Esalen: In the Air - Bath Renovations

History:

The El Niño storms in February, 1998, caused widespread damage in Big Sur. Coastal Highway 1 washed out and was closed for three months. At Esalen the two Rolf Buildings moved precariously toward the sea, and the Baths were hit with a mud slide that crashed through the roof, breaking walls and dislodging the foundation. Esalen was forced to close these buildings.

Experts came. Geologists, soils engineers, structural engineers, architects and contractors inspected the site and wrote reports. Gradually, we narrowed our alternatives to four, including one that would have moved the Baths permanently away from the cliffs, away from the source of the hot springs to a new site above. As the severity of the problem and the likely duration of construction became clear, Esalen built some temporary baths to provide hot springs for the interim.

After much discussion, we chose to rebuild the Baths on their old site at the source of the hot springs. The site, on the rocky ledge perched above the Pacific, is unparalleled in history and in its majestic beauty. Natural hot springs flow from the ground and provided healing waters for Esselen Indians and others for centuries. It’s proximity to the ocean offers a rare and up close glimpse into the lives of sea creatures such as seals, otters, birds and migratory whales with their young.

Rebuilding the Baths:

We knew rebuilding the Baths on the cliff’s edge would be a financial and engineering challenge. The old cinder-block Baths were built in an era when building codes, earthquake design and liability laws were less stringent. To save the site we would need to stabilize the slope above and install a new foundation below the Baths. We knew, however, if we abandoned that site, no one would be able to build there ever again. New public buildings are rarely allowed on a coastal cliff face.

We engaged Mickey Muennig, a world renowned architect, and Big Sur resident, to design Baths that would fit into the landscape. Meunnig was recently selected by Architectural Digest as one of the century’s hundred outstanding architects and designers. *See photos below.

The slope stabilization was completed in the summer of 1999 at a cost of just over $1 million. We drilled 500 anchors forty feet deep and filled them with concrete and steel. Each anchor was pull tested to 70,000 pounds, and tied together with netting and cable. Esalen and our engineers, Haro Kasunich and Howard Carter Inc., chose the least invasive design possible, a design that allowed us to replant the slope as an inviting habitat for the endangered Smith’s Blue butterfly.

Although expensive, stabilizing the slope will preserve the site for generations. It also stabilizes and saves the Rolf buildings by shoring the ground beneath them, and it protects the historic Fritz building, which did not move in the 1998 El Niño but sits vulnerably on the cliff’s edge.

Construction Challenges

Because Big Sur is in earthquake country, it was necessary for our structural
engineers to design the Bath’s foundations to withstand an earthquake as well as erosion, wind and rain.

Some experienced builders say the site is the most difficult they have ever seen. The access path is so small that a pickup truck cannot turn around. The cliffs are precarious on all four sides up and down, and steaming sulfur water flows over and through the rock.

We have faced several building challenges during the construction. The first was installing the foundation piers and anchors. This was essentially a mining operation with heavy equipment boring 34 piers up to 25 feet into rock and drilling horizontal anchors back into the hillside.

We encountered the worst of conditions like uncovering and removing granite
boulders each the size of a room. And the site was so vertical and so small that we had to employ two rather than three drilling groups. Fortunately, this stage was successfully completed.

The second challenge was building a deck of interlocking planes over poured-in-place concrete grade beams, some cantilevered eight feet over the cliff.

To make a safe working environment we had to create a temporary working platform well beyond the building’s edge floating in mid air 60 feet above the rocky beach - an erector set of steel I-beams and threaded rods.

The third challenge was routing and rerouting, reclaiming, working with and endearing the hot springs to the new structure. To this end we consulted with geologists, hydrologists and geothermal engineers for their scientific view, and also performed ceremonies: saging and cleansing the site, developing a relationship with the springs at their true source. After one of the first ceremonies when Tibetan monks from the Gaden Shartse monastery came and chanted to the naga, the deity of the springs, our water flow increased substantially.

Sustainable Design Solutions:

With the assistance of world-renowned energy and conservation experts including Amory Lovins of the Rocky Mountain Institute and Don Aitken, co-founder of Friends of the Earth, Esalen’s vision has been to create an environmentally sustainable facility. This includes using the smallest pumps and least energy possible while ensuring adequate water at all times.

The bath structure is board-formed concrete, providing strength and easy maintenance. A sod roof, naturally landscaped with native long coastal grasses will reflect the movement of the sea breezes and waves. Designed and maintained by Esalen grounds crew, the living roof will weave the building into the site, making building and site appear as one. Clear story windows, open verandas and translucent panels will allow light deep into the structure and afford an unsurpassed coastal vista. A cantilevered ceiling, designed with wood alternating with plexiglass, will create a soft opaque light in the upper level, which has special ADA access designed for the handicapped, and includes a tub, bathroom and massage facilities. Throughout, gently arched ceilings will be accented with appropriate wood, steel and stone.

The natural mineral water flows out of the ground at 119 degrees and in an effort to save energy, will, wherever possible be gravity-fed to the tubs and retaining tanks. Fresh hot water in the showers will be heated by the mineral water. Radiant heat will be supplied by the flow of the hot mineral water through pipes laid into the concrete foundation overlaid with natural sandstone slabs. Our intent is to maximize the use of the geothermal heat from the hot mineral water for additional use on the whole Esalen property.

Guests will access the new baths by a landscaped and fenced path starting below the Lodge. Walking down the main entrance stairs to the baths, they will be greeted with the sight and sounds of a perpetual fountain flowing over a tile floral mosaic. The passage continues to the right of the fountain; a bathroom is on the left side and a storage room for mechanical equipment, massage and housekeeping supplies is on the right. Continuing down the stairs one reaches the main level. Off to the right, bathers will find a change area and showers. The outside area is designed so that the first section containing two large tubs and several private claw foot tubs are partially covered, but open to the ocean views and breezes. Further out on the cliffside edge are two large open stone tubs, patterned after the tubs lost to El Nino. These will offer bathers the incomparable experience of being suspended above the rocks and ocean.

Turning to the left off the main entrance, on the opposite side, is the private massage room facing the ocean, a changing room and the main massage area containing two large angular concrete tubs and additional private claw foots tubs. The baths are designed to accommodate 60 people comfortably, and whichever tub is chosen, the sight and sound of the ocean awaits.

Current Building Status

Under the current building schedule the facilities will be completed and operational in the summer of 2002.

As of 4/1/2002 the following projects are waiting completion: