On Solid Foundation - Rediscovering a Heritage

In a time of globalisation, accelerated construction processes and diminishing resources, the origins of our building materials have become increasingly invisible - reduced to images in catalogues detached from place, process, and meaning. This project explores what a regenerative architectural approach could look like in the context of Luxembourg by revaluing locally available materials and critically engaging with the existing building stock, raising the question: How can the reinterpretation of traditional building materials and buildings that challenge conventional aesthetic values reshape our relationship with heritage and serve as a starting point for regenerative design? The site is a partially burned, abandoned 1934 Art Deco hotel with an outdoor pool, located along the Alzette River. Rather than demolishing it, the project transforms the ruin into a public gateway to the surrounding recreational landscape. A new sandstone extension revives the building’s swimming heritage, adding indoor and outdoor pools, spa facilities, and communal gathering spaces. Focusing on Luxembourgish sandstone - a historically significant but undervalued local resource - and earth bricks made from excavated earth and quarry by-products, the project explores these materials’ low environmental impact, circular potential, and cultural significance. By juxtaposing old and new masonry, it preserves historical traces while applying alternative construction techniques that use thermal mass to reduce energy needs without conventional insulation.Through material research, site scanning, and reinterpretation of the building’s spatial logic, the project honours the past while opening possibilities for the future. It argues that regeneration begins not with replacement, but with the act of reimagining what is already there.