The arrangement of all the pools has been custom-tailored to suit the site’s unique location.

A harmo­nious arran­ge­ment of three roofs lends the buil­ding a sculp­tural flavor with an under­lying sense of invi­ta­tion, and its distinc­tive appearance offers a hearty welcome to visi­tors when seen from a distance. Inside, these dyna­mi­cally arranged roof surfaces mark out the various pool areas in a playful fashion without distur­bing the aquatic landscape’s open nature.

This emphasis on a nuanced treat­ment of the requi­site ceiling heights lends each of the zones its own sense of scale.

The arran­ge­ment of all the pools has been custom-tail­ored to suit the site’s unique loca­tion. In the center, we find a pool that invites swim­mers to “get in a few laps.” The adja­cent non-swimmer and toddler pools as well as the water play­ground face toward the southern facade. Here, we also find the food court and adjoi­ning terrace and a grassy area for sunbathing.

Next to the children’s area is the quiet zone with deck chairs, warm-water pool, steam bath, and infrared sauna. Located behind this area is a sepa­rate protected area for the diving faci­li­ties with 1‑, 3‑, and 5‑meter diving plat­forms. Other attrac­tions include the two waterslides—100 and 123 meters in length—on the nort­hern side of the buil­ding.

Next to, and acou­sti­cally sepa­rated from, the slides, we find the lear­ning pool in which lessons are held and the adja­cent 25-meter pool for the swim­ming clubs.

Guests find it easy to navi­gate this single-story swim­ming area located at ground level. Light­weight glass divi­ding walls delineate the quiet area, screen the slides’ landing area, and offer a high level of privacy for the lear­ning pool and the second 25-meter swim­mers’ pool.

The Indoor pool faci­lity is notable not only for its sculp­tural roof design but also for the gene­rous glass facades, which enclose the struc­ture like a light­weight, trans­pa­rent curtain. The facades thus provide an unim­peded view of the surroun­ding gree­nery and impres­sive stock of trees.

The architects’ goal was to come up with the most sustainable design possible for the building and power supply.

The deli­be­rate use of natural materials—in the connec­ting wooden roof with its deli­cate, untreated squared spruce timbers or the near-natural beige of the floor of the baths, for example—creates a connec­tion to the land­scape of the adja­cent Schwa­katen and Mainau forests.

Color accents are provided, for example, by the red heated benches, which arti­cu­late the space and the shiny blue mosaic tiles. The varying roof heights create bands of light that gene­rate a parti­cular atmo­spheric effect as the sun angles in.

The archi­tects’ goal was to come up with the most sustainable design possible for the buil­ding and power supply. Almost the entire roof land­scape is thus covered in photo­vol­taic modules supplied by the Stadt­werke Konstanz company. Most of the building’s heating is derived from combined heat and power modules and from waste heat produced by the pools and waste­water from the showers. This allows the indoor swim­ming pool to save around 171 tons in CO2 emis­sions each year.

The open character and sophisti­cated, well-nigh inex­haus­tible diver­sity of the new Schwa­ke­tenbad make it a parti­cu­larly impres­sive venue in which all types of user groups are encou­raged to interact with one another. The striking spatial atmo­sphere is a key part of provi­ding bathers with a memo­rable expe­ri­ence.