Green bay of Beirut

Project idea

First thing what I did was to analyze interior of the port, as well as surrounding area, and existing relations between particular areas. What firstly drew my order was ubiquitous disorder inside the port, after that I noticed that in order to sail into ferry terminal passenger ships have to come by all industrial area. Location of the main roads is another very important thing to consider (because of lack of railroads, all goods has to be transported by trucks). After closer look at the old port layout, you can clearly see that some zones are mixed with others which can create chaos during transport, and isn’t effective in terms of space usage. On top of that, there is not any buffer zone between industrial and public zone. While looking at the surrounding area it is clearly visible that most people are going west from the port, but cargo is going east to the Beirut-Damascus highway. Another very conspicuous thing is lack of vegetation in almost whole city.
One of the main ideas during planning was to separate industrial, and public zones, on top of that there is buffer zone which is decreasing noise. All zones where put together in logical order so they can be used more efficient. Public zone is on the western part of the port, because of that it is easier to access the city center from ferry terminal. Industrial zones were put on the east to make easier access to the highway. On top of that there is another entrance to the port and thanks to this arriving passenger don’t have to sail all across industrial zone. It also increases port capacity.
Pattern of the division of the port is inspired by the waves and its direction, that decision was made because of lack of any urban pattern in surrounding area, so I decided to divide port like it was seashore while being flooded by the waves.

Project description

Imported car parking lot has two functions, it is obviously place where imported cars are stored, but also it is buffer zone between industrial and public zones. Cars are shaded by vines climbing on the pergolas, which not only decreases temperature, but also decreases noise. Another very important zones are conventional cargo zones, where evenly positioned warehouses provides more storage area, than before using less port space. Silo building are located by the wharf so there is easy access to them from the sea. Broad roads between building eases transport. All container zones are located next to each other in order to manage them more efficient. Port weights are between container and conventional cargo zones, so there is easy access. Administration building is located fairly close to the port entrance, it has its own green area, so employees can go there during break. Truck parking lot as well as fish market are in immediate vicinity of the entrance in order to ease communication.
Public zone is divided into four main parts: ferry terminal, park, utility zone, and memorial zone. All public area is very green in order to decrease temperature and to give shade. Memorial area is located around silo ruins and its main idea is to illuminate the city’s past, there is also museum which educates all it’s guests. Another important area is utility zone, where are located restaurants, bars and stores, so while you are waiting for your ferry you can eat lunch or buy souvenirs, and it is only couple minutes from terminal. The biggest public area is park which is surrounded by dense and high vegetation which mimics walls surrounding traditional Arabic gardens, but there is also opening to the see, so you can look at the waves while sitting under the palm. Inside there are playing fields, water canals, fountains, squares, and many other things. Park is designed for Beirut inhabitants, not only for tourists.

Technical information

On all port area there is rainwater collection system, and big underground water tanks which store water which can be use to water all plants in port. On the roofs of all the buildings (except utility zone) are located photovoltaic panels. In utility zone all roofs are green roofs they not only reduce costs of air conditioning the buildings, but also decreases temperature in alleys between them. All buildings in this zone are located fairly close to each other in order to create shadow between them, as it happens in old Arabic towns. It is possible because alleys in this district are pedestrian only, but there are two broader lines which can be used as delivery roads. Height of buildings in port is decreasing while coming closer to silo ruins in order to display it, it’s main height dominant in the port, so you can see it almost from every spot. Old breakwater was shortened on the west side in order to create additional entrance to port, but there is new one added at the north, so water inside is still.

Documentation

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