As the most famous slovene tourist destination, Bled built a new rowing centre for the 2011 World Rowing Championship. The new rowing centre is a park as well as the place of coexistence and interaction between athelets/rowers and casual promenaders.


Project ROWING CENTER BLED was awarded with PLECNIK MEDAL 2012

Plecnik medal is a public recognition of outstanding creations in the fields of architecture, urban planning, landscape architecture and interior design, representing quality architectural realizations by Slovenian authors.

Explanations of the jury:

When we talk about the growing responsibilities to nature and sustainability in development, we must be aware that this represents a fundamental change in our attitude towards environment. This should also cover the architecture and landscape design. In Zaka in Bled, the authors undertook the task with a high degree of spatial subtlety, which is certainly an approach worthy of special commendation.
Jury tower is designed to blend with the enviroment as much as possible. Landscape design follows natural features and is barely visible. Jury tower is closed with glass to be as immaterial as possible, only horizontal floor lines are visible. The floors are supported by pillars wich with their irregularity mimic tree trunks. However, architecture is not hidden through "camouflage", it is visible yet so weightless and transparent to the greatest extent possible and merges with the environment.
Landscape design is very restrained and restricted only to the interventions needed for the proper space usage. Design is more visible and extensive where there is less natural enviroment - in the Rowing Centre itself. Interventions are sometimes subtle, but this absence is understood not as long to minimalism, but more in terms of Glen Murcutt's principles, which teach that we must have the least possible phyisical contact with the Earth (Touching the Earth Only Slightly).

PROJECT DESCRIPTION:

A rowing park in Mala Zaka:
The entire area of the rowing park is a mix of green and urban paved spaces that create a carpet on which buildings are placed. As ribbons, the paved areas connect entry points at the outer edge of the park with the lake and extend into piers on the lake. A promenade runs through the park as part of the walking route around the lake.

Velika Zaka bay:
The area is designed as a flat grass surface with a sandy beach and preserved old trees. At the end of the main access road, there is a pier for docking wooden boats, named pletna. Within the scope of designing the bay landscape, a new jury tower has been built at the finish line.

The jury tower is the reinterpretation of trees in terms of landscape architecture. It faces the beach and merges with the façade of the forest. The uneven composition of individual floors stands on 3 pairs of round pillars that symbolise tree trunks. The floors intended for referees and the competition jury are surrounded by glass panels. The ground area merges with the wooden pier on the water through concrete staircase.

The tower is a sports building which functions as a public facility outside the competitions, as an information point, exhibition area on the water and viewing tower.


DETAILS

Architecture design and landscape design by:
Sandra Banfi Škrbec
Iztok Lemajič
Miha Kajzelj
Iztok Kavčič

Client:
Občina Bled
Bled, Slovenija

Project:
2008

Implementation:
2010

Location:
Bled, Slovenija

Surface:
architecture:
115 m2 / jury tower
landscape design:
12.184 m2 / Mala Zaka 6.387 m2 / Velika Zaka