Marielyst Beach Delta

With 1,500 inhabitants, Marielyst is one of the most popular coastal towns of Denmark. More than 50,000 tourists from Denmark and abroad visit the beach at Marielyst in the summer. This requires a flexible public space that functions both in low and high season, and is attractive. The design by Karres en Brands, JAJA architects, and Marlies van Driest is inspired by Marielyst’s most important identifier: the beach landscape.

The main route towards the beach lies perpendicular to the coastline, and the current situation misses any kind of beach-like quality. There is no promenade or meeting place, as is the case in other southern coastal towns. Through taking the natural form of the beach landscape as a source of inspiration, along with its vocabulary—such as an appropriate use of materials and planting—the relationship with the beach is restored and a gradual transition from an urban environment to a natural one emerges.

The plan sees the pedestrian as the main user of the public space, but simultaneously keeps in mind the occasional traffic; jointly, they contribute to the area’s vibrancy. The most important feature of the design consists of an organically shaped, meandering route between different islands. These islands mark private areas, residential locations, and natural zones that pose a natural hierarchy and continuous dynamic for anyone moving through Marielyst. The islands provide individuality without compromising the area’s consistency in the process: herein is the proposal extremely flexible. The smaller islands will also be activated, in the sense that they are either an elevated planting box, or their position is slightly recessed, so that rainwater can be collected and gradually discharged. The topography of this city, like the sea, has a variable character; the public space has its own qualities in every season, bringing another sort of liveliness with it.