Public landscaping of the Rikard Benčić Block
The Revival and Revitalization of the Rikard Benčić Block in Rijekaincludes the revitalization of the former industrial complex “Rikard Benčić”, a motor equipment factory and foundry that operated from 1948 to 2005.
The Revival and Revitalization of the complex includes:
1. Reconstruction and equipping of existing facilities:
- Administrative building as a function of the Rijeka City Museum
- T-building as a function of Rijeka City Library (T-building blog)
- H-object as a function of the Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art Rijeka
- Brick building as a function of the Children’s House as part of the Art-cinema program
2. Public landscaping (15,700.0 m²) within the complex
Public landscaping includes the construction of new water supply, new rainwater and greywater drainage, electrical installations, mechanical and thermo-technical installations, electricity distribution sewage. As part of the infrastructure construction, construction of energy canals, power plants, pumping stations of greywater drainage and substation is planned. The central space between the buildings will be arranged as an open space in the function of a public square with several urban interventions in the form of a greenery island, a theme park, footpath, urban equipment.
As a part of the public landscaping, the construction of rainwater retention structures with pumping stations is planned. Given that a high groundwater level is present at the site (approx. 1.0 – 1.50 m below the existing terrain) and the anticipated retention structures are close to the existing buildings, a detailed design was created to optimize the existing solution.
As a part of the detailed design, a new position of retention structures and pumping stations was defined to move away from existing buildings to reduce the chance of potential damage due to excavation. Also, the design of retention structures and pumping stations of precast concrete elements is foreseen and selected as the most optimal solution given the high groundwater level.
The executed detailed design has proved the stability of the temporary open pit (depth up to 5.0 m). The load analysis and the impact on the foundation settlement were carried out. Also, the dimensioning of the retention pool, pumping pool and valve chamber was conducted, as well as the definition of the geometry of precast concrete retention elements.
The structure of each precast element consists of a floor slab and walls with a maximum height of 3.20 m, measured from the upper corner of the floor slab. The thickness of the floor slabs and walls is 27.0 cm. The cover plates and the part of the walls between the precast element and the cover plate are subsequently constructed as a monolithic reinforced concrete structure.
The construction of the retention structures and pumping stations is underway, and how the precast elements are laid look out below.






