The Paleo Park in Mon Perin camp in Bale, Istria was nominated for the 2022 Building of the Year award by ArchDaily, world’s biggest architecture website. It’s nominated in the category Hospitality Architecture, with the list of five finalists to be announced tomorrow, reports Glas Istre / Robert Frank.
The Paleo Park is a blend of a themed amusement water park and an educational and research platform, designed and built to complement and highlight the archaeological site located near Bale. Designed by the NFO architectural studio, the facility promotes the local heritage in a way that respects and helps preserve the ancient site. It’s seamlessly incorporated into the wooded area near the coastline.
Thirty years ago, Bale was inscribed in the World List of Paleontological Sites after dinosaur bones were discovered in Colone bay, today a part of Mon Perin camp. According to expert estimates, a dozen species of dinosaurs lived in the Bale area, including the mighty brachiosaurus. Their fossil remains are said to be located in the seabed and are up to 200 million years old.
This precious natural heritage was used as the central theme in the construction of the water park as an integral part of the camp. The central pool is designed in the shape of a dinosaur; life-size replica models of dinosaurs are also placed around the pools to reinforce the theme of the park.
With an area of 16,000 square metres, Paleo Park is just one of the exceptional architectural projects in Bale, a municipality that has been rapidly developing over the past 15 years. They are dedicated to continuous enhancement of public spaces and introducing innovations to improve the tourist offer and extend the season.
Image by Bosnić+Dorotić / archdaily.com
This is not the first time that a building in Bale is nominated for a prestigious award. In 2008, a sports hall designed by the architectural studio 3LHD won first place in the sports structures category at the World Festival of Architecture in Barcelona. Impressive in itself, but even more so given that Bale won against the Wembley Stadium in London, a €1,1 billion investment – almost 1,000 times more than the Bale hall. Watercube Olympic Pool and Beijing Tennis Centre were also shortlisted in the same category that year.
Last week, the Mon Perin company that runs the camp of the same name announced they will be investing 100,000 euro in archaeological research at the Kazamate site in San Polo Bay, to be carried out by the specialised company In Situ. Namely, it is an ancient Roman villa rustica, a structure dating to the period between the 1st and the 4th century. The villa is to be granted the status of a protected cultural site.
