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Property For Sale Or Rent: Thermal Baths&Wintersports. Vals GraubÃ¼nden Studio-Apartment

Switzerland

Kurzentrum
Vals
Vals
Graubunden 7132
Switzerland

Property for sale: 50,000 €

Studio Apartment For Sale in Vals, Graubunden Switzerland

High in the Swiss Alps lies one of Europe's most beautiful public thermal spas. Its sleek ultra-modern interior is designed by architect Peter Zumthor. Here you can sample the restorative properties of its six different thermal baths, each containing a special cocktail of naturally occurring minerals.

High in the Swiss Alps lies one of Europe's most beautiful public thermal spas. Its sleek ultra-modern interior is designed by architect Peter Zumthor. Here you can sample the restorative properties of its six different thermal baths, each containing a special cocktail of naturally occurring minerals. There are also cold pools, steam rooms and oil baths, long-held to be beneficial for rheumatism, arthritis, skin complaints and poor circulation.

Studio-Apartment for two persons, in Therme Hotel Vals GraubÃ¼nden Thermal Baths and WinterSports.

The original rooms from the sixties have something of a ship's cabin. As much as possible fitted into a compact area, the beds bolted to the wall on the right and left. The l interior designer really was a marine design architect. A touch of the high seas in the mountains.

Vals: Hot mineral springs and a famous Swiss architect transformed the tiny village of Vals into a health and holiday resort destination. Located in a primeval alpine region with dramatic vertical mountains, this narrow valley is found at the end of the GraubÃ¼nden Mountains.

The 1996 thermal spa, constructed out of local mountain quartz by renowned Swiss architect Peter Zumthor, is a beautiful complex of pools and baths, some ice, some fire, and some strewn with jasmine flowers. Hear background sounds of monastic chants, purify yourself in a black stone steam room, and sleep in one of the new Zumthor-designed hotel rooms known as the Temporaries.

The remote alpine village of Vals is best known to the world at large as the home of Switzerlandâ€™s popular Valser mineral water. Since 1996, though, architecture fanatics and spa connoisseurs have known Vals as the home of Peter Zumthorâ€™s Therme spa, an ultra-modernist design statement in grey Valser quartzite, a place that somehow crafts a near-religious experience out of little more than stone, water and judiciously applied light.

All this may sound a bit breathless, but most anyone whoâ€™s been to the Therme baths has come away a little bit changed by the experience. The adjoining hotel was built in the sixties, and looks a bit faded in places, though the rooms are welcoming enough, in a slightly Spartan-institutional style. But the gems are the so-called Temporary rooms, which Zumthor has redesigned in an effort to create hotel spaces on par with his spa. These rooms are modern in style, all white with bright colored rugs and brown leather chairs.

The new Zumthor rooms are brilliant but a large number of the old-style rooms are still available at a lower rate; and as fine as the hotel may be itâ€™s the spa that canâ€™t be missed. In the spaâ€™s lower reaches are the jacuzzis and the treatment rooms, but the main event is the series of vast pools, some hot, some cold, some scented with fresh flower petals. Lighting is dramatic, whether streaming in from blue-tinted skylights far above, or lit from belowâ€�?some pools are painted bright white up to the waterline, with dark grey unfinished stone above, creating the illusion that the water itself is glowing.

The spa is open just for hotel guests early in the morning and late some evenings, and this is the best time to see it. Those accustomed to the most decadent of spa treatments might be taken aback by Thermeâ€™s approach, but nobody leaves unsatisfied. This building is one of Zumthorâ€™s finest, and as the man himself would say, itâ€™s better seen than merely read about.

Vals is an unspoilt Walser village with stone-roof houses. The thermal pool hewn out of local rock was created in 1996 and offers a mystical-sensual experience in the midst of modern architecture by Peter Zumthor.
It is the first building in Switzerland to be placed on the list of protected Swiss Heritage Conservation sites only two years after its inauguration. In September 1998, Zumthor received the Carsberg Prize, the highest international recognition for architecture.

The untamed and rocky Vals Valley is situated right at the end of the GraubÃ¼nden Mountains. Its original character to this day testifies to a unique culture and way of life.

