Built as a trade-union guesthouse, the building occupies the site of a natural thermal spring. In their design, the authors sensitively respected the terrain configuration: the buildings are set on a low rise close to the springs and the access road, and in the composition of massing were inspired by the outline of the landscape. The complex is composed of three sections: accommodations, social area, and swimming baths. The eight-storey accommodation section (300 beds) is of triangular shape with a striking shed roof. Perpendicular to it is the social area, linked by a glass passageway to the lower swimming bath, also reached by its separate entrance. The colour scheme, as well as the formal articulation, is restrained: the authors chose a terracotta-and-white scheme complementing the greenery of the natural backdrop. The interior is accentuated by the artworks of leading artists: a large tapestry by Elena Holéczyová in the clubroom on the eighth floor, a kinetic sculpture in the vestibule by Milan Dobeš, a ceramic object in the dining room by Juraj Marth; the exterior has wooden totem poles by Vladimír Môťovský. As part of the complex, the authors also created an apartment block for hotel employees, placed closer to the village. At the end of the 1990s, the hotel underwent reconstruction: insulation of the facades of the hotel and indoor swimming pool caused the terracotta ceramic tiles to be replaced by stucco, the ceramic-tiled white fronts of the balconies with metal railings, the window divisions changed and the overall colour scheme removed, greatly changing the building’s appearance.
Bibliography:
LÝSEK, Lumír: Zotavovňa ROH v Liptovskom Jáne. Projekt 6, 1964, 2, s. 29 – 31.
DULLA, Matúš – MORAVČÍKOVÁ, Henrieta: Architektúra Slovenska v 20. storočí. Bratislava, Slovart 2002. 512 s., tu s. 228, 431.
ANDRÁŠIOVÁ, Katarína: Príroda a moderná architektúra: ako užívať ich bohatstvo? Zotavovňa Máj, Liptovský Ján. ARCH 14, 2009, 6, s. 24 – 27.
