THE GENERAL DISPOSITION OF PLAN OF PUBLIC BATHS.
Although the process of the bath determines the position of the various
apartments in relation to one another, the exact disposition of the plan
must be governed by the shape of the ground to be covered, the nature of
the site and surroundings, and--if the bath be constructed in an
existing building--the amount of space allotted to it. The _relative_
position of chamber to chamber of the sudatorium, and of the latter to
the cooling rooms, must remain more or less constant; but the angle of
connection with each other, their shape, proportions, and floor levels,
must, together with the positions of the subsidiary apartments, be
determined by the exigencies of the site, and considerations of
convenience and economy. Frequently, the architect will be called upon
to design a bath in a given space in the lower floors of some existing
building. He may be given the ground or basement floor to make the most
of as best he can. His plan is thus considerably hampered. If the site
includes the basement and ground floor of an ordinary house, he may
arrange the offices and cooling and dressing rooms on the ground floor;
and the hot rooms, shampooing room, and bath rooms, in the basement.
Where possible, the hot rooms should be pushed out beyond the back wall
of the houses, and lighted from the top. In cities, the hot rooms will
often have to be in the actual basement. Where space is valuable a whole
house may be given up to baths if the floors be made fire and heat
proof. The basement may be devoted to hot rooms and shampooing rooms,
the ground floor to offices and dressing rooms, and the first floor to
cooling rooms. Ladies' baths, again, can be arranged on the floors
above, and both baths can be heated from one apparatus. In a bath where
three floors are available, the first floor may be devoted to extra
cooling and dressing rooms. In inexpensive sites the bath may be all on
one level. This is the most convenient arrangement, but in large cities
is generally too costly. The Hammam and Savoy baths, in London, are,
however, all on one level, the former being practically all above
ground, and the latter constructed in the basement of an existing
building.
The London Hammam was the first public Turkish bath erected in this
country, and owes its existence to the fervid zeal of the late David
Urquhart. It was erected in 1862, from the designs of the late Somers
Clarke. The bath rooms proper are modelled on the Eastern plan, and have
quite an Oriental effect, with the stars of stained glass sparkling in
the sombre domed tepidarium. In this bath the office is arranged in the
old building in Jermyn Street, adjoining which is the combined
frigidarium and apodyterium, a structure of wood, originally intended as
a temporary building only. This is covered with an open-timbered roof,
and divided into nave and aisles by cut-wood posts, and lighted by a
clerestory. These posts form the divisions of the divans, which are
separated from one another by ornamented wood partitions worked in an
Eastern manner. Connected by double doors with this apartment are the
hot rooms. The main room--a very moderately-heated tepidarium--is a
square on plan, with splayed angles, over which rises a dome of
brickwork. On either side of this square, and connected with it by the
horseshoe arches supporting the dome, are transept-like apartments, used
as portions of the tepidarium, similar adjuncts existing at the ends and
joining on the one hand the frigidarium, and on the other a heated
smoking saloon, which occupies a position corresponding to that of a
Lady-chapel in this very ecclesiastical-looking plan. On either side of
this saloon are two calidaria. A drying room and laundry are arranged
over the smoking saloon, and w.c.'s, &c., are placed at the end of the
latter apartment. In the splayed angles supporting the dome are doors
leading to four apartments--two used as hot rooms of different
temperatures, and the others as a washing-room and a shampooer's
waiting room. Under the dome there is an extensive platform of marble
slabs, beneath which is the douche room, reached by a short flight of
steps. The plunge bath is placed, partly in the tepidarium, and partly
in the frigidarium, with an arrangement to prevent the transmission of
the hot air, such as I have herein before explained. In the centre of
the frigidarium is a little marble fountain. One of the divans is
partitioned off for the accommodation of the chiropodist. A gallery is
provided for the hairdresser, and connected with a shop in Jermyn
Street. The ground sloping considerably, a descent of a few steps has to
be made to reach the frigidarium from the street. A refreshment bar is
placed in the frigidarium. The manager's room is on the second floor,
adjoining the old building, and has a window overlooking the
frigidarium.
The Hammam was the first public Turkish bath erected in this country,
and the Savoy (Fig. 1) is one of the latest and largest, and also on one
level. It was designed by Mr. C. J. Phipps, F.S.A., to suit the basement
of an existing building. Entering from Savoy Hill, a short passage
conducts to a staircase leading to the vestibule, where are provided
rails for hats and coats. The counter of the ticket-office is placed at
the entrance to the frigidarium, and near this office is the committee
room--the bath being the property of a private company. In vaults
projecting under the street, provision is made for an engine and dynamo.
The frigidarium serves also as the apodyterium, and is cut up into
divans by ornamental wood partitions. Connected with it is a saloon for
the hairdresser and chiropodist, and an attendants' room. A lavatory is
provided in a recess. Access is gained to the hot rooms through double
doors. The plunge bath is placed partly in the hot rooms and partly in
the frigidarium. The tepidarium is divided by arcades into miniature
nave and aisles. Two subdivisions at the end of the tepidarium lead to
the calidarium, adjoining which is the heating apparatus, fitted with
two of Messrs. Constantine's "Convoluted" stoves. Access to the stokery
is gained by a passage at the end of the tepidarium. The shampooing
room is placed off the cooler end of the tepidarium, dwarf walls
separating it from the latter apartment, as also from the lavatorium.
