The presence of roads and railway that act as physical barriers were constraints to overcome by building overpasses that connect the surrounding urban areas and the various industries along the way. As such, the Loures Riverfront becomes a privileged mobility axis, and a proximity facilitator between the nearby residential areas, and the Tagus estuary.
The Loures Riverfront extends over an area of 100 ha of marshlands, that hold an enormous ecological value, inserted in one of the 10 most relevant humid areas in Europe, acting as an important point in the migratory birds’ routes. This ecosystem will act also as a natural attraction, having positive impacts on mobility, but it also demands extreme care in the development of solutions that minimize the expected impacts over this natural ecosystem.
For this purpose, the project consists of the implementation of a raised wood path sitting over wood stilts, that promotes and organizes circulation, with total respect for the marshland ecosystem. Its wavy layout is inspired in the existing natural lines, and its heights consider the river’s drifting phenomena, flood levels and possible sea level rise scenarios. Along the riverfront there will be 4 observation and resting points and 14 shade tunnels. On the south side of the parkour the wood path draws an iconic circle over the marshland, called the ‘Volta do Tejo’.
