One enters the build-
The work of Peter Zumthor interests me because his designs for the Hotel Therme Vals in ing from the lawn and begins the transition into the central garden, a place abstracted from the world of noise and traffic and the
Switzerland have been made from very raw and natural materials that connect with the smells of London – an interior space within which to sit, to walk, to observe the flowers.
hotel’s environment of a mountain top. This creates a very sensual and atmospheric inte-
rior that takes the user on a journey through the spa and provides different atmospheres With this Pavilion, as with previous structures such as the famous Thermal Baths at Vals, Switzerland, or the Bruder Klaus Chapel in
in each room. Mechernich, Germany, Zumthor has emphasised the sensory and spiritual aspects of the architectural experience, from the precise
yet simple composition and ‘presence’ of the materials, to the handling of scale and the effect of light.
At the heart of Peter Zumthor’s practice is a refined selection of materials used to create contemplative spaces that evoke the
spiritual dimension of our physical environment. As always, Zumthor’s aesthetic goal is to customise the building precisely to its
purpose as a physical body and an object of emotional experience.
Hortus conclusus
'A garden is the most intimate landscape ensemble I know of. It is close to us. There we cultivate the plants we need. A garden
requires care and protection. And so we encircle it, we defend it and fend for it. We give it shelter. The garden turns into a place.
Enclosed gardens fascinate me. A forerunner of this fascination is my love of the fenced vegetable gardens on farms in the Alps,
where farmers’ wives often planted flowers as well. I love the image of these small rectangles cut out of vast alpine meadows, the
fence keeping the animals out. There is something else that strikes me in this image of a garden fenced off within the larger land-
scape around it: something small has found sanctuary within something big.
The hortus conclusus that I dream of is enclosed all around and open to the sky. Every time I imagine a garden in an architectural
setting, it turns into a magical place. I think of gardens that I have seen, that I believe I have seen, that I long to see, surrounded by
simple walls, columns, arcades or the façades of buildings – sheltered places of great intimacy where I want to stay for a long time.'
Peter Zumthor
May 2011
Interior Architecture and Design . Liana Brent. Collaborative Practice. Research Interior Architecture and Design . Liana Brent. Collaborative Practice. Research

3. Peter Zumthor
http://www.arcspace.com/architects/zumthor/brother_claus/
brother_claus.html
http://www.archdaily.com/106352/bruder-klaus-field-chapel-peter-
kolumba art museum of the diocese of cologne zumthor/
http://www.archdaily.com/72192/kolumba-musuem-peter-
zumthor zumthor/
Interior Architecture and Design . Liana Brent. Collaborative Practice. Research