Commercial, Business and Residential Complex Gruž, Dubrovnik
A structure location along the Gruž Bay, between the west access road to Dubrovnik and the Old Town, stressed the need to design a new public urban space and a focus of this town space neglected for a long time. A new commercial, business and residential complex was designed on the site of the former Radeljević Oil Factory and Libertas Public Transport Company. The southern area on a double land parcel of heterogeneous character is defined by the zone of protected buildings of distinct use and design (Villa Gradi-Vuić and Villa Bassegli-Gozze, the former administrative building of the Radeljević Oil Factory and the secession building of the ‘Dubrovnik Electric Railway’).
The initial idea of stretching the public space across the entire surface of the parcel is realized by making a terraced structure that follows the rise of the terrain and makes a reference connection to the cascade structure of the Dubrovnik area, architecturally interpreted as roof plateaus. The commercial and business premises are located at the foot of the plateau while the residential buildings are elevated thus enabling a continuation of the public space. The cascade structure of the public space enables gradation in frequency of users and thus the privacy from the lowest public plateau along Vukovarska Street to the highest residential plateau in the north. Pedestrian slow ascent following the serpentine model is realized by lateral ramps, and such trajectory touches a long shop-window front, a membrane between the shopping facilities and the public space. The characteristic stairs are reinterpreted in two strokes, the links between public plateau and the northern traffic routes and lowered commercial and business center.
The newly formed public space has been substantially improved by the proposed mini museums (starting points of thematic tourist routes), referential existing and protected buildings (villas, technical culture structures, the architecture of the 20th century) that are designed with the aim to disburden the old town nucleus and form a new, recognizable and eventful city center.
The initial idea of stretching the public space across the entire surface of the parcel is realized by making a terraced structure that follows the rise of the terrain and makes a reference connection to the cascade structure of the Dubrovnik area, architecturally interpreted as roof plateaus. The commercial and business premises are located at the foot of the plateau while the residential buildings are elevated thus enabling a continuation of the public space. The cascade structure of the public space enables gradation in frequency of users and thus the privacy from the lowest public plateau along Vukovarska Street to the highest residential plateau in the north. Pedestrian slow ascent following the serpentine model is realized by lateral ramps, and such trajectory touches a long shop-window front, a membrane between the shopping facilities and the public space. The characteristic stairs are reinterpreted in two strokes, the links between public plateau and the northern traffic routes and lowered commercial and business center.
The newly formed public space has been substantially improved by the proposed mini museums (starting points of thematic tourist routes), referential existing and protected buildings (villas, technical culture structures, the architecture of the 20th century) that are designed with the aim to disburden the old town nucleus and form a new, recognizable and eventful city center.
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