Diving Center in Kavala

Students : Parasiris George, Tatsis Konstantinos
Supervising professors: Polixronopoulos Dimitrios
Democritus University of Thrace
Presentation date : February 21, 2014

The objective of our thesis is the creation of a reference point in Northern Greece and in the Balkan Peninsula, more generally, which will attract a lot of people and will contribute to the development of the area, while residents and users of the diving center will nurture a different conscience for the Greek seabed.

 

AREA OF STUDY - PLOT
The area we chose for our study about the diving center is Kavala. It is a coastal town in Northeastern Greece, located on the bay of Kavala prefecture.

An important reason for choosing Kavala was the fact that the town is only 18 miles away from Thasos.  Thasos has not only a wonderful coastline, but also a wonderful undersea world, suitable for diving.

The plot is in southern Kavala, right across the port. In fact, it is a dock, on which, at the present time, there are a coffee house, a small place used by those that are interested in diving and the Nautical Club of Kavala, which owns most of the ships that dock there. The remaining area is used by locals as a parking lot.

The plot is particularly connected to the sea, something that made us prefer this plot to others.  It is a strip of land which penetrates deep into the sea in such a level that water dominates land. It offers great alternatives for our building type, a diving center. Its suitable position in the town and the fact that it is included in the urban design makes it approachable to most people.

DIVING CENTER
Since we refer to a diving school, we focus on diving lessons for beginners and professionals, providing the highest possible security services during their training.

What is really important for a diving center -besides entertainment and seabed exploration- is the fact that it is suitable for professionals. There is special diving equipment and the training is addressed to experienced divers who often have knowledge of engineering.

Similar schools can be found in several European countries offering great training. In Greece there is a diving center in Kalymnos. It is open only once a year because there is no interest in sponge fishery and it does not have the appropriate facilities.

The objective of our thesis is the creation of a reference point in Northern Greece and in the Balkan Peninsula, more generally, which will attract a lot of people and will contribute to the development of the area, while residents and users of the diving center will nurture a different conscience for the Greek seabed.

SYNTHESIS
Building program

-Training areas: classrooms, several labs, pools with natural seawater, water tanks for adjusting the temperature and the pressure of the water, underwater structures for practical training and a warehouse for keeping the equipment.
-Other places: guest houses with rooms for two persons, a restaurant and a common room both for trainers and trainees, a coffee house, a gym, a library, a dispensary and a small event hall.

Fundamental synthetic principles - Plan

-Keeping the linearity of the dock
-Trying to smooth the intense linearity using a polygonal chain and a second series of grids
-Creating two outdoor places-yards, one overland and one on the sea
-Giving prominence to the constructional frame
-Giving users the possibility to have a contact with the sea, wherever they are

Functionality - volumes
The plot is divided in three functional zones:

-The surrounding area of the center, along with the entrance, which can be used by visitors. In the surrounding area, besides several walking zones, visitors can find an information desk and an observation tower that offers a great view to the center and the town.  
-The accommodation and spending-time zone for the divers along with the overland "yard"
-The training zone including the "yard" on the sea

The processing of the architectural volumes was driven by our main criterion, the alternation between the void and the solid, since the location offers fascinating visual escapes to the town and the sea. More specifically, the fact that visitors can have a clear view to the open sea makes them feel like being οn a ship. We, also, decided that the volumes should not have great heights, if we wanted to help visitors be as near as possible to the dominant element, the water.

-Materials-Construction

The materials used for the synthesis are: concrete for the building frame, wood for the walking zone and the solar shadings and metal for the frame of the wooden surfaces.

There are some points in synthesis that arouse a constructive interest, such as the foundation and the wooden docks.

As for the foundation, we chose to use concrete stakes, which are placed every 2,5 meters (8 feet), creating an underwater grid made of columns.

The floating wooden docks are based on frames made of a specific mix of materials, and they are tied with chains in the bottom of the sea, in order to stay still.

The final result is a structure composed of voids and solids with an intense building frame, giving the feeling that it floats on the water like a light extension of the city into the sea.