Model project in Meck-Pomm: The promenade on Usedom combines sustainable architecture with the requirements of areas close to the sea in a flood-suitable design.
The promenade covers an area of around 20,000 square meters. Photo: Thomas Wolff/Gotha
The paving of the promenade consists of paving bricks and natural stone. Photo: Thomas Wolff/Gotha
The promenade "floats" on stilts directly on the dune. Photo: Thomas Wolff/Gotha
The promenade covers an area of around 20,000 square meters. Photo: Thomas Wolff/Gotha
Paving clinker and quartz monzonite
The new promenade at Kölpinsee on Usedom is designed to be visually appealing, sustainable and weather-resistant. It connects the municipality of Loddin and the district of Stubbenfelde and protects the dunes with its pile construction. The 750-metre-long promenade with beach access also includes a beach forecourt with a sunbathing lawn and bowling alley, a parking lot and a multi-generational playground. In 2015, the commissioned landscape architecture firm Niessen from Rügen chose a combined solution for the paving: one half of the approximately 20,000 square meter area consists of large-format natural stone slabs, the other of paving clinkers.
For the natural stone, architect Thomas Niessen opted for the quartz monzonite
Belgrano A226, which was supplied by BESCO – Berliner Steincontor. The clinker bricks were supplied by Vandersanden from Belgium, the largest European family-run brick manufacturing company with nine production sites. “Clay pavers have proven themselves in terms of shape, color intensity, color pattern and surface texture, but also in terms of sustainability,” says Niessen. For this project, he had gray and yellow pavers laid in the 200x100x52 format. On the one hand, they pick up on the warm, sandy tones of the surroundings and, on the other, form an interesting contrast in the gray version.
Floating natural stone as flood protection
Because both the natural stone slabs and the clinker bricks are exposed to salty air every day, the architect relies on a test procedure that goes far beyond the requirements of the technical standard when selecting the material. And gives priority to meeting flood protection requirements. This is ensured by a special feature in the natural stone area: the planked path is fixed to structural piles, so it “floats” above the dune, so to speak. “In the event that the flood protection system is destroyed, the entire natural stone slab promenade can be dismantled. If the dune is lost, the area would not be removed, but would remain in place,” says the architect.
After its opening, the promenade at Kölpinsee was reserved as a model project for the state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. Its design was adapted in Boltenhagen and Karlshagen, among others.