Health centre opts for diverse range of services
New construction of the new SoleVital building in Bad Laer
The new SoleVital health centre in Bad Laer opened to the public in February 2015. The spa facilities will be visited by 100,000 spa guests per annum. They can expect a wide range of courses in health, fitness and relaxation in this state-of-the-art building. With its modern technology and maximum flexibility, the swimming pool has been designed to cater for the needs of the spa guests.
In view of the fact that the old "Kurmittelhaus" building had been used for 40 years, it would have required very substantial refurbishment and modernisation with respect to energy efficiency, fire protection and structural integrity.
On the basis of a study comparing refurbishment options, Bad Laer Touristik GmbH opted for the very economical new construction of the health centre directly next to the existing building. The construction had to be carried out within a very short construction period of approximately one year, because the project received funding from N-Bank of EUR 2 million. The demolition of the old "Kurmittelhaus" has created an open area between the new building and the neighbouring Blomberg Clinic for integration in the surrounding "Kurpark" landscaping.
The compact new building includes a pool area with movement and therapy pools, including a rising pool floor, a leisure room with steam bath and a wellness section with gymnastics hall and rooms for applications and physiotherapy. In addition, the building includes a restaurant and a salt mist lounge adjacent to the foyer.
The conceptual design of the new building is characterised by clarity and ease of orientation. This is reflected in items such as the light-coloured external facade, which consists of Alucobond panels and vertical fenestration bands. The mostly white colour scheme continues in the interior, with occasional highlights in blue, the corporate identity colour. Important design elements in the interior are the natural and artificial lighting. Examples are the pool and treatment rooms, which are charged atmospherically by lighting which changes colour. A high proportion of daylight is provided by the large full storey-high window areas.
One of the primary objectives was to create a high degree of wellbeing and a feel-good factor in the building. Examples of the special features are the massage jets and neck showers. The leisure room offers relaxation in a salt mist steam bath, a bathtub with highly concentrated salt water, a salt water rain facility with original water from the salt-water well as a shower experience, and a hot stone for relaxation and resting. All pools are filled with water from the mineral well, which is unique in the Osnabrück rural district.
The space concept of this highly energy-efficient building optimises the available space and offers a wide range of fitness, wellness and rehabilitation courses, both in dry and wet environments, thereby contributing to making the Bad Laer mineral healing spa more attractive. The course programme includes aqua-aerobics, aqua-pilates and spine gymnastics. The diverse health and sports activities are visually and acoustically enhanced. For example, underwater spotlights, light domes beneath the hall ceiling and all-round LED bands immerse the spa and pools in changing light effects. In addition, a tannoy system plays music via underwater loudspeakers in the pools. The lighting, black-out facilities and attractions are controlled via a BUS system and a 17" PC-based display panel in the pool supervisor room. Users can operate the controls manually or select programmed course scenarios. The pool uses ultra-filtration for treating the water and inline chlorine electrolysis for the purpose of disinfection.
The different functional areas of the pool have been designed for efficient operation, taking into account the sequence of functions, and also providing sufficient flexibility to allow the use for different applications and events.
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