Thermal spa and hotel design in Hungary

Bathing and bathing culture is one of the most representatvie peculiarity of Hungarian culture and history. This aptitude of the country is mainly due to the unique natural resources, that are found in the Carpathian basin and is almost available everywhere in the country, to the thermal water and its springs. As the techniques of extraction develop by time, as it becomes less expensive and time taking, thermal spas and wellness facilites grow around the country augmenting the already existing and rich list of different thermal spas, medical baths and swimming pools. Since thermal water was found below the city of Gödöllő in the 1950s, the idea of a future thermal spa started to develop between the leadership of the municipality. However until recent years the building of a spa was not possible because of the high-priority of the refurbishment of the Royal Palace, on which the restoration works come to their end soon. In the past few years the municipality of Gödöllő decided to look for more potentials in the possibilities to increase tourism and incomes in the city and the idea of the thermal spa was found again. The following thesis work will deal with a possible solution on the development of the design process of the city spa and a hotel connected to it. The work is split into two parts, the first one as a research work on which the second one, the design part can be based on. The research part describes bathing in general, the natural resources available in and also the bathing history of Hungary. In this research part example spas are also described, two Hungarian one and two international in order the present the new Hungarian trends on spa design and also to provide further, western European examples since trends show in Hungary, where there is still a lack of wellness spa facilities, that spas and swimming pools can not be built any more if they want to survive on the market without offering extra comfort and recreational elements. The seconod part of the thesis work includes the description and development of the design process. The aim of the project was to imagine for the city of Gödöllő a new thermal spa, that can be used by both local citizens and international tourists coming to the city from around the world, that fits the most its environment and the context, respecting its surrounding neighbourhood and yet work as a representative new public building of the city.