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Visitor Centre in ­Castillo de la Luz, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria

Throughout history Las Palmas de Gran Canaria has been faced with catastrophes: during the era of sea exploration, for example, pirates repeatedly attacked it. In the late fifteenth century, the first governor of this group of islands ordered the construction of a fortress – Castillo de la Luz – to protect Las Palmas from pillaging. That threat subsided, but others took its place and the city was sacked and rebuilt a number of times. The fortress suffered a similar fate: it wasn’t until the seventeenth century that a more peaceful era began.

Visitor Centre in ­Castillo de la Luz, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria
The new visitor centre at the Museo del Mar in Castillo de la Luz, 2014 © Roland Halbe

In 1941 the building was placed on the historic preservation registry; restoration work commenced thereafter. Spain’s controversial crown prince visited the fortress earlier this year: the purpose of his trip was to inaugurate the Museo del Mar – finally completed after a 14-year construction phase. The renovation work and exhibition installation was finished in 2004. By removing the soil that had accrued between outer walls and the tower, Nieto Sobejano revealed some of the Castillo’s hidden past. White reinforced-concrete decks cover new walkways. Light enters the spaces through slits in the concrete. It took seven more years until the museum opened. The architects inserted a pavilion – slightly smaller than in their original design – in the augmented outdoor spaces. It contains a museum shop, infrastructure and multi-purpose space. They took great care to protect the historic fabric: every new structure is situated at a respectful distance from the medieval fortress and has been designed to “play second fiddle” to it. That is why they designed the visitor centre as a long, low-slung pavilion. The Corten steel roof brings to mind the roof landscape of their earlier project in Madinat al-Zahra, while the light wells are reminiscent of orthogonal patios they realised in Cordoba. In both of these antecedents they also limited their palette to concrete and Corten steel. And here, as in the earlier projects, circulation spaces are well integrated in the grounds: from a distance the ramps cannot be seen. In July the first exhibition, dedicated to the Canarian sculptor Martín Chirino, will open.

Architecture
nieto sobejano Arquitectos
Location
35008 Las Palmas de Gran Canaria (ES)

Gallery

Summary

Issue
05/2014 Refurbishment
Author
-
Source
DETAIL
Location
Spain, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria
Year of construction
2014
Year of completion
2014
Architecture
nieto sobejano Arquitectos

Participants & manufacturers

Categories

Magazine
Refurbishment
Load bearing structure
Masonry
Steel
Reinforced concrete

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