Torskeholmen Public Bath – Preservation through resort typology
Description
Torskeholmen lies in center of Grimstad, at the intersection between the historical town center and the former industrial harbour. Facing development plans, Torskeholmen Public Bath explores the potential of existing structures and uses to become a destination for both locals and tourists through the spectacle of the bathhouse specifically and the resort in general. The project consists of three buildings with surrounding waterfront that has been transformed, refurbished or extended in order to facilitate existing and added uses. Historical research and the survey have been important tools to create a project where historical traces and current use has heavily informed the proposal for a guest house, a workshop and a bathhouse extension to the current fish depot.
True to the structural system of the quay, the existing buildings adhere to the rigour of a columned grid. The architectural response has been centred around the column and the open plan with historical photos and drawings as well as the placement of existing infrastructures informing the design.
I am considering the coastal facility not only as a tourist attraction, but as an appreciated part of the daily lives of locals. The project aims to generate an interaction between tourists and locals through the use of the resort as an umbrella for a range of activities in the crossing of leisure and local industry. A different social setting is created, one where the separation of programs, the worker and the visitor blur, becoming a spectacle in their own right.