Inclusive public space. Promenade on the Danube

Wolfhouse is a multidisciplinary team, based in Bucharest.We are mainly planning and designing for the public realm. We develop projects on various scales, from product design, to architecture, urban design and city planning. In our work, we strive to build healthy, inclusive and stimulating environments that have a meaningful social and cultural impact on society.

With a picturesque atmosphere and good connectivity, Mahmudia, a commune on the edge of the Danube Delta, attracts a growing flow of tourism. Thus, the Local Council initiated a project to develop the Danube bank, as an attractive and inclusive public space, both for members of the local community and for tourists. The working process included consultations with the community and relevant stakeholders (citizens, fishermen and business owners), questionnaires, focus groups and post-implementation visits to gather feedback from people of various ages, genders, abilities/disabilities. The project created an inclusive public infrastructure with three functional areas: the Mineral Park, the Communal Cliff and the Communal Garden. Special attention was paid to the needs of accessibility, circulation, information and orientation. At the Western limit of the waterfront, marked by rock formations that extend up to the contact with the Sfântu Gheorghe branch of the river, the Mineral Park was designed. Its main elements are the viewing platform, the suspended ramp and the steps on the Danube bank, which offer a panoramic view of the Park. The Communal Waterfront is the most complex part of the project. Hydrotechnical infrastructure works were necessary, in order to ensure flood protection in the central area of the commune. These offered the opportunity to design the waterfront and its main elements of interest: the promenade on the banks of the Danube, the square and the playground, as well as the two buildings of the Promenade: the Multifunctional Pavilion – serves the needs of the community for a multipurpose gathering space, socialization, organizing of cultural events and celebrations – and the Observation Tower (for amateur ornithologists) – serves both as a belvedere platform and as a host for the public sanitary infrastructure. The project ends, in the Eastern part, with the Communal Garden. This is a minimal design intervention that preserves the atmosphere of the natural river banks, specific to the Danube Delta, but also offers mooring infrastructure for those who want to visit the Reservation. We have strived to pursue an inclusive approach by involving a wide range of stakeholders in the design process. In the coming years, we will continue the impact assessments, through regular visits, direct observations and public surveys, in order to collect feedback on the level of accessibility and ease of use.