Offshore torpedo base in Poland to be transformed by MFRMGR into a water sports hub

Warsaw office MFRMGR has revealed designs to revitalise a former Polish observation tower in the Baltic Sea to create a base for water sports enthusiasts and researchers, accessible only by boat. The building will harvest renewable energy from the wind and sun, and will also be equipped with a built-in sewage tank, food storage units and a power generator to take over during electricity outages. The existing buildingThe upper-level extension will be a mirror image of the original structure, lowered onto the observation deck of the tower in a Tetris-like formation. A decked platform surrounding the structure will create a breakwater and miniature harbour to prevent damage from high waves and adverse weather, as well as giving occupants space to securely moor their boats. Project credits:
Architects: MFRMGR / Marta Frejda, Michał Gratkowski
Collaboration: Pamela Krzyszczak, Mateusz Góra
Visualisations: Mateusz Dąbkowski
Concept diagram –   click for larger imageAxonometric diagram – click for larger imageSite plan –   click for larger imageGround floor plan –   click for larger imageFirst floor plan – click for larger imageSecond floor plan –   click for larger imageSection –   click for larger image Located just over a mile offshore, the building can be accessed by boat in summer and by hovercraft in winter when the bay freezes over. MFRMGR   plans to refurbish the structure and add a new second level. «Everyone staying there can feel as though they were the SPECTRE chief, Ernst Blofeld,» said the studio, comparing the building to a setting from a James Bond movie. The original clinker brickwork – bricks heated to a high temperature to increase durability – will be restored, while original windows will be bricked up to make way for a new arrangement of windows and openings. Related story: Abandoned concrete bunker converted into a green power plant by IBA Hamburg»It is somehow mystic and inaccessible, arising the interest of sunbathers, sailors and adventure-seekers,» said the architects, who are also working on   an   indoor diving and skydiving centre   in a pair of disused cement silos outside Warsaw. A modern version of the same material has been chosen to face the new structure to «subtly highlight the boundary between what is new and is old.»
«This manner of shaping the building body allows adapting it to the new function without diminishing its historic nature,» explained the architects. «The idea behind the form of the facility is to repeat an inverted body of the existing facility,» said the team. A spiral staircase will lead up to an observation deck in a gap between the old and new structures where a sauna, storage area and terrace will be fronted by a curving concrete balustrade retained from the original building.