Kentaro Imai Architectural office
In July 2020, our team, together with the Japan Economic Research Institute, was selected to participate in a project competition initiated by the city of Sagae, involving the relocation of the Citizen’s Hot Spring Bathhouse. The old Sagae Citizen’s Bathhouse was a small-scale facility with only one bath and around 14 water faucets. However, even right before its renovation, it was a true relaxation spot for the citizens, with over 600 daily visitors. Such usage numbers are incredibly high for a local facility. The relocation project was launched because it was discovered that the old facility was located directly above a fault line, prompting safety concerns.
After our selection as the competition winner, we joined the project to develop the plan as a PFI (Private Finance Initiative) project. Additionally, our firm took on the responsibility of the basic design and advisory supervision. During this process, the basic requirements for the new citizen’s bathhouse were set as follows:
– **Citizen-first facility:** The project plan and architectural design must prioritize offering “natural hot spring water to citizens at an affordable price in their daily lives,” just as the old citizen’s bathhouse did.
– **A symbolic role in the community:** The facility should become a beloved part of daily life and be seen as one of the charming attractions of the hometown.
– **Environmentally harmonious architecture:** The architecture should be mindful of the rich natural surroundings, with a low profile and horizontal expansion to blend in with the landscape.
The design concept to integrate these facility requirements was titled “Citizen’s Great Bath.” The architectural feature is a low-slung building with deep eaves surrounding the bathhouse and a veranda space beneath those eaves. This form corresponds to the basic requirement of “a low-profile and horizontally expansive structure that blends into the landscape.” This spatial form was the result of a search for a way to maintain the presence of a “great bath” as a symbol of the local hot spring area while ensuring that the building does not impose on the environment.
The distinctive deep eaves provide a veranda space that, in the bath area, becomes a relaxation space where visitors can enjoy outdoor bathing. On the lobby side, it serves as a community space where events like a citizen’s market can be held. The concept incorporates the traditional veranda, often discussed in architectural terms as a “transitional space” between indoors and outdoors, into the plan for the hot bath space.
One could call it regional character, but the area surrounding Sagae has many bathhouses that use hot spring water, with bathing fees set at very low prices. There is no doubt that this has contributed to maintaining high user numbers at these local facilities. When the new citizen’s bathhouse opened, it set its admission price at ¥250 for citizens and ¥350 for non-citizens, an astonishing price compared to urban areas. Sagae City could indeed be called a hot spring paradise for its users.
