Balnea are relatively small, non-monumental baths characterized by their informal asymmetry. The piecing together of plan reflects functional needs (of often private owners), from heat conservation in strategic massing to designing within the physical restrictions of urban sites.

The sophisticated layout of spaces at the baths of Pompeianus, Algeria results in a layering and interplay of spatial and visual sequences. The Beaux-Arts plan reproduced at left was informed by the intricate mosaic floors of Pompeianus' remains. Particulary innovative for its time was the semicircular open-air natatio combined with frigidarium (seen at the top-left of the plan).

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