Buda beach

IJzerkaai, Kortrijk, Belgium

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Other Projects by Intercomunale Leiedal (arch. Maarten Gheysen)

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Diksmuidekaai

Buda beach

IJzerkaai, Kortrijk, Belgium

Firm

Intercomunale Leiedal (arch. Maarten Gheysen)

Type

Landscape + Planning › Public Park

YEAR

2009

SIZE

500,000 sqft - 1,000,000 sqft

BUDGET

$500K - 1M

The
place where Buda Beach is situated is the result of diverting the
river Leie and extending the south embankment at the tip of the
island of Buda, at the edge of the historic centre of the city of
Kortrijk.Unlike the continuity envisaged for the north
embankment, where the Diksmuidekaai operation emphasizes the
connective nature of this axis, the south bank is seen as a series of
episodes with different formal and functional characteristics to
serve the adjoining urban fabric.Buda Beach is designed as a
landscaped leisure area, in keeping with the interventions in Koning
Albertpark, that will provide a springboard for the footbridge
linking the two sides of the river and transform into a riverside
beach in the summer with the construction of a temporary
sandbank.It is laid out as an undulating area, with great
green slopes down from IJzerkaai to the riverbank. Tamped paths of
dolomite sand run between them, linking the urban axes on the island
to the riverbanks and a large recreation area.At the point
where the IJzerkaai bridge meets the start of the pedestrian bridge,
a platform is created, incorporating the difference in level and a
pre-existing structure. This small building houses the bar and public
restrooms for the new beach on the island of Buda.