Europan Germany

Scale 
 L/L

Team composition 
architect/urbanist/ landscaper

Location
Bad Lobenstein, Germany

Population 
ca. 5.500 inhabitants

Study site
ca. 73 ha

Project site
ca. 12 ha 

Site proposed 
City of Bad Lobenstein,
municipal spa company

Actors involved
City of Bad Lobenstein, Municipal Spa Company

Landowners
City of Bad Lobenstein,
Saint-Gobain Building Distribution Deutschland
GmbH, Private Property Owners, LRA Saale-Orla-Kreis

 

Exercise

The town of Bad Lobenstein is looking for bold guiding principles and spatial concepts for places of experience as well as accommodation and health architecture in order to define its character as a spa resort of the 21st century and to become one of the central destinations in European health tourism in the future. 


The traditional spa town of Bad Lobenstein - about three hours each by car from Munich and Berlin - is located in the midst of a unique landscape with steep slopes and forests in the Thuringian Slate Mountains. With a total length of over 70 km, the Saale Cascade in Thuringia, which borders the town, is the largest contiguous reservoir in Europe. The so-called Thuringian Sea meanders through the Saale valley in countless meanders, lined with numerous recreational and holiday resorts. 


The spa resort wants to play a pioneering role in the integrated development of urban and health planning. Exploratively, a clinic location is to be identified, the thermal spa landscape expanded and the accommodation offers diversified. Innovative and pioneering design approaches are to be developed for resource cycles, a connecting open space concept between natural and urban space and supplementary offers in the field of wellness, well-being and nature tourism.


In a trend-setting manner for spas and health resorts in the rural areas of Europe, urban and landscape development lines for integrated health, tourism and urban planning are to be developed for this location.

Typ of commissioning
 in the on-site workshops after the competition, the results are to be discussed on site and adapted if necessary. The next planned step is to commis- sion the winning team(s) with urban planning studies.

Inspection and Questions Colloquium: Friday 05. May 2023, at 11:30 a.m., at the entrance of the "Ardesia Therme" Parkstraße 8, 07356 Bad Lobenstein