Lifeguard Station with Amphitheater / DO ARCHITECTS – 【Architectural CAD Drawings】

Architects: DO ARCHITECTS
Location: Preila, Lithuania
Area: 320.0 m2
Project Year: 2016
Photographs: Norbert Tukaj

Reconstruction Project Architects: Gilma Teodora Gylytė, Algimantas Neniškis, Karolina Čiplytė, Aurimas Baužys, Domantas Baltrūnas
Original Design: Algirdas Sviderskas (1984)

Text description provided by the architects. In this wild and vulnerable landscape, battered by constant winds, a small structure provides refuge in the dunes. Overlooking the sandy Baltic shoreline, this once brutally monofunctional and closed object has been delicately deconstructed into a light and inviting public gathering space – a unique sunset viewpoint on Lithuania’s Curonian Spit.

The station’s newly perforated lower level frames an approaching eye’s view of the sea, a juxtaposition to the panoramic window sheltering lifesaving facilities on the upper floor of the structure. Below, a ground level cafe/bar spills out onto a timber amphitheater stepping down towards the shore. This new public space blurs the line between inside and outside, open and closed, locals and visitors and expands the possibilities for enjoying the stunning surroundings of the beach.

The station has been stripped, revealing its honest, concrete structural surface. Its crisp faces and sharp corners strike a distinct contrast between the station’s clean white lines and the grass covered dunes and ever changing sky, reflecting the constantly shifting atmosphere and light of the Curonian Spit.