Danish structure studio CEBRA has revealed its designs for 3 customer centres in Albania, which will likely be topped with protruding concrete slabs that reference “shifting tectonic plates”.
CEBRA has designed the centres for Vjosa Nationwide Park – Europe’s “first wild river nationwide park” – which was established in 2023 to protect 13,000 hectares of the Vjosa River area.
The purpose of the undertaking is to create immersive areas for information sharing and ecotourism.
“The principle intention of our architectural thought is as an example how a wild river interacts with the panorama,” founding associate of CEBRA Mikkel Frost informed Dezeen.
“The tasks ought to combine with the pure surroundings to some extent the place they nearly disappear,” he continued.
“We wish them to seem as part of nature slightly than manufactured objects positioned inside it.”
Throughout the scheme, the trio of buildings will host instructional, analysis, exhibition and group packages to encourage public exploration of the park’s ecosystems.
Each will purpose to attract consideration to completely different elements of the surroundings however will share a monolithic, geometric language knowledgeable by the pure forces that formed the Vjosa River.
“The structure for all three stations includes solely two components, rocks and plates, that are mixed, stacked and positioned collectively in many various methods,” Frost defined.
“The plates, all forged in tough concrete, symbolise tectonic motion and function roofs and ground slabs. The rocks carrying these plates consult with the rocky panorama and the terrain alongside the river.”
Essentially the most vital ingredient of the undertaking is Tepelenë Customer Centre, which will likely be positioned on the sting of the Vjosa River and host water-related public experiences and lodging for researchers.
Right here, a double-height foyer with deep clerestory home windows will function the guts of the constructing, whereas an undercover botanical backyard, stage, picnic space and promenade will allow customer actions to spill out into the panorama.
The second constructing is Përmet Info Station, which can home schooling and exhibition areas inspecting the area’s geology.
Embedded subsequent to an enormous stone within the metropolis of Përmet – named the City Stone – the pavilion will hook up with an current tunnel and grow to be an underground auditorium for cultural occasions.
The ultimate constructing within the proposal is Vlorë Info Station, which CEBRA will strategically place away from the river to deal with its wider affect as a “life-giving power”.
With panoramic views overlooking a lowland lagoon and pink flamingo habitat, the partially enclosed pavilion will likely be framed by angular concrete overhangs and an accessible inexperienced roof for schooling and bird-watching.
All through the undertaking, slender glazing will enclose inner areas and boulders will puncture rooms with the purpose of blurring the boundary between what’s constructed and what’s pure.
CEBRA has additionally regarded to the method of abrasion and the Vranisht Dolmen – an historic Albanian stone formation – to tell the look of the textured concrete partitions and weaving roof planes.
Established in Aarhus in 2001 by Frost, Carsten Primdahl and Kolja Nielsen, CEBRA has lately accomplished one other customer centre undertaking in Denmark that goals to mix into the panorama. The studio additionally referenced rock-like kinds of their design for the Al Musallah prayer corridor in Abu Dhabi.
The pictures are courtesy of CEBRA.
