First marina design programme to launch in 2013

The first professional marina design course—hosted by PIANC, the global body which advises government and private sector in the design, development and maintenance of marinas—the Marina Designer Training Programme, will be held in Rome over six days from 21 to 26 January, 2013.

Dr Peter Jansen, secretary of ICOMIA Marinas Group and an architect, has been instrumental in developing the course as well as acting as one of its tutors. He said that, as well as there being a need for marina designers to be given the right tools and expertise, existing courses such as the Certified Marina Manager programme are limited to management, and there is a need in the market for more sensitively and creatively designed marinas. "Many marinas today look functional and rather boring but they could be much more," he explains.

"There should be more emphasis on the lifestyle and to develop a unique design. But they are uninspired, you rarely see any architects involved and there is a lack of design ideas, which is a real problem. Engineers think marina design is a functional concept, but that is simplifying it. Marinas should be a place where people would love to be, more than simply to store their yachts."



The course aims to meet the demands of the modern marina, which has increasingly become a social and functional space, particularly in the luxury sector. Alongside modules such as hydraulic and coastal engineering, are more creative topics including architecture and lighting, landscaping and marina design.

But there is more to the course than simply the aesthetics and function of the marina. PIANC's course will also teach students to consider where they build the marina in the first place, taking in market demand and how the marina fits in with its surroundings. Given Jansen's own observations, that, "many marinas lie empty because their location was not properly considered," the need is pressing from a financial and business standpoint too.

After Rome, PIANC plans to host courses in countries worldwide, with the aim of changing marina design on a global scale and bringing the knowledge of experts in design to the world's designers and architects.

Read more about the future of marina design in SuperyachtDesign, Q12.

Related Links:
ICOMIA Marinas Group - company website
PIANC - company website

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