Author:
Saša Randić

Team members:
Janja Zovko, Ana Aščić, Vesna Jelušić, Daša Manojlović, Olivija Horvatić, Ivan Dorotić

Energetic concept:
Andrija Čuljak

Project type:
private competition

Area:
43 440 m2

Location:
Šibenik, Croatia

The City of Šibenik is currently reinventing itself through projects that are changing the way the sea is used and perceived.

One of the key engines of this transformation is the Mandalina Project, first initiated with the construction of the port facilities and now with the hotel and resort project.

The Marina is not just a storage area where one leaves one’s boat. It is a floating city next to a city, in this case of 367 boats with almost 1500 beds, it is a point of arrival and departure.
All this makes the point of contact with the sea a very significant place in the city’s topography. The waterfront, i.e. “the riva” in Croatian, has always been perceived as such.
The Mandalina Project is about an important new part of the city.

The peninsula offers two completely different conditions. The southern side is clearly defined by the Marina, offering pleasurable views of its surroundings. The northern side offers a different scale and reality, facing the commercial port to the north.
In between is a pine tree forest, with an extraordinarily quiet environment.

This context has determined the distribution of the program on the site.
The program is concentrated along the southern ridge next to the Marina, creating a new ‘riva’ of the city. New buildings, namely the hotel and its annex, are filling in the cut-out of the hill. In this way the new structure is not obstructing the view from the top.

The new program forms the line of the waterfront alongside the Marina. An entertainment and leisure center with swimming pools along with a Kids Club is situated at the very top of the peninsula. These contents are located at Marina’s entrance and form an attractive new city location.
The hotel and shops form a promenade by the Marina’s ‘riva’ for mega-yachts, where the bulk of the hospitality contents and shops are located. The promenade is defined with two squares with stairs leading down connecting the upper plateau and settlement with the ‘riva’. The west square is located in front of the management building of the former complex, while the east square consists of a Barbeque Bar and a strip of stores at the very edge of the undertaking.