THE NEW PUBLIC BATH

The building, which is situated in the so-called Superior Park of Niška Banja, was built in 1936. The original designs were lost, so the architect is unknown, but it is supposed that the building was designed by the Croatian architects Drago Ibler and Drago Galić.

It has a symmetrical layout, with a higher central part, which by virtue of setting back the mass of the building, in terms of height and depth, and by the pure triple slits of the colonnade of the entrance and upper floor doors, reminds the viewer of a cubist form of the Adolf Loos villas. On both sides of these sections, there are ground level tracts housing the pool and the baths compartments, forming a counterpart for the in-patient clinic “Zelengora” in terms of similar façade design, i.e. the basic spatial matrix. It belongs to the Moderne in terms of structural style. The building’s size dominates the nearby buildings of the old bath. The spa water is supplied from the Main Spring. The hot connection – Colonnade – corridor is linked to the Hotel “Ozren”.

The interventions on the building, done in terms of the repair of the façade or interior with non-standard materials, had a detrimental effect on the building’s appearance, because of the ever-present dampness which is the result of the buildings function.