Parque Litoral da Fiqueira da Foz, Portugal

The large expanse of the beach offers the city of Figueira da Foz and Buarcos the unique opportunity to redefine the esplanade and to make better use of the beach as a public space. The draft envisages a landscape park which represents a natural passage from the beach to the city with its dunes and pine groves.

The park invites to stay and offers various spaces for recreational activities. These spaces are connected on the one hand to the city and also with each other by beach trails. The structural interference and areas of intensive public use are concentrated along important marks relevant to town planning along a connecting esplanade. Outlooks with different themes and functions are inserted into the beach area. They interlock the city with the beach and provide a view onto the sea and a barrier-free access to the beach.

The concept conveys between landscape and populated spaces and connects urban landscape with natural spaces in divergent ways. The ultimate aim is a unity of urban life, touristic use and natural spaces. The coastal landscape is grouped by a dune area, consisting of foredunes, white dunes, green dunes and a brown dune composed of pine trees (Pinus pinea).

The sedimentation is initiated by sand trap fences and consolidated by planting of sandsedge (Ammophila arenaria). A protected rearward area is created by the successive accretion of sand and growing height of the dunes. This space in the shade of the pine groves with its large and smaller glades can be used extensively for sports and recreation.