Café «Pitrags stop»
Brief description of the project
"Pitrag's Stop" is an information point and café created in the former fish passage building, maintaining the existing aesthetics and adding contemporary and functional design elements. The richness of the Slītere National Park and the presence of the white sand beach encouraged the architects to create a sophisticated architecture. The meeting place was designed using the existing silicate brick substance and complementing it with metal and wooden cladding planes that fit into the context of the fish pass. The pavilion is dynamic: when the roof shields are opened in summer, the area of influence and encounter is extended, while in the low season, when the shields are closed, benches are available for travellers to sit on. Aesthetic pleasure, sustainable and circular construction solutions, as well as the community's multidimensional dialogue with the neighbourhood's inhabitants, place Pitrag's Stop among the examples of the New European Bauhaus movement.
Originality and creativity of the idea
The idea was to see a seemingly insignificant building as a huge potential that could give impetus to the wider area and society. In a small pass-through building of a disused fish factory, a meeting place and a café with a high added value - quality architecture and selected food - was created, creating an impact and visibility not only on the coast, but in a much wider area. The factory's activity point, where every employee passed through twice a day during the lifetime of the fish factory, starting and finishing work, is now open to the public, as well as literally opening its shutters for the season. A changing architecture with clever low-tech solutions for ease of use.
Definition of the problem and the relevance of the applied solutions
The Pitrags fish factory, built of silicate bricks during the Soviet era, is an unusually large facility on the North Kurzeme coast. The clients had originally envisaged a more radical redevelopment of the fish factory complex, but having lived on site, they appreciated the aesthetics of the existing site over time and set themselves the goal of preserving it. The brief was to convert one of the smallest buildings in the complex, the pass building, into an environmental education centre and seasonal café, Pitraga Pietura, offering sustainable eco-tourism services and selected food and drink to the public. The 13.7 m2 pass building was to become a concentrated focal point that would unite residents in the wider neighbourhood and at the same time attract sophisticated seekers of taste and architecture from further afield and from the capital.
Co-creation, stakeholder involvement and cooperation during the realisation process
The project was developed in close collaboration with three families and architects from the commune. The historical stories collected by the clients were of great importance, which strengthened the conviction to preserve the authentic materiality and aesthetics and to base the story of the new stop on the cultural baggage of the historic fish factory. In this way, through references to the essence of the pass house, which served the daily needs of the "fish factory", the pavilion has found a new use in a new functionality, preserving a historical memory that is important to many locals. During the construction process, the cooperation with the regional builder "Pretpils" was important; thanks to their skills we were able to preserve and repair the existing walls and foundations, use salvaged materials and leave the authentic original interior finishes.
Functionality and technological solutions
The geometry of the building plan has been left as it is, with the demolition of the partition that previously divided the small space into two. The two doorways of the pass-through building were retained, creating the possibility for a café with easy functionality. Some of the window openings were lowered, creating a more spacious feeling inside and providing seating areas. In the centre of the space, a semicircular counter made of reclaimed silicate bricks was built, creating a slight sense of spaciousness in the technology-filled café. The space houses a refrigerated display cabinet, coffee machines, water filters, a fridge, a dishwasher, an oven and other smaller appliances. The main innovation of the building is the 4 shutters/shutters, which can be easily raised and lowered thanks to a system of weights hidden in the parapet walls of the building. When closed, they are lockable and, to prevent the accumulation of water along the façade, the concrete bench tops are recessed into the wall
Aesthetics and other experiential dimensions
The aesthetics chosen by Pitrag Pietura is in line with the contemporary sustainability movement, which uses existing building structures without radically demolishing them, but adapting them to new needs. This is called adaptive re-use. Similarly with As Found, a movement that emerged in the UK in the middle of the last century, when the emphasis was on appreciating what was available rather than striving for what was not. The original silicate brick walls are preserved by washing them. Inside, the original beige and navy blue wall paintwork has been retained, which also informed the choice of the café's crockery and its colours. New wooden windows with matching paintwork. The new facade materialities - wood and wavy aluminium references - are found in the existing workshop. The space under the overhangs visually expands the small café, while providing shelter in case of rain and shading the outdoor space, as well as not overheating the indoor space.
Economic significance, sustainability and circularity
The sustainability direction, where the existing building fabric is preserved, was perfectly realised in the case of Pitrag Pietura, leaving the silicate brick walls and the half-peeled paintwork inside. Several materials were found in the workshop and reused - the glass domes for the café lamps, as well as pieces of concrete from the adjacent buildings were cut and used in the new café for the outdoor porches. The bricks of the parapet were carefully dismantled to be used in the construction of the new café. It was important to choose a builder who works in the region and knows the nearby quarries, for example, so that the transport of materials was kept to a minimum. As an experiment, a garden was planted at the southern end of the workshop, which may become a support for cooking in the future when serving locally grown food.
Social relevance, inclusion, availability and accessibility
The open approach of the Komuna families has not only led to the opening of the café, but also to the organisation of a concert in the courtyard of the workshop, involving coastal residents and holidaymakers. The idea is to strengthen tourism by renting bicycles or organising hikes. The involvement of the neighbourhood is also realised in the workforce that helps maintain the property. The European long-distance hiking route Jūrtaka runs along Pitrags Pietura. Walkers on the route can rest, refill their water, charge their smart devices and buy a meal, or in the off-season sit on a bench and eat a takeaway sandwich. Visitors can use the wheelchair accessible toilet in the corner of the workshop near Pitrags Stop.
