Bring in the architects

by Oscar Siches

Long gone are the times when having a permit for a coastal development meant that piers would be built, a small office set up ashore, and the marina management waited until achieving a reasonable occupation of berths for business success.

Today, the marina industry has changed totally. First, you decide/choose your ideal client: a social profile (retired people, young couples with children, working professionals), type of boat, and what they will use it for (cruising, day trip). Then you start designing the marina, not forgetting the services required (parking, security, boat maintenance) and the onshore facilities (commercial spaces, restaurants, bars, gym, security, children’s playgrounds etc).
Everything has to take other things into consideration: toilets at a reasonable distance from piers, restaurants, bars and commercial spaces, parking close enough to the marina uplands, access roads for the bigger boats with parking for suppliers and service companies, food and beverage deliveries and deliveries to the commercial spaces, a refuse collection point that’s far away enough away to not be noisy but not be inconvenient, and so on. I could cite many more factors that must be considered for a harmonious system and an optimal marina operation.
But in the previous paragraphs, we have not mentioned people. In the marinas of the 1960s, the people, i.e. the boat users, would circulate from cars to boats, making the marinas a mere passage from land to water and the other way around when mooring up at the end of the day. Today, the land-water interface function remains, but the social types frequenting the marina are more varied: boaters, restaurant goers, shop patrons, visitors, sportsmen, a substantial amount of marina personnel, and technical services providers. Marinas have become small communities.
When I worked in marine electronics, the greatest challenge was not the performance of the electronics but meeting the client’s expectations. Having a Satcom and a telephone exchange made them think they could access international communications from aboard their yacht and everywhere nearby. Remember that back then (mid-90s), we were only at the outset of mobile and satellite communications.
Today, the expectations of those outside the marina world are higher still. This is a result of the evolution marinas have enjoyed, but we designers and operators have to face the mistaken parties who thought they had discovered King Midas’ secret or the philosopher’s stone. People see only gleaming yachts in the marina with wealthy owners onboard, not realising that the owners will spend just a small fraction of time at the marina while the crews will stay for around 300 days a year, becoming the permanent, constant, reliable client.
We have learned that people are an important asset, and we must make them feel they are in the best possible place. To achieve that, we cannot depend only on berths, services and technology. Dan Natchez, an experienced and successful marina designer who has long been a mentor to many of us, has highlighted that the user’s first impression of a marina is actually when coming through the entrance, and this point signifies what they can expect beyond. That all-important first impression, perceived in the first five seconds, is very hard to change. One of the subliminal messages received is: “This is what we, the marina, think you are worth.” This is also where architecture becomes a factor of fundamental importance when designing a modern marina.
We older marina designers, ‘design dinosaurs’ as we are perhaps known, have been dealing with marina design to set up upland needs, guided by our assumptions of how the marina had to be. Sometimes, architects were involved, mainly to cope with urban regulations. A marina was supposed to be about boats, not buildings or parks. That has changed forever. In today’s marina, we must balance form and function, and consider people traffic, privacy, security, restaurant and bar appeal, and ambience. Any building and construction must function whilst complementing other parts of the marina as well as the marina’s services.
An historic mistake we, as dino-designers, made was to look at the marina from the landside. We would walk around the place, discussing it with architects and looking towards the water. By doing that, we missed the first impression of 50% of the marina users: those who arrive by boat.
In 2007 IGY, one of the world’s most successful marina groups, devised a moto: “Arrival is just the beginning.” It says everything, and it is still 100% valid today; it is an invitation and a promise of something fantastic, of the unique experience that awaits.
That is what we marina designers and operators must keep in mind. From the beacon at the furthest pontoon to the design and layout of the pedestals, fire fighting stations, toilets, rescue ladders, light poles, shoreside buildings and the marina entrance, we must provide beauty (85% of human perception comes through the eyes), efficiency and comfort, and account for the feasible possibility of making changes after eight to ten years, as marinas evolve much faster than before, embracing social changes, boat changes, different rules and government attitudes.
Be wary of something that has not changed with time. There are three ‘types’ of marina – the user’s marina, the operator’s marina, and the government’s marina, and each must balance desire with feasibility. Architects should consult us professionals for the particularities of the business as they are the ones with the knowledge of people, form and volumes, nature and art. If we want to create a superb marina, we need them to weave their magic and, although some well-known architects have ventured into yachting and marinas in the past, like Sir Norman Foster, Renzo Piano (a yachtsman himself) and Jean Nouvel, they should be welcomed into our industry more often.
For architects, it is challenging to work in this specific world, interfacing people with land and water. But the user will immediately recognise something well-designed to fit the homely, comforting feeling associated with a yacht harbour.
Not only do we arrive at the marina, but if there is also a beautiful view and efficient service to receive us, then we feel totally welcome immediately. When you get it right, no-one will feel any desire to leave. And the marina crew will not only take care of the clients but feel proud to be part of such a harmonious operation.