Canal: Recreation: Bath is an urban and architectural project which engages with an undefined and underutilized space along the stretch of the Union Canal within the neighborhood of Wester Hailes at multiple scales. The project is a response to the unsafe qualitative nature of the public space and to the fragmented relationship between the immediate community and other neighborhoods around the canal and the rest of Edinburgh. The aim of the project is to create a compact and qualitative recreational corridor in proximity to nature with well-functioning accessibility promoting interconnected neighborhoods.
Recreation will incorporate a series of diverse urban spaces. These experiences, inclusive to all regardless of age, gender and culture, together with strategically placed points of visual impact will create pockets of activity at the eye level in person as well as virtually to be shared with the larger community. By merging new and existing the aim of the project is to create an urban living room for the immediate community and an attraction for the greater surrounding area, a streetscape which connects.
Bath will create a point of leverage along the length of the Union Canal by introducing a hub of activity bustling with activity throughout the seasons. The Canal Bath stems from the belief that everyone should have access to the canal- not just to travel on it or around it. The floating lido and accompanying sauna and café will introduce new types of activity and will serve as a catalyst for innovation and identity.
WATER LOGIC: REGENERATING UNION CANAL 