Luxury water park

Project idea

The redevelopment project of the port area was developed on the basis of the "Luxury Water Park"
concept, that is a linear water park capable of reorganizing the internal spaces on a physical and functional
level, but at the same time offering a recreational and sustainable place . Along it are distributed
residences, commercial spaces, sports and exhibition activities, various services and systems for the
production of clean energy.

Project description

In particular, “terraced” towers are placed on the seafront, and they house both shops/offices (on the ground floor) and private luxury apartments (on the upper floors). These towers are architecturally inspired by the one built near the tourist port of Beirut by the architects Herzog and De Meuron, and responding to a plurality of needs: from well being to shelter, from sun exposure to the relationship with the context, exploiting the backdrop of the site where they are placed. Near the towers, straight-sized piers are also built to serve as moorings for the residents' boats or for water vehicles intended for rental for tourists.
The exhibition area is located near the still intact structures (which will be used for museum purposes) and will be surrounded by a series of canals, as well as enriched by the presence of vegetation. The vegetation is also distributed along the main canal and on the practicable roofs of the larger ones such as the parking lot for residents/visitors and the passenger terminal, in order to create diffuse shaded areas, and brings back the naturalness in a place like the port, which was initially thought of as a mere utilitarian construction covered by concrete. The terminal was then relocated with respect to its previous position and integrated within the water park, making sure that one of the branches of the canals runs along its entire length, thus marking a clear boundary between the new public recreational area and the former logistics area (which will have to be more necessarily reorganized as it is confined to a narrow space).
Particular attention was also paid to sports/recreational activities that take place in the swimming pools and along the canals of the water park. In particular, the canals surround the entire former port area following the coast line, and were designed as navigable by canoe (while a series of bridges allow pedestrians to cross from one bank to the other). The large pools, on the other hand, will be built in correspondence with the 2 large existing piers (also in order to highlight the presence of the monument-silos which will thus be fully reflected in the body of water) and in correspondence with the pre-existing docking basin in the northern area, and will host swimming activities or relaxation areas equipped with floating platforms. In support of the pools, some public and private beaches are created that gradually descend to the sea level (thus resuming the shape of the crater that was generated in front of the silos due to the explosion), also equipped with umbrellas/sunbeds and small buildings of relevance (bars, restaurants, changing rooms, etc...).

Technical information

As regards the issue of sustainability, various systems are used for the production of electricity (including floating "wave power" platforms located on the long external side of the breakwater, solar glass to be used for the facades of buildings, wind turbines distributed in open sea), but also innovative technologies such as cold ironing or phytodepuration. Another important aspect regarding sustainability is the reuse of the excavated material obtained from the creation of the canals and large pools: a system of stone gabions gives life to an open-air amphitheater (within the exhibition area) and defines the embankments containment of water at the edge with the mainland.
Basically, the operation of the entire water distribution system is to take the salt water from the sea, treat it with a phytodepuration system, and then distribute it within the area through branching canals with different sections which also organize the interior spaces; the width of these canals varies according to the availability and the characteristics of the space in which they are placed: in the project area you can have the largest section (equal to 25 meters), while the secondary branches are around 5-10 meters. So in reality, the water park also constitutes a way to establish a new relationship between the earth (and therefore man) and the water itself, completely different from the one that the commercial port had assumed in the past (i.e. until 2020). This new relationship is even more marked by the fact that some branches of the water channels branch off from the port area to the city, joining some of its focal points, including: the historic center, the new expansion area, and finally the existing purely residential area served by the train/bus station.

Documentation

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