The area around Lake Paprocansky in Tychy is an enviable, award-winning public space. In 2014, the promenade and water playground were completed, and more recently, the canoeing marina of the Municipal Youth Sports Center. The author of both projects is Robert Skitek of the Tychy-based RS+ studio.
Completed a few years ago, the waterfront (which you can read about in Malgorzata Tomczak's conversation with Robert Skitek here) connects the recreation center with the part used by sailing clubs and the successful MOSM canoeing section. Due to the deplorable condition of the facilities, the city decided to build a new sailing marina and a facility for the Municipal Youth Sports Center. The canoe marina was built first.
site development plan
© RS+ Robert Skitek
As authors of the promenade, we wanted it to continue all the way to the sailing marina planned further on. As a consequence of this assumption, the new canoe marina becomes part of it. The main line of the promenade runs by the water itself, and the walls of the facility have been withdrawn and hidden behind elevated wooden seats, which serve as grandstands during organized competitions. The back wall was given a different character: due to fire requirements, gray fiber-cementpanels were used," Robert Skitek describes the project.
The new canoe marina in Tychy, bird's eye view
Photo: Tomasz Zakrzewski
The dynamic, broken body of the building is functionally and visually divided into two parts. An axis leading from the main platform leads to the transition between the different spheres - training and storage. Although the functions are separated in the lower part of the building, they are connected by a common roof, which will be covered with vegetation in the future. The roof terrace of the canoe base, to which a path leads, offers a picturesque view of the lake. The wood-clad block is surrounded by green slopes, and on the lake side, in turn, the architects planned wide stairs - stands. The whole creates an attractive, accessible public space for residents.
elevations of the marina
© RS+ Robert Skitek
On the Paprocany canoe marina project, the architect worked with Wojciech Zientek and Jaroslaw Zielinski, as well as with Jakub Zygmunt and Martyna Lenart-Zygmunt, co-authors of the canoe base located in Augustow, located on the western bank of the Netta River[info]. Both of these developments blend harmoniously into the surrounding landscape and encourage water spot enthusiasts to spend their free time actively.
