Branioci grada local community installed four pavilions with fountains at Ridžali-Džebe

A picnic site calling for its own content

Ridžali-Džebe is one of the picnic sites in Zavidovići that local people have returned to for years. It is natural, green, accessible, but without enough content to make a stay last the whole day. A visitor arrives, bathes, walks, but when shade or a sip of drinking water was needed, a solution did not exist.

The local community "Branioci grada" started a project that addressed precisely those two points: where to sit and where to drink water. The answer was simple but effective - four wooden pavilions, each with its own stone fountain.

What was specifically done

The project covered the construction of four pavilions made of wood with red tiling. Each pavilion had:

• A wooden structure that fits into the forest and meadow ambiance of the picnic site
• A pitched gable roof with red tiling - a traditional form that respects the local building style
• A built-in stone fountain - the main novelty compared to typical shelters built at picnic sites

The pavilion was not only a shelter from sun or rain, it was also a source of drinking water, which gave the visitor a reason to stay longer and not plan departure just because they got thirsty.

What this approach brought to the visitor

• Comfort - shade, seating, shelter from precipitation
• Hygiene component - drinking water available on site, without carrying supplies
• Functionality - the pavilion also served as a place for a small group to gather, a meal in nature, rest between activities
• Visual identity - all pavilions built with the same structure and materials, giving the picnic site a unified appearance instead of each random object looking different

What the result looked like

From the photographs in the documentation, a finished object in full function was clearly visible: wooden structure on a concrete base, red tiling, pavilion integrated into the meadow with the forest behind. The visitor, approaching, first saw an object that belonged to the space, not an object dropped into nature.

Who the applicant was

The project was applied for and realised by the local community "Branioci grada" Zavidovići, a community that directly covered the location and had the most realistic insight into what residents and visitors need. This matters: interventions of this kind succeed where local people decide where and how the pavilion is placed, not where someone from outside tries to guess.

Sustainability

Increasing the tourist attractiveness of the picnic site also meant increasing the number of visitors, which indirectly affected the local economy - from sales of local products to hospitality in the surroundings. Built-in stone fountains meant the project also had a lasting utility function that goes beyond the tourist context.

The message of the project

Four wooden pavilions with fountains do not sound like a large investment. But they actually solved a real problem: the Ridžali-Džebe picnic site now has places where one can stop, sit, drink water, and stay as long as one likes.

The kind of straightforward investment that is visible on the first visit and that makes the difference between "there is something nice here" and "one can spend the whole day here".