Justīne Kate Hesse
BAUA Student Awards 2022

Bolderāja and Daugavgrīva Cultural Regeneration: Waterfront Intervention Scheme and Love Island's Boardwalk

Master's project, Tutor: Rudolfs Dainis Šmits

The project proposes a culture-led, place-specific regeneration of waterfronts at Bolderāja and Daugavgrīva, two adjacent neighborhoods in Riga, Latvia. The development is based on local natural and historical potentials and resources, and reevaluation of the historical identity to improve the social climate and territory’s economic status, thus reimagining its identity. The regeneration of waterfronts would better exploit the urban water body not only in the scale of the project area but also in the scale of Rīga.


The proposal includes the design of a multifunctional waterfront in the most accessible place by the water, port and culture hub located at an existing yacht club, an observation tower adjacent to it, and a boardwalk complex on Love Island. The development completes the missing links of the existing pathways and forms connections between meaningful elements of the area. The project also addresses the complex relationship between protected nature areas and people's activities.

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