YOUR FORUM FOR PLAY, SPORTS UND LEISURE AREAS
Since the early days of tourism in 1913/14 with three green bathing machines, a popular and to this day ever-changing modern holiday destination with a range of hotels and public infrastructure for millions of guests each year has developed between the Baltic Sea coast and the military.
The name of Großenbrode is derived from the Wendish word “Brody” (meaning ford, a shallow place in a body of water that can be crossed).
Since then, the Großenbrode peninsula, located on the northernmost tip of Wagria, has been used as a passage to the island of Fehmarn - originally by regular ferry services, since 1963 via the well-known Fehmarn Sound Bridge.
The town gained importance as an international ferry terminal at the beginning of the 1950s. At the directly adjacent marina at the southern beginning of today’s promenade, ferries shuttled between Großenbrode-Kai and Gedser on the Danish island of Falster. High-speed trains operate from Großenbroder Kai as direct connections to Copenhagen, Amsterdam, Vienna and Split, among others.
When the Fehmarn Sound Bridge was completed in the early 1960s and the “Vogelfluglinie” – the direct transport link between Hamburg and Copenhagen - was opened, the ferry across the Sound became obsolete and the ferry service was transferred from Großenbrode / Gedser to Puttgarden (Fehmarn) / Rødby.
The municipality used the 1970s to construct further buildings and substantially invest in infrastructure for use as a seaside resort. One example is the 330-metre-long pier, which extends into the Baltic Sea and connects directly to the new pier forecourt.
Großenbrode has been a Baltic Sea spa since the mid-1980s and has since developed into a much-visited seaside resort on the Baltic Sea with an exceptional south-facing beach and a promenade along the beach. The closure of the naval coastal service academy in the mid-1990s and of the air base in 2000 further favoured this positive development.
Among other things, the vacated area allows the promenade to be extended by 500 metres and thus connects to the 1,000-metre-long mole.
As early as the end of the 1990s, the new cycle path from Großenbrode to Heiligenhafen was opened and the quay was given a promenade.
In addition, sand was dredged on the south beach in 2004 to provide additional sandy areas for bathers.
Promenade redesign
Then as now, the municipality of Großenbrode is aware of its significance and reputation as a holiday region and continues to develop its public infrastructure as a family-friendly destination in an idyllic rural setting with a beach.
The development of demand in recent years and the expansion of further capacities indicate a continued increase in demand and characterize the resort’s current phase of tourism growth.
The current tourism development concept has identified, among other things, the redesign and expansion of the approximately 1,400 m long promenade and the pier forecourt as well as the creation of new playgrounds as key measures.
The promenade and the pier forecourt are located in the southwest of the municipality of Großenbrode. The planning area is directly adjacent to the Baltic Sea beach in the east and runs parallel to it along its entire length. It is bordered to the north by the “Am hohen Ufer” road, to the south by the pier of the marina, and to the west by existing private properties with multi-storey, recessed tourist facilities and fronting green spaces.
After several years of planning, the overall project was implemented in three construction phases from winter 2018 to spring 2021, with interruptions during the summer seasons of 2019 and 2020 in the months of July and August. With the third and thus final construction phase, the pier forecourt, the construction project will be successfully completed by the end of June 2021 – just in time for the summer season, when numerous visitors are expected.
Within the scope of the first construction phase, which follows the former military road of the naval coastal service academy over its entire length, an approximately 200-metre-long section of the promenade was constructed, divided into a 2.50-metre-wide asphalted cycle path (which is to be connected to the nearby supra-regional Baltic Sea cycle path in the near future), the approximately 3.30-metre-wide promenade path with a revetment paved on the seaward side and numerous equipment objects and furnishings.
An essential component of the promenade section that was implemented first is the approximately 2,000 m2 new children’s playground on the landward side of the promenade with the theme “Treasure Island”, based on the adventure novel of the same name by Robert Louis Stevenson. With its island location next to the promenade, the playground, which is inspired by the idea of a treasure map, blends into an organically modelled landscape planted with Scotch roses, sea buckthorn, creeping willows and rosemary-leaved willows.
In addition to Austrian pine trees, the playground features numerous large artificial palm trees up to five metres high with trunks made of lightly carved robinia wood and movable, green glazed palm fronds.
From the elevated play structures, some of which are over three metres high, you have an unobstructed view of the beach leading directly to the turquoise Baltic Sea.
In addition to a picnic area on the side with table / bench combos, various net, climbing and balance structures, multi-play swing sets, a crocodile, hammocks and a pirates’ hideout with a slide tower and a climbing box, organically modelled play mounds with Sureplay synthetic fall protection surfacing manufactured by Procon are the key elements of the surface design that add contour to the playground.
In consultation with the client, the colours lemon yellow and beige were chosen for the fall protection surfacing and mixed in a 1:2 ratio. The different layer thicknesses of the fall protection surfacing are due to the different critical fall heights (approx. <1.30 metres to <2.60 metres) of the individual playground equipment and elements and were determined by the planner Siller Landscape Architects in close consultation with the playground equipment manufacturer. The total layer thicknesses of the fall protection surfacing range from 40 mm and 60 mm to 90 mm.
In the run-up to the installation of the synthetic fall protection surfacing, the civil engineering team first modelled and finely levelled the play mounds using stable, compacted backfill made of F1 material, a 25 cm thick frost-resistant subbase (grain size 0/32 – 0/45) and a 15 cm thick crushed aggregate subbase (grain size 0/32).
The synthetic surfacing of the play mounds on an area of approximately 1,000 square metres was installed by hand at the beginning of May 2019 after the installation of the playground equipment and the water-permeable, bound 10 cm thick bearing course made of drainage concrete. All the work required to produce the fall protection surfacing, consisting of a shock-absorbing base layer and a 1 cm thick coloured top layer, was completed after approximately eight working days.
Certified shock-absorbing sand with a grain size of 1/3 mm was used for the level play areas.
In order to ensure comprehensive, continuous fall protection on the entire playground area within the fall zones, the synthetic surfacing of the play mounds was extended down to approximately 30 cm below the surface of the shock-absorbing sand and bordered with grass edging at the edges that are thus below ground level.
Conclusion
Since its official opening in May 2019, the playground has been very popular with visitors and guests as well as with the residents of Großenbrode. Due to its intensive use, it is therefore essential that the shock-absorbing sand deposited on the play mounds is regularly removed from the synthetic surfaces to ensure that the fall protection surfacing retains its durability.
Project information:
Großenbrode, redesign and extension of the pier forecourt and the promenade
Client: Großenbrode Tourismus Service und Grundstücks GmbH & Co. KG
Fall protection: PROCON Play & Leisure GmbH
Planning: Siller Landscape Architects from Kiel