The houses with their roofs made from the local Vals stone give the place an impressive development into a health and holiday resort was not, however, primarily based on the archaic landscape and pleasant climate, but on the mineral springs. Though the design by Peter Zumthor for the rock baths is contemporary, care has been taken to maintain the original bathing experience. It focuses on the elemental force of stone and water and makes bathing a sensual delight: "Take time to witness the way in which the play of light continuously transforms the stone and water."In terms of economics Vals is not dependent on tourism alone. Agriculture also plays an important part and characterises the valley. This explains its popularity with sensitive mountain walkers in both summer and winter. The opportunity to meet local inhabitants is particularly appreciated.

Vals is a remote alpine village in the canton of GraubÃ¼nden, which has recently become well known all over Switzerland and to some extent the rest of the world - it went through the Bilbao effect before Bilbao.
During the early 1980s the community of Vals bought a bankrupt hotel consisting of three buildings from the 1960s, and commissioned Peter Zumthor to build a new thermal bath. The building became a success in Switzerland: only two years after its opening it became a protected building; you can find photographs of it in any kind of magazine in that country; the name of the architect is well know to the common citizen of GraubÃ¼nden; the village of Vals is again on the map.
Zumthor uses images of quarries and water flowing spontaneously from the ground to describe the conception of the building, ideas charged with an archaic atmosphere. Its geometric rigor reflects a huge rock embedded in the hillside.
The building is made from local Valser quartzite and concrete. Water, light and to some extent steam and heat, add to the definition of areas within the ritual of the bath
.
The primal act of bathing organizes the building. Entrance is through an underground tunnel where the iron richness of the Valser water first shows as it pours from wall-mounted copper pipes and stains the stone that lies beneath its flow. Following the tunnel there is a filtering volume where the bather enters from one side, undresses, and comes out from the other side ready for the bath. Stepping out of the changing rooms the bather will be on a longitudinal balcony space that overlooks the therme; from here he can go into the Turkish baths or flow down to the main floor using a ramp that runs parallel to the balcony.
The main floor is organized by a series of 'stones' (cubic volumes) which house baths at different temperatures, showers, and sweating, drinking or resting spaces. Between these stones is water, and beside them larger empty areas lead towards two large windows which frame the view of the mountains. Wandering into the central bath the swimmer can move into the outdoor bath and finally onto the terrace. Below the baths is a therapy level containing smaller rooms that serve for varied types of massage and physiotherapy.
Seemingly static at first glance, the spatial concept is in fact completely dynamic, and this duality of impression between the still and the kinetic makes the building a place of relaxation through action, an awakening of senses.
The ceiling consists of cantilevered concrete slabs, each piece separated from the others by 'fissures' - light slits that also add to the sense of fluidity of the overall space.

Summer
Alpine valleys descending from high mountains. Rivers in every conceivable direction. German, Romansh and Italian in a single canton.

The Surselva Valley has every colour: Red for the RhÃ¤tische Bahn railway, yellow for the postal buses, blue for its 615 lakes and the skies above 150 valleys, green for forests and pastures, golden brown for larch trees in autumn, grey for castles and rocks, and white for snow and ice. Choose red to take the RhÃ¤tische Bahn to Klosters, Davos, Arosa, St. Moritz, the Surselva region, the Engadine and Valposchiavo. Choose yellow and see Savognin and the MÃ¼stair valley, Lenzerheide, and the Mesolcina and Bregaglia valleys by postal bus. Pick grey for climbing a sheer rock face, and white for storming peaks and traversing glaciers. Or simply sit down on a patch of green and enjoy azure skies above.

Surselva in Winter time...

Take a paraglider taxi through the air wearing skis, join high altitude ski tours that bring you closer to the heavens. Float quietly across snowed-in valleys in a hot-air balloon, discovering the many faces of nature in the different kinds of countryside.

