Library as Bathhouse

Reinterpreting the Roman Thermal Baths as study ritual

Site Elevation Collage with Physical Model II — hover to reveal

Site elevation collage with physical model overlay

The Site

Queen's College Cambridge

1:200 Site Plan showing points of access to fellows' court (in red)

OSMnx footpath analysis — OSMnx + NetworkX analysis of footpaths and entrances around Queens'

Sunpath diagram — Sunpath indicating heavy shading due to foliage at boundary

Zooming in...

Site photo — Brick wall separates site from President's garden, casting substantial north shadow

Footpath long exposure collage — Long-exposure collage showcasing high-traffic nature of path leading to the Cam

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 the 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 — "Narrow" descending circulation — initial sketches (hover to see change)

Wrapped central staircase — "Wrapped" central staircase allows access to all rooms on a floor from a single point

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

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

Physical model detail — Testing study area with figurine showed inefficient circulation

Final Floorplans

Hover to reveal changes

Ground floor circulation diverts the old walkway to increase capacity and guide students toward the "library stop"

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.

Section after chimney — 1:50 section showing the reflective chimney capturing low-angle direct southern light (hover to see change)

Technical detail drawing — 1:5 technical detail of reflective chimney, oculus, and waterproofing

Construction Sequence

Construction sequence 3 — 3. Waterproofing membrane, internal brick walls and stairs installed.

Construction sequence 4 — 4. Brick domes mounted.

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