Ljubljana-based research oriented architectural practice Enota has completed a central park in Koper, coastal town in Slovenia. The central park is completely activated by the monolithic building blocks and undulating urban elements in an innovative layout. 

Named Koper Central Park, their controlled placement in the space in combination with a pronounced topography of the green surfaces softly divides the whole of the park's surface into individual introverted programme isles. The planted portion of the landscape design is laid out with indigenous Mediterranean vegetation.

Set between Piranska Road and the Semedela promenade, and between the Grande canal and the area just beyond the city market. "Piranska Road represents a new stage in the development of the town's infrastructure while the promenade is one of the more important features of the town having once acted as the link between the city on the then-island and the mainland," said Enota.

"As such, it counts among the characteristic elements in the panorama of Koper. The connection ran between the sea and the salt ponds. As the city developed during the past decades, the former salt-pond area was gradually filled in."

"The land thus recovered represented a major development potential for the town. Nowadays, these surfaces are partially built, but there are still extensive unoccupied surfaces, including the area under consideration," added the firm. 

The key characteristic of the area is the immediate connection with the promenade and the sea, which is to be recognised as a significant spatial quality. The area is partially occupied by a large car park behind the city market. 

In the broader context, the area represents the first contact with the sea for the visitors to the Slovene coast, and it represents the starting point of the riviera between the towns of Koper and Izola. 

Only a comprehensive and co-ordinated treatment of the entire belt along the promenade will be able to visually and functionally connect the two currently separate parts of the town into a logical whole.

"Since the densely developed old town core does not allow for a sufficient number of large open spaces and constrains their size, and since we need to understand that convivial bustle, concerts, and late-night events disturb the residents in the immediate vicinity, the placement of such programme in the area under consideration is all the more suitable," the architects added.

The design of the individual urban elements consistently follows the different programmes. In places, they are taller and act as a shelter from views and the noisy surroundings; elsewhere, they are lower and allow for an unimpeded contact between programme zones. 

The organically designed urban elements form stands for viewers, an obstacle course for children, climbing walls, a backdrop to a seaside bar, a concert venue, a children's playground, a reading area, and more. 

Due to the proximity of the sea, the programme zones are appointed with numerous water elements. A pond, ground sprinklers, a geyser, parabolic water jets, cascades and a water platform in combination with the variegated urban elements encourage an active use of the space and an expansion of the future beach towards the interior of the park.

The planted portion of the landscape design is laid out only with indigenous Mediterranean vegetation. The strategically arranged tall growth complements the existing tree lanes on both edges of the park, gives shade to the individual programme zones, and offers the park area additional protection from the impacts of the surroundings. In order to encourage as much diversity in the use of its space, the new city park doesn't feature traditionally designed footpaths. 

Interlocking paving with a free arrangement of grass-coloured tiles is limited to the access points and the sections of the park where a more intensive use of the ground is expected. In this way, the visitors define their own path and their own manner of using the space. 

In case new content is added to the park, or if obvious desire lines are formed, which is very difficult to predict initially, this manner of paving enables an easy rearrangement of the compacted surfaces at a later time.

The innovative layout of the city park is a great new asset for the citizens of Koper as it enables the development of programmes which the city presently cannot offer. 

The new park is an attraction and with its unique form and the manner of spatial organisation, it transcends a merely functional park regulation. It represents a prototype for further designing of the wider area, as well as motivation for development-oriented attitudes in regard to other sections of the Slovene seacoast currently in a state of decay.

Project facts

Project: Koper Central Park

Type: Invited competition, first prize /The Plan Awards, Landscape winner 

Year: 2016

Status: built 2018

Site: 26.000 m2

Cost: 3.000.000 EUR

Client: Koper Municipality

Location: Koper, Slovenia

Coordinates: 45°32'38.6"N 13°43'23.8"E

Architecture: Enota

Project team: Dean Lah, Milan Tomac, Gregor Vreš, Peter Karba, Polona Ruparčič, Peter Sovinc, Jakob Kajzer, Carlos Cuenca Solana, Nuša Završnik Šilec, Sara Mežik, Eva Tomac, Goran Djokić.

Greenery: Spicy Garden

Collaborators: Ivan Ramšak s.p. (structural engineering), Nom biro (mechanical services), Nom biro (electrical installations)

All images © Miran Kambič

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