Liepāja Thermal Bath

The dome plays a key role in countless public bath precedents, including myriad Roman, Ottoman/Turkish, and Renaissance examples. The form's semiological and organizational roles are closely aligned: by reinforcing centrality and singularity, it renders unmistakably explicit the primacy of the circle of space below.

Our proposal seeks to undermine the conventional symbolic performance of the dome by challenging its centripetal tendencies as well as its hierarchical bias. Working with its generative primitive, the sphere, we propose a multiplicity of domes, both upright and inverted, as a rhizomatic formal and organizational embodiment of a contemporary public that is democratic, horizontally empowered, and increasingly networked. Capitalizing on the seemingly serendipitous intersection of these friendly spherical forms, as well as the unique spaces between them within the poché, the project uses its sociopolitical conceptual foundation in service of an unorthodox spatial experience that is both spirited and atmospheric

PBLC is an architecture studio based in Los Angeles, practicing globally. We begin each project by identifying the specific problem embedded in a site, program, existing condition, or idea. Rather than imposing a predetermined formal language, we develop geometric solutions that respond directly to the particular demands of each project. Working across residential, workplace, cultural, and speculative projects, PBLC creates architecture whose distinctiveness comes not from style, but from the clear transformation of constraint into form.

A+ Awards, Architizer, Special Mention: Luxury Hotel and Residences at Carcosa Seri Negara and Istana Tetamu

AR Future Projects Award, The Architectural Review + MIPIM: Liepāja Thermal Bath

A+ Awards, Architizer, Jury Award: Liepāja Thermal Bath

A+ Awards, Architizer, Special Mention: Emigration House

A+ Awards, Architizer, Special Mention: Heptagon House

Young Architect’s Award, The Architect’s Newspaper

American Architecture Award: Liepāja Thermal Bath

American Architecture Award: Bandersnatch

Best of Year Honoree, Interior Design Magazine: Emigration House

Architect Magazine Residential Architect Design Award, Honorable Mention: Emigration House

American Architecture Prize, Silver: Liepāja Thermal Bath

American Architecture Prize, Honorable Mention: Heptagon House

Best of the BEST Award, IIDA Intermountain Chapter: Venafi Headquarters

BEST Award, Work over 15,000 SF, IIDA Intermountain Chapter: Venafi Headquarters

BEST Award, Live – Single Unit, IIDA Intermountain Chapter: Broadway Loft

AZ Award of Merit, AZURE Magazine: Liepāja Thermal Bath

AZ People's Choice Award, AZURE Magazine: Liepāja Thermal Bath

Architect Magazine Residential Architect Design Award: Heptagon House

AIA Los Angeles NEXT LA Design Award, Citation: Bandersnatch

IDA International Design Award, Gold: Liepāja Thermal Bath

IDA International Design Award, Bronze: Heptagon House

AIA California Council Residential Design Award, Merit: Heptagon House

AIA Los Angeles NEXT LA Design Award, Merit: Heptagon House

AIA Los Angeles Next LA Design Award, Citation: Liepāja Thermal Bath

AIA Los Angeles NEXT LA Design Award, Citation: Pop-Up Chapel