Balneo-physio-therapeutic recovery center. Extension of Sylva Villa, Băile Govora

Authors’ Comment

Stopping the decline of the romanian thermal resorts is an acute topic.
The diploma project focuses on a representative building in Băile Govora, which is in an advanced state of degradation, but due to its location, architectural features and the relationship with the promenade and the main street of the city, it benefits from a huge unexploited potential. The project proposes the creation of a secondary urban core, generating an alternative to the urban route.
One of the main stakes of the project is to revitalize the public space of the resort by highlighting the city's new promenade, its connection to the green spaces and the forest. Thus, the project also includes the lot across the street - a square that becomes a foyer to Villa Sylva.
The new building aims to become a neutral plinth for the Villa Sylva. The proposed insertion consists of two parts: a concrete hard base buried at the underground-level and a light wood structure that covers it up, keeping the height under the Villa’s horizontal decoration profile. The positioning of the intervention in relation to the old construction determines two important areas of the site: the first includes the reception garden of Villa Sylva - where the proposed restaurant completes the public side; and the second one is in the inner courtyard - a more intimate area , surrounded by forest, where the project proposes the recovery center. The swimming pool, the gym, the treatment rooms are oriented towards this private courtyard with which it connects through a semi-buried portico.
Each side of the newly proposed building acquires a different role in accordance with its orientation towards Villa Sylva and the natural setting.