Here, there are six marble basins, corresponding with the six marble
slabs in the shampooing room. A small chamber is screened off the
lavatorium to accommodate the douche and spray. A passage leads from the
douche room to the attendants' room, by way of the laundry. Off this
passage, and approached by doors from two of the divans, are the w.c.'s,
&c., for the bathers' use. Provision for the supply of refreshments is
made at the back of the office. This bath is designed in an Eastern
style.
[Illustration: FIG. 1.
--PLAN-OF THE-SAVOY-TURKISH-BATHS--
Turkish Baths, Savoy Hill, London.]
In the generality of modern baths, the frigidarium forms also the
apodyterium. This arrangement is economical of space, and has been
found, in practice, the most convenient for bathers; but there is much
to be said in favour of a separate and distinct cooling room, such as
that at the Camden Town Turkish Baths. Erected from the designs of Mr.
H. H. Bridgman, F.R.I.B.A., these baths are specially noteworthy for
their spacious frigidarium and ample plunge bath. Entering from the
street, a corridor conducts to a short flight of stairs leading to the
office. Adjoining this is an apodyterium, fitted with two ranges of
dressing-boxes, one above the other, a gallery forming the floor of the
upper tier. From hence a short staircase leads to the door of the
tepidarium, at right angles to which is the calidarium. Adjoining the
tepidarium is a combined shampooing and washing room, a door in which
opens into a chamber containing a plunge bath of quite exceptional
dimensions. A staircase leads to the door of the lofty and spacious
cooling room. This is lighted from the top, and contains a fireplace, a
feature usually omitted in cooling rooms, and really superfluous, though
adding greatly to cheerfulness of aspect in the winter. From this
frigidarium the bather can return to his dressing-box by way of a lobby.
Thus he makes a complete round, and does not meet the incoming bathers
on the staircase to the tepidarium.
The latest built elaborate commercial baths in London are those of
Messrs. Nevill in Northumberland Avenue (Fig. 2). They were designed by
Mr. Robert Walker, F.R.I.B.A., and comprise both ladies' and gentlemen's
baths, though, as at the old Pompeian _Balneæ_, the former set are
ungallantly cramped into a very small space. They occupy a corner site,
and the entrance to the gentlemen's bath is formed at the rounded angle.
In the vestibule is the usual cashier's office, and provision for hats
and coats. From the vestibule the combined cooling and dressing room is
entered, after passing the boot room on the left and the refreshment bar
on the right. Between the boot room and the staircase is the
hairdresser's room. Dwarf wooden partitions divide the cooling room. Off
a landing on the staircase are a lavatory and w.c.'s and toilet-table.
The staircase leads to the first floor--where are provided extra
couches--and to the bath rooms in the basement. The first floor is
practically a gallery. In the basement are three hot rooms, the
tepidarium being an elegant apartment elaborately adorned with marbles
and rich faïence. A heated smoking room adjoins the second hot room.
There are in this bath three shampooing rooms--an arrangement conducing
greatly to privacy. A douche room and plunge bath are provided in the
angle of the building. Vaults under the street are utilised as a
laundry, attendants' room, meter room, and engineer's shop, and as
store-rooms.
[Illustration: FIG. 2.
Turkish Baths, Northumberland Avenue, Charing Cross.]
The ladies' baths partly adjoin the gentlemen's, and are partly
separated by an area. They are entered from the side street. On the
ground floor is the pay-office and cooling room. Additional couches are
provided on the first floor, where is also an attendants' room. In the
basement are three hot rooms and two shampooing rooms. A washing room,
shower bath, and plunge bath adjoin the shampooing rooms. The hottest
rooms of both sets of these baths are within a few feet of each other.
Each, however, has its separate and distinct furnace. A passage formed
by the area allows access to the stokery and furnace chambers.
In Messrs. Nevill's baths at London Bridge the cooling rooms, &c., are
in the basement, and the bath rooms proper in a sub-basement.
Bartholomew's baths at Leicester Square are an excellent example of a
compactly-arranged double set of baths. The various apartments are
designed one above the other on different floors, the area of the
building being limited. On the ground floor, as usual, are the pay
office and a combined cooling and dressing room, and an attendant's
room. In the basement are the bath rooms, arranged _en suite_--first a
shampooing and washing room, containing, also, in a very compact manner,
the plunge and shower baths; next is the tepidarium; then the smaller
second hot room; and, lastly, the smallest hot room of a very high
temperature. The heating chamber is placed adjoining this. The principle
of its construction is that generally adopted in the baths erected under
the late Mr. Bartholomew's direction, viz. a furnace with a coil of thin
iron flue-pipes, radiating, in a measure, a certain amount of heat
directly into the hot rooms. The bath rooms are divided from one another
by glazed wood partitions, as distinct from the solid walls dividing
baths like the Hammam and Savoy. A consideration of these two methods of
dividing the hot rooms, does not, however, concern us here. A staircase
from the entrance vestibule leads to the ladies' baths on the second and
third floors, where also are manager's and other private rooms.
