A former sand quarry in Milan is becoming a new hub of accommodation and wellness as an innovative site rehabilitation gets ready to start.
The Milan quarry was used in its past life to extract sand for the surrounding towns but has since become a lake after the quarry was shut down and operations ceased.
The Scandinavian company was selected to develop the area two years ago with a mandate to transform the disused quarry into a leisure precinct with a wellness centre, restaurant and floating accommodation.
The aim is to bring together the surrounding neighbourhoods which were separated due to the lake as well as attract new residents and tourists to the area to enjoy the former quarry.
The move comes at an interesting time with the Australian sector making more efforts to rehabilitate quarries into usable spaces for residents and tourists. In recent times, the former quarry at Ferntree Gully has been reinvented into a park while Lismore’s Bexhill quarry has plans to be transformed.
“The quarry is surrounded by disparate neighbourhoods with very different socioeconomic backgrounds which are currently very poorly connected,” founding partner of MAST Marshall Blecher told Dezeen.
“A key criteria for the project was to minimise the impact on the surrounding environment.
“Walkways will weave between existing trees, which are going to be retained and the buildings, which present as small nodes along the walkway, will be constructed off-site to minimise the impact.”
The new development will include bike links, a spa and wellness centre, restaurants and boat rentals. These will be parked on a series of floating buildings connected by bridges.
The development is thought to be the first of its kind in the country after Mast conceived its built on water project which can put floating homes, campsites, community centres and parks.