The concept masterplan of Dutch architectural practice UNStudio has been selected as the winning proposal in the competition for the development of Sochi Waterfront on the Russian Black Sea coast.
In the intervention proposal, Sochi Coast will become SoCo – a destination designed to create opportunities for locals and attractions for visitors. SoCo is a revitalising leisure resort that celebrates a healthy life, provides grades of luxury, fun and glamour, as well as unique adventures and memorable experiences.
SoCo builds new trends on the backbone of existing resources. Nature, culture and innovation are integrated into its identity, while embedded technology supports short- and long-term targets and executes, monitors and enhances a built, green environment. But above all, SoCo is an inclusive community, ‘a place for all’.
About Sochi
Sochi Coast, with its contemporary architecture, retail, culinary experiences and extensive green areas is recognised as one of Russia’s key holiday destinations and is considered to be the main anchor among the Black Sea Coast Resorts. In addition to being a well-known holiday destination, Sochi hosted the Winter Olympics in 2014, meaning that it also enjoys a network of connections and existing infrastructure.
The city is also a historical seaport home to the most famous concert hall in the south of Russia, a museum of art, a Winter & Summer Theatre, and numerous other cultural venues. A goal of the masterplan is to integrate and activate these venues within the new development, creating a familiar yet strong and unified identity.
UNStudio’s waterfront masterplan proposal rebrands Sochi as an inclusive mixed-use programme that focuses on hospitality, business and culture while benefiting from the cultural legacy of the existing context of the city. The aim of the development is to make Sochi the most progressive and international harbour for culture, technology, health and innovation and to enrich the life of a local community and visitors.
Inclusive approach
Design goals of the intervention are linked to the creation of an inclusive community that will rejuvenate the population and ensures the life cycle of different micro-neighbourhoods. Purposeful green areas will interconnect various smart green ecosystems, which have different lifestyles, while the presence of cultural, design and innovative districts will encourage health, wellbeing, creativity and tech innovation.
According to UNStudio, one of the parameters to create a 21st-century district is to ensure inclusivity and accessibility for an ever-changing society. To achieve this, the proposal follows three important concepts:
Year Round Destination: providing a balanced combination of flexible components ensures that 24-hour activity and winter-summer transitions are always versatile and engaging. Our goal is to create tendencies and platforms for businesses and entrepreneurs to experiment with short- and long-term projects.
Nurture-Nature: create a built environment that promotes a healthy lifestyle and public space that foster positive emotions by enhancing our connection to the natural world.
Inclusive Neighbourhood: integrates nature with human living, different demographics and social groups.
Urban Design
A framework for the masterplan – nature and human-scale interventions – forms core urban design principles, while a ‘cultural spine’ connects cultural venues within the city and creates a platform for creative minds to work, perform and exhibit their work. Not only throughout the year but also during events such as the Sochi Architectural Biennale, Sochi Design week, Sochi Film Festival and Sochi Fashion week.
The design concept for the masterplan follows five key interventions:
Extension: a beach area expands outwards, while a new marina appears at the end of the plot. Marina City is an innovation centre for either business or leisure travellers with international standard conference facilities, luxury hotels, vibrant nightlife, a globally recognised Design and Innovation Museum, and a Yacht club.
Magnets and anchors: two attractors are established at opposite ends of the beach. A relaxed and open Festival Village, located close to the city centre, forms a north anchor and is designated for local activities, community use and casual gathering; friends can meet for a beach party or browse bookstalls at weekend markets. Visitors from further away will visit for the annual calendar of events – carnivals, street parties and outdoor summer concerts. This is a low-stress, community-focused face of SoCo at the south end.
A new Marina City at the other end of the beach creates an urban quarter with business and innovation functions and a strong focus on nightlife. This south anchor is a lively, expressive and pulsating.
Intensity increase: as visitors move from Festival Village towards the new Marina City, physical and visual intensity increases in both experience and scale; there is a change in vibe and an increase in volume. In between the two anchors, three themed districts emerge from design principles and attractions: SoCo Playgrounds, SoCo Arts & Culture and SoCo Healthy Lifestyle. Each district is defined by a different character, urban fabric, green environment and functional mix, with various services and potential target groups.
Catch a wave: three different routes – The Lanes, The Boardwalk and The Green Wave – each with its own character connect either end of the waterfront, providing different speeds, atmospheres and experiences.
The Lanes is lined with shops, restaurants and bars and sheltered from the waterfront. The Boardwalk meanwhile features palm trees, beach bars and bathing spots. Weaving in between these two routes is The Green Wave, a meandering bio-diverse corridor and nature walk that interconnects all layers of activity.
The ‘Pops’: at key intersections with local landmarks, each of the three routes is punctuated by ‘Pops’; attractions and destinations such as concert halls, pop-up galleries, a local market, botanical gardens, university outposts, satellite cultural institutions, open-air cinemas and other venues to be announced.
Technology and sustainability
Technology forms an integrated part of the design that can set up short- and long-term targets, execute, monitor and enhance a built and green environment. Together, pockets form a network of healthy green spaces with real-time data on outdoor environmental health. This data creates new ways for residents and visitors to interact with each other and the green environment. More fully, the proposed master plan aims to define new targets for the city of Sochi as part of an overarching metropolitan and European health strategy.
The sustainable environmental strategy is key to the new city development, with carbon neutrality targets, biodiversity, urban climate resilience and life quality all base targets that the proposal aims to achieve.
