Spanish firm wins competition for waterfront design in West Palm Beach

Madrid, Spain-based design firm Ecosistema Urbano won a competition to redesign the waterfront area of West Palm Beach along Lake Worth Lagoon.

Ecosistema beat more than 40 other international design teams in a competition organized by the West Palm Beach Community Redevelopment Agency and a New York think tank called the Van Alen Institute.

Ecosistema’s winning entry incorporates a proposal to install themed domes along the waterfront that would provide comfortable public spaces even on humid and rainy days.

The Madrid design said the proposed structures would be “the first bioclimatic domes in the US” and would cover or enclose spaces called plazas, each one distinct in design.

Hanging gardens would adorn the Cloud Forest Habitat Plaza, for example, and marine flora and fauna would be in the Aquarium Plaza.

Yoga and meditation would be encouraged in the Mindfulness Plaza, and recreation for children and adults would be available at the Playscape Plaza.

Ecosistema also proposed conversion of Banyan Garage, an existing parking facility along the waterfront, to a mixed-use facility called “Banyan Hub” for such uses as art exhibition, a farmers market, shared working spaces and platforms for viewing the skyline of West Palm Beach. [Dezeen] – Mike Seemuth