A nice little piece of adaptive reuse tonight, converting an auto body shop into a Japanese bathhouse. Wait, what?
But yes, that is completely the case. Often we overlook many of the buildings around us, indifferent to them and only noticing when we come across big-A or grand architecture. Yet the everyday buildings make much more of an impression on us (very much every day as it says in their name), and everyday buildings are all capable of being spaces that invite and uplift. And so, here, this everyday building was repurposed (I will not say rehabilitated, for I don’t think it was unhabilitated before) with care to create a serene space where we may not have expected one to be found.
Exposed brick, cleaned up timber supports and columns plus new walls made of reclaimed wood, an adjusted ceiling to transform the proportions of the space, skylight to bring light deep into the space, a sealed and polished concrete floor – all elements that make themselves seen in various combinations throughout the bathhouse. Add to that an overall aesthetic that continually mixes opposites to heighten and enhance each and every part. It’s straightforward and sensuous. Lovely place.
Onsen in San Francisco.
Lynx Thoughts 