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Interview, Centro Benessere Hidron
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Sergio Bizzarro, what were the aims of the Hidron project?
When I was contacted by the Margheri Group in November 2004, I was soon made aware that I was going to have the chance to contribute to opening up a new path in the evolution of the concept of wellness. It was clear that the determination, commitment and ambition of the principals would allow an innovative design to be created that could offer cutting-edge solutions and trends to develop the sector. The meeting was, in fact, one of those that any architect would like to have: the principals were businessmen striving to obtain results that were different from the usual ones and seeking out trends that could make their mark.
And the relationship was immediately one of total harmony: a determined, skilled team who shared and participated constructively in a project in which each gave the best of his or her own abilities. These synergies, along with a constant, untiring enthusiasm, were what gave rise to Hidron, designed in 9 months and built in 14. It’s an incredible result in terms of time, seeing that we are talking about a complex that is like very few others in Italy and represents one of the most up-to-date and evolved structures that the sector can offer today.
What are the general features of the Hidron complex?
The hub of the project is the set of tubs and pools: it’s an aquatic paradise located in an area of 35,000 sq. m. (of which 6,500 are covered), inside which there are also 1,000 sq. m. of fitness area, 400 sq. m. of restaurant area and 1,000 sq. m. of wellness area. There are 8 swimming pools, three restaurants, a Beauty Farm, Spa, Sports Library, Conference area, four areas for gymnastics, a very well-equipped cardio and isotonic machines room, a space for Personal Trainers and numerous other areas and equipment to make the facility complete.
It is interesting to consider these data, because they are the outcome of some very in-depth assessments that led us to give a well worked-out and shared response to the question that all operators in the sector ask themselves: what direction is the wellness world evolving in? We have responded with this project, highlighting the fact that everyone must find his or her own personal path towards wellbeing, often not connected with a traditional physical activity, and certainly linked to a return to water, the element we all originate from and a friendly and restorative element, bringing relaxation and wellbeing to all. The design for this facility shows this path clearly, with a prevalence of surfaces devoted to water, used for every possible competitive, gymnastic, non-competitive and relaxing activity.
We also think that the atmosphere that each customer perceives immediately whenever he or she enters a Club, is the basic element that attracts him or her in a lasting manner to the centre: it must be a place where you can immediately feel at ease, feel at home, without feeling intimidated either by the atmosphere or by the air you breathe; it’s a place with easy access for both men, women and children, made by normal people for normal people.
This is why Hidron, from the architectural point of view, demonstrates that the research for the project had very high quality standards, obtained with a refined design of the rooms and the furnishings and with the use of natural materials combining easy management of the surfaces with the warmth of finishings that harmonize with the environment.
Steel and glass are widely used but, thanks to the widespread use of Florim porcelain tile floors that reproduce to perfection the grains and surfaces of stones in warm, restful colours, the whole thing appears minimalist and eye-catching, in the contrasts of light and in the brushstrokes of colour, distributed carefully around the various areas.
Could you describe the main components of the intervention and the use you made of Floor Gres materials?
The complex was designed by the Studio Bizzarro in Ravenna in collaboration with the technical office of the Margheri company who created the project. It comprises three buildings set around a large central building that serves as an atrium.
The largest of these buildings, circular in shape, is closed along its perimeter by a high glass wall that brings the gentle outline of the Tuscan hills inside the building.
One of the features of the buildings is the strong laminated timber roofs with beams of over 40 metres; they house four pools, with the main one a 25 x 17 m. swimming pool and a second one for swimming lessons. Inside, there are two more pools with an innovative design: the larger one, around 200 sq. m. is equipped with Jacuzzi, beds and massage chairs with geyser effect, vascular circuits, cascades, swan necks and water blades for cervical massage and an impressive river operated by pumps with a power of 80 kW. A submerged circuit joins the inside to the outside, allowing users to use an open-air pool heated to 37°C, complete with all the best massage and relaxation equipment even in winter, and without getting out of the water.
The pools all have a Finnish-type overflow edge and are tiled in Floor Gres porcelain tiles. The surfaces of the pool floor are covered entirely in Floor Gres non-slip porcelain tiles (Globe collection), which combine perfectly with the darker shades of the laminated timber roof. Adjacent to this large building devoted to the pools, there are two buildings of two storeys, rectangular in shape, housing functions with very different features. The first of these, to the right of the entrance, contains on the ground floor the huge area with changing-rooms and all the pool services, as well as a further pool devoted to water gymnastics. This pool is created with materials, light and colours designed to make the area particularly attractive, and is equipped with a multisensory stimulation system with underwater sound diffusion and environmental saturation Led lighting. On the top floor of this building there is the entire gymnastics sector, complete with reserved changing rooms and numerous gyms. The large cardiofitness and isotonic machines room completes the equipment on this floor and looks out onto the pool area below.
The second rectangular-shaped building on the left of the entrance, on the other hand, contains the universe of holistic wellbeing and body treatments. On the ground floor there are 2 themed restaurants, a sports library, an Internet point and a recreation area.
Going up to the first floor, we come into the realm of relaxation and beauty. Here, invisible perfume diffusers caress your sense of smell with their scents. The lights become softer and suffused. On the floor, a cobbled path covered with a crystal slab guides us through the beauty farm. The walls are papered with a burnt brown wallpaper, with gentle classical designs, giving the surroundings a soft, refined feeling. This is also the realm of the spa, with saunas, bio-saunas, Turkish baths, cabin for thalassotherapy, aromarium, water paradise and a large, round Jacuzzi pool.
This is Hidron: from the outside it welcomes you and entices you in, with its large, brightly coloured facade representing people of all kinds experiencing the happiness of wellbeing in different aquatic experiences, always serene and joyful. And it also communicates the message that external facades ought to transmit: EVERYONE IS PERFECT, which has become the Centre’s slogan. Because the purpose of Hidron is not to change people, but to make them feel good.
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