The site is located in Sochi, a coastal city on the inland Black Sea in Russia, the commissioned brief was to design a sculpture/mobile.
The proposed building design employs the oscillating water column principle to harness wave energy converting this mechanical energy to generate electricity, the building also accommodates the brief's sculpture gallery. This symbiotic program merges a small power plant capable of producing up to 300 kW with a sculpture gallery in the attempt to redefine typologies accommodating for self-sufficiency by generating sustainable energy that is fed back into the grid, this project aims to run 200 households and businesses within its vicinity.
Sochi has a strong swell and coastal wave energy potential, effective enough for water turbine engineering. The building overhangs the coastline, projecting over the existing promenade it is cantilevered and partly submerged into the sea, angled at 45 degrees to the coastline for maximum wave exposure similar to the nearby jetties it increases wave generation, the partly submerged element is designed to function similarly to an oscillating water column. As wave energy converges against the projecting building element and sculpture gallery it activates the oscillating water column section.
The sculpture gallery consists of two areas connected by walkways and ramps, it rises out of the promenade, it's primary steel structure sections rolling into each other like a wave. An array of turbines line the partly submerged power plants oscillating water column surface, as seawater flows into the submerged chamber airflow pressure increases forcing the five Wells turbines.
All the information about how to enter the 2020 WAN Awards is here.
We are very happy to offer support so please don’t hesitate to email Georgia, WAN Awards Event Coordinator with any questions at Georgia.Baily@haymarket.com.
Last year more than 40 countries took part in the WAN Awards with strong showings from Europe, the Americas and Asia-Pacific. And we saw some truly outstanding projects, take a look at the winners from last year here.