Courtyard of the Old Town of Zrinski

Location: Kraljevica
Year: 2021.
Investor: City of Kraljevica
Associates: Ira Rechner Šustar, architecture
Photos: Obojana production, Mara Prpić

conceptual design + main project + construction project + supervision

The old town of Zrinski is a complex of buildings surrounding two atrium courtyards, located in the center of the city of Kraljevica. The complex is a protected cultural monument, and the project was carried out under the supervision of the Conservation Department in Rijeka. The subject of the project is the pavement of the large courtyard with a porch. In its existing state, the courtyard was covered with asphalt which was significantly higher than the original pavement, as a result of many partial renovations.
The project is based on several postulates: lowering the floor level as close as possible to the historical level, restoring the historical parapet wall of the cistern, differentiating the central field of the yard with emphasized diagonals towards the corners, the passage of the porch, the use of found historical stone, and the construction of new infrastructure. In addition to the courtyard project, a sanitary facility for women, men and disabled people, as well as a small info center, were constructed.

It was established through the building process that the well cistern was placed with a deflection in relation to the facades. The parapet walls of the cistern are made of concrete with openings on all 4 sides. Inside of the parapet wall historical stone found on-site is re-used as paving.
The wall is surrounded by a zone paved with smooth stone slabs of a large format, which is placed parallel to the facades and defines the further direction of pavement, after which a rain channel and new stone slabs in 4 directions with diagonals follow in a rough stone finish.
The historic gray stonework which was found on-site in small amounts, is used as a line that travels through the courtyard accentuating the entrance and extending along the north facade.
The courtyard makes contact with the porch through a series of arcade passages, the last two of which are at the level of the courtyard, where the stone paving runs from under the arcade to the brick furnaces in the porch.