Seaside resorts often scare people away with their sloppy disorder, architectural skeletons and trash pouring out of all sides. In a world of over-tourism, is it possible to create a complex that goes beyond massification? Architects from the MXL4 studio designed a complex of apartment buildings in Rewal, which was ultimately intended to be different from what we experience on the Baltic Sea.
bird's eye view of the apartments
photo: Anna Nowokuńska © MXL4
getting away from kitsch and tackiness
A complex of apartments designed by the MXL4 architectural studio - known for its design of the Bridge in Siekierki- was built in the seaside town of Rewal. The goal was simple - to create a small complex that meets all the holiday needs of its users.
Our proposal stems from an analysis of the holiday lifestyle and the natural holiday needs of tourists. Those concrete, functional but also emotional - associations, imaginations, moods. Hence the benches for shaking off sand under the trees, handy lockers for deck chairs and inflatable "dolphin", private terraces and atmospheric gazebos," reads the author's description of the project.
The surrounding greenery is also an important element of the apartment complex
photo: Anna Nowokuńska © MXL4
architecture of silence and rest
The apartments have been located in quiet surroundings, between trees. Each building is three-story, with the highest part gently withdrawn - creating space for spacious terraces. The massing was deliberately dispersed - it was important to break up the mass of the building and give it lightness. This direction also helped to make the space more intimate. Note also the terraces and infrastructure built of wood finished in white. The architects of the MLX4 studio wanted to refer to the wooden architecture of the Baltic Sea and the simplicity of the white blocks of fishing villages from the Mediterranean.
A space for a terrace was set aside on each building
photo: Anna Nowokuńska © MXL4
Special terraces with pergolas and benches have been created on the roofs, from which there is a much better view of the surrounding forest and the nearby beach. The entrance to the terrace was located in a gap between the lower module of the apartments. Wooden blinds, shutting out the view, provide intimacy and prevent the apartments from overheating.
The space between the buildings is a place for recreation and relaxation
photo: Anna Nowokuńska © MXL4
putting a premium on intimacy.
The concept of the building provides independent access to each apartment. In turn, the apartment modules offset from each other create private nooks that are extensions of the first floor living rooms. This arrangement limits the possibility of guests looking into each other's windows and ensures intimacy. This is complemented by landscaping and preserved trees and designed isolation greenery referring to the character of the dunes.
The path to the building was solved in an interesting way
Photo: Anna Nowokuńska © MXL4
