REDEVELOPMENT OF AN ATHLETIC PARK AT THE OLD GSO STADIUM

Margarita Danou

Set within the historical site of a neglected stadium along the coastal edge of Limassol, the project aims to re-qualify the site as an important link between the surrounding residential areas and the coast of Limassol, allowing an articulated transition between the city, the park and the sea.

The project has a dual objective. First, it defines the site as a contemporary urban park used every day for its athletic facilities. Second, by highlighting its relationship with the surrounding area, the park becomes a fragment of an extensive urban renewal program, taking a special role during an annual event of celebration. The park becomes integrated into a network of public spaces across the city, acting as a flexible infrastructure for festivals, exhibitions and civic or religious ceremonies.

The park is composed of wooden platforms, football fields, playgrounds, jogging tracks, basketball courts and an elevated concrete promenade that runs loosely along the site from south to north, woven together into a continuous spatial fabric that links a succession of distinct territories. It generates a continuity of movement and perception. The landscaping is designed as a seamless continuation of the park’s hardscape network. It is shaped by multiple forms of circulation while illuminated ground strips, interwoven soft landscape surfaces and subtle infrastructural elements reinforce the dynamic patterns of use. Changing facilities are accommodated on the level of the park in a series of narrow concrete buildings with timber screens.

The elevated platform and the wooden screens on the south of the park create a new horizon, continuing the interrupted coastal building edge while preserving spatial permeability. A wooden open-air public space serves as the park’s waterfront entrance and forms the main connection between the park and the sea.

2002 - A' prize in National Architectural Competition
2011 - Nominated for the European Mies Van Der Rohe Prize

Project Gallery

PHOTO 1 Athletic Park View fron the coastal road .jpg

PHOTO 2 Athletic Park elevated platform -View of the coast .jpg

PHOTO 3 Athletic Park elevated platform - View of the park and the coast.jpg

PHOTO 4 Athletic Park elevated platform - View of the park and the city.jpg

PHOTO 5 Athletic Park elevated platform - View of the sea .jpg

PHOTO 6 Athletic Park Ground level plan .jpg

Margarita Danou CY

35 Iosif Hadjiosif Ave. | 2027 Nicosia