Baths of Nancy

Begun in 1909 in Nancy and halted by the 1914 war, the project aimed to complete Louis Lanternier’s unfinished neoclassical building and adapt it to contemporary needs. The program is organized around four poles: health and thermal care, relaxation and well-being, sports and leisure, and hotel residences. To extend the stone-concrete structure, interiors use exposed concrete, while the exterior embraces a bold contrast — Lanternier’s white, vertical forms meet a new horizontal black metal architecture.

First, we decided to restore the building’s urban and landscape integrity. To do so, we removed all parasitic constructions, freeing large landscaped areas between the existing buildings and reconnecting Sainte Marie Park with the city. We thus created a strong bond between architecture and nature. Secondly, to preserve these expansive landscaped areas while accommodating the new spaces required for the rebirth of the thermal baths, we extended the existing buildings with compact new volumes. In doing so, we took the risk of confronting heritage architecture with contemporary design. On the historical façades, whose depth is defined by elegant colonnades, the undulating sunshades create a similar sense of depth, ensuring visual privacy for interior uses while protecting them from excessive sunlight. This project embodies a long-term vision through its capacity to adapt to evolving uses — addressing social, environmental, economic, and aesthetic challenges all at once.

The project aims for compactness to minimize heat loss and excessive energy consumption. Its structure is made of concrete, a material that ensures the building’s durability, particularly in humid environments. The structure of the new dome, which crowns the extension of the existing building, was optimized and built in wood - a choice driven by the desire to lighten the overall structure and simplify assembly. This solution also enables a more efficient use of materials, as the wooden slats serve both as roof support and interior finish. The use of ceramic in the interior spaces was a natural choice for humid areas, ensuring durability and easy maintenance over time. The pool water is heated partly by thermal water (pumped from a depth of 800 meters and emerging at 36 °C) and by the urban heating network of Greater Nancy - preventing approximately 3,000 tons of CO₂ emissions compared to conventional gas heating. Rainwater is collected to irrigate and maintain the outdoor spaces.