RPBW: Centro Botín

Designed by Renzo Piano Building Workshop in Santander, Centro Botín sits elevated, half on land and half over the water, and allows an unimpeded view of the bay.

Centro Botín is a space for art that will also develop educational and cultural activities. Reaching out into the Bay of Santander, it sits in a highly strategic location. The project restores a key location to the city of Santander. The site not only overlooks the sea but is also right next to the old city centre, and adjoins a wonderful public space, the historic Jardines de Pereda. The project restores the ties between the historic part of the city and the sea, while the road that once divided the gardens from the sea now runs underground through a tunnel.

Set between the park and the sea, and on the axis of the local market, Centro Botín sits elevated, half on land and half over the water. Thus the view of the bay is unimpeded for people strolling in the gardens, with Centro Botín seeming to hover weightlessly at the height of the trees, and glimpsed through their foliage. A series of light walkways of steel and glass separate the two rounded volumes of the building and create a new square. Elevated high above ground level, to the north of the building, this square is fully public. Stairways and elevators then lead up to the two blocks of the art centre. From here the building projects 20 metres over the sea.

The two-lobed form of Centro Botín is the outcome of extensive modelling to refine the design, during which it became clear that a rounded form would bring more light to the ground floor and maximise the view from the park to the sea. On both lobes of the building, the facades are set with 280,000 small, slightly rounded ceramic tiles, pearl-coloured and vibrant, that reflect the sunlight, the sparkle of the water, and the rarefied atmosphere of Cantabria.