The Seattle Public Bathhouse

Abstract

As the city’s population grows and densifies, it is increasingly important to preserve public space. Seattle and its surrounding context are rich with waterfront views and access potential. Sited on the shoreline of inner Shilshole Bay, the bathhouse seeks to renew the waterfront as a public threshold between the urban and the natural. This public bathhouse also promotes social connectivity by bringing people to the waterfront through new civic and cultural spaces. The bathhouse is a meeting place for communal activity and public well-being. Located within a civic park, it creates a space for more frequent and longer human interactions, using water as the medium for renewal and social ritual to take place.