Therapeutic Infrastructure

Personal Project

Undergraduate Yr 2 Project,

Bartlett School of Architecture

The site is located near Lake Tsivi in Tskaltubo, Georgia, which is heavily polluted with copper sulphate (II) sludge materials. The programme is for a water treatment plant and a therapeutic spa centre. The architecture explores how waste materials extracted from the water treatment process can be employed as a building material.

Maryam Omidi, Holidays in Soviet Sanatoriums

“Mealtimes too are unforgettable, with food in more shades of beige than you ever thought possible. Though much of the sanatorium equipment looks as likely to kill as cure you of your ailments, these spaces served an important medical function that continues to this day."

The design is orientated around a water cleaning landscape, where the journey of the water treatment process is comparable to the cleansing of the human body. Ultimately, the project challenges the preconceptions of what is considered to be 'clean' and 'dirty'. Whereas the sludge material is considered to be 'filthy', the crystallised sludge material in this building creates breathtaking moments. The core of this project was to reinvigorate the neglected culture of therapy and bathing in the derelict town of Tskaltubo.

The design utilises the existing building on site, the Sanatorium Iveria, a massive bath house and hotel complex. The design intends to repair and modify the existing building whilst providing a municipal scale water treatment plant, which will be essential for the government's 2022 Tskaltubo Redevelopment Project. Therapy treatments including sound therapy, hydrotherapy, dry hydrotherapy and radon baths will be available in the building.