Miramare square
The location of the Miramare square is specific because it includes a part of the former Art Nouveau park, the square in front of the newly opened hotel and one of the city’s main thoroughfares. The task was to provide a complete solution to include the three mentioned units and achieve that the square functions as a single unit, and that each stakeholder can function independently: the city promenade, the city park, car traffic, vehicular access to the hotel and the hotel terrace itself.
The square is located at the northern end of the Strossmayer Promenade – a beautiful green promenade with deep shade that many people pass by. On the eastern side there are public and private facilities, while on the western edge there is a thin beach with a view of the sea and the island of Krk.
Part includes the rest of the former Art Nouveau park with high-quality high greenery, while the part closer to the hotel served as a parking lot. The two units are crossed by a road that had to be adapted in terms of shape and safety to the large number of pedestrians who pass from the city beaches to the city center and vice versa.
The solution interprets a recognizable horticultural element from Strossmayer’s promenade – the so-called green islands or “pills” that are evenly applied to both parts: the square in front of the hotel as well as the contact area of the park where the new fountain leads. the same shape. By positioning the benches as part of the green “pills”, the new square becomes a gathering place and thus ceases to be just a passing point in the city promenade.
In order to ensure occasional car access to the hotel entrance for guests, the vehicle route itself is decently emphasized with different types and direction of asphalting.
The thoroughfare that cuts through the square is lined with stone blocks to visually harmonize with the rest of the square and has a transverse profile in the form of waves, in order to further slow down traffic. The undulating road has already entered the memory of the people of Crikvenica as part of the Stjepan Radić Square solution, so now the “undulating road” marks the beginning and end of the strict center of Crikvenica.
In order to further enrich the square with pedestrian paths, the western part of the greenery towards the beaches is additionally paved, and side routes from the hotel and other facilities to the beach are created.
As a reference to the former Art Nouveau park that contained exotic plants from all over the world, species such as Ligustrum Japonicum, Sophora Japonica and Magnolia grandiflora were used in the square, and the existing park is complemented by Cedrus Atlantica and Quercux Ilex.
