The sustainability of interventions in the area to conserve our habitat has become not just a legal obligation but, happily, also a widespread tendency: the number of business activities which renovate themselves in a sustainable way is constantly increasing. This project starts with the complete demolition of the present bathing establishment, known as Lido Laura, since it was build using traditional materials, which now are not compatible with the protected area around it. The new facilities will reduce to a minimum the impact on the environment, with NATURA 2000 present on the site, and provide all the needed features of a bathing establishment with the aim of using the site in a sustainable way. It will try to recover, protect and expand the habitat and favour a more sensitive anthropization of the natural areas. The project consists of three volumes; service, sun-shaded areas and external walkway’s, all suspended to create a system that can be dismantled and dry-assembled in situ. The mixed wood and steel structure, suspended on a mesh of carbonized wood sticks, has allowed larger cantilevered roofing and easy anchoring between the pieces of wood. The program offers inclusive public services to access the beach, spaces for private activities and a restaurant. All the volume’s facades are shielded by a series of taut hemp ropes that organizes some of the outdoor spaces and protects from the height difference, offering a vibrant and semi-transparent view of the seaside landscape. Among the 13 km of the Salerno’s coastline, this is the first requalification intervention that provides the complete replacement of the existing “hard” structure with a “lighter” one.
date: 2021 · client: private · site: Paestum (Italy)