Broadly speaking, baths may be divided into two classes, viz. those in
which the various apartments are arranged _en suite_, and those
irregularly planned. Where possible the former arrangement is
preferable, as, with the hot rooms in a line, the circulation of air is
facilitated. Fig. 11 is a section of a set of hot rooms arranged _en
suite_; and the baths at Figs. 24 and 25, in Chapter VIII., are planned
on this principle.
As I have said above, where a basement and ground floor are available,
and a little space can be gained at the back of the existing building,
the office, cooling and dressing rooms can be arranged on the ground
floor, and the bath rooms proper on the basement level, but with light
and air above. If the site be an ordinary narrow-fronted town house,
and the bath an unassuming one, the plan may be arranged after the
manner of Mr. Joseph Burton's baths (Fig. 3), in the Euston Road,
London. Here a pair of ordinary town dwelling-houses are pressed into
the service of the bath. The basement and ground floors are devoted to
the baths, the upper floors forming a private hotel. On one side are the
gentlemen's, and on the other, the ladies' baths. Entering the former,
we find a space on the ground floor, fronting the street, serving as an
office. Adjoining this is a range of dressing-boxes, and further on a
cooling room, excellently lighted by a large window forming the whole
end of the apartment. From this little frigidarium a marble staircase
leads to the door of the tepidarium, formed at basement level at the
back of the houses. This chamber is lighted by means of a ceiling-light
constructed in the form of a small, flat dome, with stained-glass stars
set therein. A marble seat runs round the whole of this chamber. On one
side of the staircase is placed the calidarium, and, on the other, the
combined shampooing room and lavatorium, a door from the latter forming
an exit for the visitor who has completed his bath. At one end of the
shampooing room is a chamber containing the cold plunge bath and needle
bath. A door from hence leads to a staircase conducting to the
furnace-chamber. A laundry is provided at the head of these stairs. The
furnace-chamber is placed under the further end of the calidarium. The
baths for ladies are arranged on a very similar plan. The gentlemen's
baths are among the earliest erected in this country, and still form a
most compact and convenient institution. They were designed by Mr.
James Schofield. The illustration shows the ladies' baths. The ceilings
of the hot rooms are not indicated on the section.
[Illustration: FIG. 3.
Turkish Baths, Euston Road, London.]
The whole of the baths mentioned in this chapter are the property of
private individuals or companies. The number of baths provided in this
country under Act of Parliament or by civic corporations is so small,
and their size and design so insignificant, that it would be waste of
space to describe them here. They are unworthy of the nation. One of the
best is the pretty little bath provided on the first floor of the public
bath-house recently erected by the Corporation of Stockport. The fine
new baths at Bath erected from designs by Major Davis, the city
architect, do not include a Turkish bath. It must be admitted that some
slight increase in the amount of attention paid by corporate bodies to
bath-building is latterly to be noticed, and a few years may possibly
see a great advance in this direction. That this may indeed be so should
be our sincere hope, since the lack of fine public baths is a standing
disgrace to a nation that prides itself upon its cleanliness.
In Germany, considerable attention has been bestowed upon the design of
the Turkish bath, many excellent baths having been built in the more
complete bath-houses of the Empire. Well-arranged Turkish baths are to
be found in the baths at Nuremberg, Hanover, and Bremen, the latter
planned with both a first and second class frigidarium to the one set of
bath rooms. The plan, however, has nothing to recommend it, and in this
country would be useless. The Nuremberg bath is handsomely planned, and
has a spacious frigidarium. It is placed in a building comprising
ladies' and gentlemen's swimming baths, shallow baths, and a Russian
bath. In many of the hydropathic establishments (_Kurbäder_) of Germany,
will be found excellent Turkish baths. A sumptuous double set of bath
rooms is provided in the _Friedrichsbad_ in Baden-Baden, which was
erected at a cost of about 100,000_l._ The Turkish baths are placed on
the ground floor, and in other floors are provided baths of every kind.
Each set of rooms for the ladies' and gentlemen's Turkish baths
comprises undressing room and cooling room, two sudorific chambers,
shampooing room, douche room with cold plunge bath, and a separate
chamber with warm plunge. Adjoining the shampooing room are the warm and
hot rooms of the Russian bath. Between the two sets of bath rooms is
placed a handsome circular swimming-bath, and adjoining, the
_Wildbad_--a deep, full bath of warm mineral water.
One of the most elaborate Turkish baths erected, in modern times, is
that on the Praterstern, at Vienna, which cost, in round numbers,
125,000_l._ The building comprises ladies' and gentlemen's Turkish and
Russian baths, and includes a residential block for those taking a
course of baths. The whole of the arrangements are on a most sumptuous
scale. The cooling room of the gentlemen's baths measures no less than
35.3 metres long, and 10.5 broad. There are both warm and cold plunge
baths, besides a fine circular _piscina_, in a circular domed chamber.
Similar provisions are made for the ladies on a smaller scale. Though
plain and somewhat heavy in external design, the building internally is
resplendent with tiles, marble, and ornamental woodwork.