Which Came First, the Chicken or the Egg, the Marina Consultant or the Architect?

The chicken or the egg—it is an age-old debate. These days, the scientific answer will be that eggs have been around far longer than chickens, so of course eggs came first. To get a little more specific, when debating whether the chicken or the chicken egg came first, there is still a fair amount of discussion to be had.

When it comes to waterfront development, the debate between marina consultants and architects is worth pondering. It is important to note that “architect” in this sense could be most any upland-oriented development professional, while “marina consultant” could be most any marina/waterfront-oriented development professional.

For many projects, it is clear that the marina consultant did not come first. We have seen too many projects designed by architects where it is clear that there was little understanding of the various needs, exposures, turning radius and overall functionality required to have a truly functional and successful marina.

Concept and Design
Many projects start with architects, particularly where there are significant upland real estate elements. Sometimes, architectural drawings include docks and fingers with slips that can’t be navigated by large boats, or the marina design is meant to accommodate 100 slips, but the space allocated only fits 50 at best.

Designing a new marina or reconfiguring an existing facility requires meaningful knowledge of the ingredients that make for a great design, and a good marina consultant brings a great deal to the table. A marina is more than just a parking lot for boats. Marina design now involves creating a meaningful hospitality experience, not only financially, but functionally and aesthetically. While pretty concept pictures are enticing, that may not be translatable into the functionality nor the desirable economics of the project.

For example, water depths at the lowest predicted tide, during a reservoir drawdown or in rivers during a drought are important to know. That knowledge, along with knowing the draft of the boats desired for the design, allows for a meaningful design approach.

Sometimes people forget to do their homework and design a facility for a location where at times there is no water or insufficient water depths for the desired boats. View lines and functionality are also among the most important components of any design. Most property is purchased in large part for the views of the water, yet many times the view corridors are not given enough consideration when the designs are being created. That can be a missed opportunity.

Functional Design
Functionality in the minds of the end users is also critically important. It ultimately determines their experience and comfort level with the project, and the customers are the least expensive and the most important advertisers that a project has.

One of the most successful marina chains to date built its clientele on customer satisfaction. They were very conscious of view lines and aesthetics, while making the facility as functional as possible: providing meaningful navigational room to, from and within their facilities, taking into account the elements such as wind, currents, water depths and wave/storm protection, removing potential trip hazards and providing the upland services and amenities that made sense for each location.

Boaters everywhere desire a safe harbor for their boats, protected from strong currents, strong winds and storms. A good example of unintended consequences is that of a major holiday resort area known for its sunny weather and upland recreational activities, all bordering on a desirable coastal waterway. The resort did a lot of planning with noted architects, landscape architects and other developmental and recreational consultants. A marina consultant was not involved until after all was put into motion, including digging inland for the harbor. Unfortunately, no one in the early planning stages investigated the coastal currents and, in this case, the littoral drift (the natural continuing movement of sand and sediment along the shore). The result was a beautiful harbor, except that the entrance has to be continually dredged every year, or the boats would not be able to get in and out. Fortunately for this facility, the overall economics and disposition of the regulatory agencies allow that dredging to happen, but it significantly reduced the desired operating rates of return and diminished the functionality.

More recently, a new marina project was started as part of a large planned upland residential development. Again, little attention was paid to the details of the in-water development. Nevertheless, developers proceeded to dig out the harbor and canals, as well as construct the breakwaters that would create the harbor entrance. The breakwater plans looked nice on the architectural renderings. The project was far from completing the upland work when the littoral drift completely overwhelmed and closed the harbor entrance. To date, they have not found a viable solution.

Site Protection
The design and planning for breakwaters for protection of a harbor requires significant study to avoid such issues as the unintended consequences of littoral drift, or perhaps worse, inner basin wave energy agitation. A recent small marina project included the construction of two stone breakwaters for wave protection. What was missed was the site’s exposure to long period swells at certain times of year. While those swells never looked like much in the overall area, when they made their way into the new marina basin they started bouncing around and growing to the point where the new docks were being damaged, and it was not possible to keep the boats in place.

Even in cases where the site of upland residential and commercial developments is the main aspect of a waterfront development, a good marina consultant can be very helpful for issues beyond just the in-water and shoreline issues. A group of leading architects, site planners, canal-lock and harbor designers, as well as numerous other consultants, worked together on the design of a mini city on an offshore island for more than two years. The group created a series of impressive reports, studies and plans. The owner then asked a marina consultant to look over the project before its implementation. While the overall plans, designs and details were technically correct, the marina consultant was able to expand on anticipated market values and the site plan of the docks and slips, which were unable to accommodate the large megayachts the owner had hoped to attract to the facility.

By redesigning some of the original site plan and creating a more functional harbor, the marina consultant added significant value to the project by looking at more than just the technical aspects of the design.

Working Together
So, in the case of many waterfront projects, it turns out to be pretty clear which came first. Some of those bad outcomes would suggest that the marina consultant should come first.

Ultimately, it depends on the project. In most waterfront projects where there is a marina that is intended to be the focal point, it just makes sense to bring in the marina consultant as soon as possible so its feasibility and functionality can be examined early on—ideally before the property is purchased.

Many marinas can also benefit from the expertise of architects. After all, a marina is ultimately a hospitality venue and providing an aesthetically pleasing project where people are both comfortable and excited to be there is essential. Just like many architects don’t know that much about the details required for a marina, many marina consultants wouldn’t be too great at laying out the details of an office building, a restaurant or a condo complex.

At the end of the day, in more cases than not, today’s projects, whether they be starting something new or refurbishing and/or reconfiguring something old, will benefit from both disciplines working together.
You can’t have chickens without eggs, and you can’t have chicken eggs without chickens.

Dan Natchez, CMP, is president of DANIEL S. NATCHEZ and ASSOCIATES Inc. He can be contacted by phone at 1/914/698-5678, by WhatsApp at 1/914/381-1234, by email at dan.n@dsnainc.com or online at www.dsnainc.com.