The new public bath highlights Salzburg’s landmarks and mountains, and represents a visionary architectural project in the historical city center. “The building’s outstanding impact is a result of the dialogue between the new spaces and existing surroundings — the baroque gardens known as Mirabellgarten, the old town and the surrounding mountains. The indoor swimming pool is conceived as an expansion of the park on the third floor,” states architect Alfred Berger.

In terms of urban design, the new “Paracelsus Bad & Kurhaus” forms a joint between the late 19th century block structures of Auerspergstraße, the open development along Schwarzstraße, the landscape of the Kurgarten and the Mirabellgarten. The geometry of the building is swivelled towards the park, making a reference to the geometry of the vanished fortification-walls of the baroque period.

The rather introverted plinths of the bath contain on three floors the city’s health and spa services and the pool’s changing rooms. The entire roof level, used for the sauna facilities and their spectacular outdoor pool, features a view of the entire city. A layer of ceramic louvers surrounds the “Paracelsus Bad & Kurhaus”. The swimming level is entirely glazed and opens on the trees of the gardens and the city. The materialization of the waterscape is provided by ceramic surfaces, water and light, bordered from above by the gentle shapes of the wavy ceramic ceiling.
A comprehensive sustainability analysis was performed, the first time ever for an indoor pool in Austria. The goal, achieving the highest level of certification, Klimaaktiv GOLD, was met.