A levitating coastal spa complex is among the winners at the Architectural Review MIPIM Future Project Awards, which were announced today (15 March) in Cannes, France.
The awards – judged by industry professionals and commentators – celebrate the most exciting unbuilt or incomplete designs by international practices across ten project categories.
The Fuente Santa Hot Spring Baths by Spanish studio gpy arquitectos won the prize in the Retail and Leisure category.
The judges hailed the spa for its “striking and unusual flowing forms.” The building is imagined as a bridge seemingly hovering over a volcanic, coastal landscape in La Palma Island, Spain.
Commissioned by Cabildo de La Palma, the unusual building has been designed to ensure minimal impact on the fragile, protected area, with the architects creating a ‘synthesis’ between architecture, infrastructure and landscape.
The spa’s public baths are designed as an ‘unfolded pool,’ creating a new, suspended shoreline, while inside, the common areas of the thermal water circuit incorporate the volcanic landscape.
The overall winner of the 2016 Best Future Project Award will be named on 17 March at a special awards ceremony at MIPIM, the global property trade show.
