Germany’s most innovative wellness oasis and waterpark offers an extraordinary experience to its visitors: “Swimming with penguins”. The redesign transforms the Spreewelten into a destination that creates unforgettable memories, both for kids and for adults.
After an eight-month renovation phase, SPREEWELTEN are unrecognizable, becoming an excursion destination that creates unforgettable memories for both children and adults. For the redesign of the waterpark, it wasn’t just a matter of replacing a few tiles. The leisure pool is now enriched with a penguin enclosure featuring a 500-cubic-metre penguin pool, providing its animal residents with three times as much space as before. The animal experience has been the main attraction of the resort for years, but Europe’s largest acrylic glass front makes the adventure even more impressive and realistic. Only separated by a continuous windscreen, visitors and penguins can now swim together along a 46-metre stretch.
Spreewald as a Thematic Leitmotif
Pristine, wild nature, meandering waterways, and a rich cultural heritage shape the Spreewald. Located in the heart of this biosphere reserve and just one hour from Berlin, the Spreewelten have undergone expansion and redesign as part of our strategic future development for the leisure pool and sauna village. The goal is to make Spreewelten more attractive over the long term to a variety of target groups through a special balance of fun and relaxation. Thematic inspiration is drawn from the Spreewald: natural materials and lush greenery create seamless transitions between indoor and outdoor areas. Additional wooden decks and optimised use of space give the leisure pool a spacious and generous feel.
World’s Only Penguin Experience
The penguins are a world-exclusive feature: the redesigned penguin habitat, exciting underwater views, and a penguin tunnel create the feeling of swimming alongside them. Additional highlights include two giant slides, a wave pool, and a lazy river. The outdoor area and sauna village are shaped by relaxing natural spaces, and the restaurant serves regional cuisine. The design planning was led by the architectural team under Kieran Stanley, CEO of dan pearlman Erlebnisarchitektur GmbH, who also supervised implementation until the final reopening.
New Level of Visitor Experience
The Spreewelten Lübbenau has significantly enhanced its appeal during the eight-month renovation, making many areas almost unrecognisable. Germany’s most innovative leisure pool offers visitors a unique experience: “Swimming with the Penguins” makes the Spreewelten a destination that both young and old will remember for a long time. The leisure pool now features a tripled penguin habitat with a 500-cubic-metre swimming pool – a project that went far beyond replacing tiles.
Europe’s Largest Acrylic Glass Pane
The penguin experience was already the highlight before the renovation, but with Europe’s largest acrylic glass pane, the adventure became even more impressive and realistic from December 2018. Only separated by a panoramic glass wall, visitors can now swim alongside the penguins for 46 metres. A new Spreewelten landscape has been created for Humboldt penguins and visitors alike, delivering a fully immersive experience.
Mythical Story of the Spreewelten Penguins
The entire pool has been immersed in a specially written, mystical story of the Spreewelten penguins. From hidden treasure maps and mystical symbols to rustic rafts and barrels – there is something to discover everywhere. The unforgettable view into the underwater world of these lively animals creates an emotionally unique and lasting signature feature of the Spreewelten.
Interaction and Fun for Children
The closeness to the penguins can be experienced not only while swimming. The toddler areas, connected to a large dry play zone, have been completely redesigned in a lovingly “Spreewald-style” manner. Here, children can play face-to-face with the penguins, as the two worlds are only separated by glass. Daily feeding shows complement the holistic penguin adventure with a close-up animal show, adding new levels of interaction.
Innovative Attractions
Another addition to the pool is the world’s first interactive water slide. Equipped with a high-score function and illuminated touchpads for the ultimate sliding experience, it also caters to the digital playfulness of younger visitors. The slide experience can even be customised online beforehand, including colours and effects for individual tube sections.
Sauna Village and Gastronomy
To meet the demand for wellness and relaxation, the sauna village now offers an upgraded quality of stay. Sauna lovers are invited to enjoy 14 themed saunas and relaxing natural environments. The experience is completed by the bistro, which transports visitors into an enchanted birch forest offering regional dishes, with views over the Spreewald meadow landscape of the pool.
Hotel as a New Holiday Destination
From spring 2019, the Spreewelten became a destination for a full (short) holiday, with the opening of the Spreewelten Hotel – also developed by the architects of dan pearlman Erlebnisarchitektur.
Awards
This project won the 2019 Award from the European Waterpark Association and received the 2020 German Design Award in the Architecture category.
More aboutSpreeweltenbad Lübbenau can be found here.
More information about the connected Spreewelten Apartment-Hotel can be found here.
SERVICES AT A GLANCE:
Client: Spreewelten
Project: Spreewelten Erlebnisbad
Services: Masterplanning, Architecture and landscape architecture (work stages 1-3 HOAI)
Planning Time: July 2014 – February 2017
Construction Period: 8 months
Opening: Spring 2019
Overall planning area: 26.695,61 m²
Building foot print: 8.100 m²
Gross Volume: ca. 64.000 m³
Construction Costs: 5,1 M €