Have a professional take you down the St. Moritz Olympic bobsled run. Toboggan from Preda to BergÃ¼n or brave a glacier downhill run on the Diavolez... Who doesn't dream of adventures such as these? Whether skiing, snowboarding, cross-country skiing or taking a ride on a horse-drawn sleigh, everything is possible in Surselva's winter sports areas with their guaranteed favourable snow conditions. Would you like to enjoy a gourmet treat away from the crowds? Learn about the rich culture of Switzerland's holiday corner and its capital of Chur or relax in a traditional spa? Try Telemark skiing, parabol skiing or snow golf - putting a red ball on a white 'green'? In Surselva, it's yours for the asking. We promise to take excellent care of you and our most precious resource - the environment.

The thing that's special about Therme Vals is that it is owned by the villagers. The region is famous for its mineral springs, but in the 1980s the local community bought up a bankrupt hotel and commissioned the architect Peter Zumthor to build a new bathhouse.

Zumthor used masses of local stone in his design, as well as concrete, leather, copper and glass, and created a marvellous complex of pools and baths, and a series of therapy rooms too. I stayed at the Hotel Therme, in one of the special rooms also designed by Zumthor, known as Temporaries. My room gave me early morning access to the baths, when they were quiet and untouched.

So you enter the baths complex through a dark tunnel. A copper turnstile lets you in, past inlets where the iron-rich water stains the stone. You change out of your clothes in a womb-like red-leather lined rooms, and then step through to the pool area.

The main indoor pool is made of slabs of rock. Green underwater lighting and shafts of blue light filtering in from portholes in the ceiling make floating in it an indescribable pleasure.

The pool is surrounded by a series of pillars concealing small rooms called Stones, each of which contains another kind of pool: a pool that is very hot one that is cold, and a darkened room in which you can lie and listen to clanky and hypnotic Stone Music. One of these pools reduced me to tears with its beauty early one morning as I stepped into it alone: the flower pool. Submerged lights illuminate thousands upon thousands of Jasmine flowers floating in the fragrant water. It was like being in a warm snowstorm. The reassurance of body in light, heat, water, perfume was a holy, perfect, soul-touching delight and as close as I ever get to a religious experience.

There are other pools too. A rock-lined water tunnel leads you outside, where copper pipes splash water against your tired back, pummelling hard like a massage. On a cold day steam rises from the water. From this pool you can see the land around you, all so beautiful. Resting areas feature windows that frame the mountains. Birds fly below. Inside there are pools hidden around corners, pools that you wouldn't know where there until you waded through a tunnel and found them. One pool is at the bottom of a long echoing chamber, people sing and clap, relishing the acoustics. In another room there is a fountain with copper cups attached to it so that not only can you bathe in the water, you can taste it too.

On the upper level are the steam rooms. These are built from black stone. The light is so dim and this, coupled with the steam, makes the first walk-through feel like a sensual discovery, you feel frightened, you are unsure and apprehensive, things come out of the darkness at you, there may be people here watching but you cannot be sure, you're worried about touching something scalding. I like architecture that dares to heighten and then calm fretfulness, because then you find your balance, and sit on the hot smooth stone, stop feeling afraid and allow it all to envelop you.

By Car: To reach Vals from ZÃ¼rich you have to take the high-way to Chur. 8 km after Chur follow the main street to Flims / Laax / Ilanz In Ilanz the sign will lead you to the entrance of the Vals valley from where a 20 km long road will guide you through a beautiful mountain area. If you choose the route over the "Oberalppass", which is only passable in summer, you have to leave he main road in Ilanz, too.

By Public Transport: From the airport ZÃ¼rich you take the train to ZÃ¼rich main station where you have to change to Chur. Arrived in Chur you have to change again to Ilanz/Disentis. In Ilanz a bus will drive you to Vals.

Therme Vals has much better photographs, just get there and have a look yourself.

Property Summary

Offered by		Owner
Construction Year		1970
Area		26 m2
Bedrooms		1
Bathrooms		1
Sleeps		1
Parking Spaces		1
Features		Furnished, Appliances, Maid's Quarters, Maid's Bathroom, Laundry Room, Studio Room, Pool, Gym/Spa, Balcony, Terrace, Patio, Cable TV, Mountain View, Adresse, Kurzentrum., 7132 Vals,