Enhe™



 



















LIBRARY AS BATHHOUSE
Reinterpreting the Roman Thermal Baths as study ritual






Site Elevation Collage with Physical Model II 

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The Site Queen’s College Cambridge


1：500 Site Map
1:200 Site Plan showing points of access to fellows’ court(in red).
Osmx + Networkx analysis of footpaths and Entrances around Queens.










Sunpath indicating heaving shading due to foliage at boundary.





Zooming in...





Brick wall separates site from President’s garden, casting substantial north shadow
Deep shadow during cast by trees in President’s garden
Long-Exposure collage showcasing high-traffic nature of path leading to Cam river
Proximity to Cam presents geological challenge in building foundations 
Periodic light beams in first court
Pleasant tree grove close the cam and at site boundary
Materiality: Mostly 18th Century Brick
Riverside leisure space access through either footpath or through lawn





The Program


The Library is to integrate three novel spaces inspired by  key rooms inside roman baths: 

I.Frigidarium: the social heart of the baths

II.Caldarium: a reflective bathing room

III.Tepidarium: the warm up space 
Sankey Diagram showcasing average distribution of students inside library

Program Diagram showing spatial adjacency between study areas and key roman-inspired rooms


Site-induced Circulation Logic



Initially, the narrow site width (7m) inspired a straight 30m stepped walkway connecting rooms from the brick wall entrance to the Cam river.

“Narrow” Descending Circulation



Initial Sketches visualizing stepped, straight circulation [hover to see change]
















However, this created a long, congested circulation between rooms, so the walkway was twisted around itself to minimize travel distance between rooms by half.



“Wrapped” Central Staircase allows access to all rooms on a floor from a single point

I constructed a physical model, overlaying paper printouts of each new masterplan iteration inside in order to assess the spatial quality of each room and the adjacency of fittings inside the library using a minifigure.



1st Physical Model, mainly used for internal layout testing and floorplan troubleshooting
Testing study area with figurine showed inefficient circulation 
Creating hypothetical scenario in Beanbag room to ascertain optimal+maximum capacity
Redesign of -1 landing due to being too narrow to accomodate even 1 figurine
Visualisation of -2 Floorplan to assess lighting penetration from stairwell
Placing Figurine around model showed floor height of 4.5m created “narrow” effect, forcing redesign of entrance widths











Final Floorplans


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Ground Floor Circulation diverts old walkway to increase capacity and guide student towards the “library stop”



-1 Floor Circulation



-2 Floor Circulation


















Curating light


The high bordering trees and brick wall significantly reduced the levels of direct sunlight reaching inside the library. I solved this with the addition of a “Reflection Chimney” on top of the brick dome, which captures and reflects direct sunlight regardless of sun position. 




1:50 section showing Reflective Chimney capturing low-angle direct southern light [hover over image to see change]

















1:5 Technical Detail of Reflective Chimney, Oculus, and Waterproofing




Construction Sequence

1. Secant Piles drilled into ground. Tension Piles cast. Reinforcement cage installed.
2. Base slab poured, followed by -2 and -1 reinforced concrete walls, then floor slabs.
3. Waterproofing membrane, internal brick walls and stairs installed. 
4. Brick Domes mounted






















Move on to 

The Experience



























©2026 Enhe Hu.