Aleko Konstantinov Street Renovation | URBANA ARCHITECTS

Team: Urbana Architects - Rossitza Zlatanova, Galina Milkova, Nedko Nikolov

Year: 2022

"Aleko Konstantinov" street is one of the oldest streets in Burgas located in the centre of the city. It runs between "St. St. Cyril and Methodius" street in the southeast and the „Troyka“ square in the northwest, adjacent to the courtyard of the "St. St. Cyril and Methodius" School. Before the realization of the project, the place had a commercial character, defined by the commercial floors of the newly built buildings on the southwest side and the temporary pavilions on the northeast side.

Due to the numerous interventions related to the construction of the buildings and the need to lay new power cables and building deviations, the infrastructure is found in an extremely bad state - depreciation and different levels of the heterogeneous pavement, indiscriminately located elements of the underground infrastructure, not subject to а certain composition, insufficient street lighting, almost complete lack of street furniture. Regardless of its assigned pedestrian function, at that moment the street rather hindered the pedestrian traffic.

The project aims at renovating completely the desolate pedestrian street, transforming it into a new multi-cultural place – a cross-point of artists, craftsmen, citizens and tourists. The project follows the logic of the architectural frame – creating a "green area" near the fence of the school yard with a landscape character, giving the citizents the opportunity to stay and relax, and a "pedestrian transit" alongside the buildings. Thus, two zones are clearly formed - a "promenade" zone with places for recreation, framed by greenery, and a zone for transit and passive trading. An interpretation of the historical character of the environment was sought in the overall architectural-compositional solution of the street, manifested in the pavilion, the granite pavement, the character of the urban furniture. During the renovation process and with the assistance of the Municipality of Burgas, almost all of the old buildings along the street have been renovated.

An integral part of the project’s concept is the multifunctional Pavilion of the Cooperative of the Masters of Folk Arts and Crafts. It includes an indoor retail area and an open terrace. The indoor area is used both as an art cafe and an exhibition hall for crafts. The open terrace has flexible functions - outdoor consumption, an exhibition space for temporary exhibitions, a stage for various cultural events.

After the implementation of the project, within just a few months, "Aleko Konstantinov" street has become one of the favorite places of the citizens of Burgas for recreation and socializing. Exhibitions, art bazaars and various cultural events are already successfully organized.