the project
reStoreS the
tIeS between
the hIStorIcal
part of the cIty
and the Sea
The east volume houses an auditorium rising to double height
and cantilevered over the sea, and to the north, the educational
centre: spaces designed with the maximum flexibility to adapt
to multiple activities. The auditorium has been conceived as a
multifunctional box that can host concerts, readings, lectures, but
also festivals and ceremonies, while the rooms of the education
centre are designed to offer spaces of varying sizes to host future
workshops of creative art, music, dance and cookery for both
children and adults.
An amphitheatre hewn out of the park runs alongside the Centro
Botín, its west façade equipped with a LED screen for screenings
and outdoor cinema. On the ground floor a fully transparent
façade encloses a multifunctional space animated by a café,
restaurant, commercial space and the information centre. Here the
ceiling is covered with ceramic and the floor is a continuation of
the external blue concrete paving. In this way, the inner and outer
space are almost indistinguishable and visitors and citizens can
see the sea and landscape of the bay framed by the broad eaves
of the building which shelter the tables outside, creating a space
for gathering and socializing.
Building, park and city are clasped in an intimate bond.
In the west volume the exhibition galleries unfold on two levels,
characterized by a spectacular double view over the sea and
the park. The exhibition space on the upper floor is illuminated
zenithally by glass roofing consisting of four layers: an outer level
composed of small silkscreened glass slats which prevent stray
light from entering the gallery space directly; a second layer of
double glazing which seals the gallery; a third layer consisting
of small aluminium louvers automatically controlled by a system
of sensors that can be used to black out the interior and make
the lighting flexible; and lastly, under the main beams, a semi-
transparent white fabric that creates a uniform space and diffuses
the light while revealing the complex structure of the roof.