Project Details
- Project Name
- Adaptive reuse of the Viera y Clavijo Cultural Park of Santa Cruz de Tenerife
- Location
-
Avenida de la Asunción, 44
SPAIN
- Client/Owner
- Santa Cruz de Tenerife City Hall
- Project Types
-
Cultural ,Entertainment
- Project Scope
- Renovation/Remodel
- Shared by
- Menis Arquitectos
- Project Status
- On the Boards/In Progress
Project Description
The Viera y Clavijo Cultural Park, in Santa Cruz de Tenerife, is an iconic landscape and cultural space from the beginning of the 20th century, in which a former neo-Gothic church stands out, later repurposed as the first school for girls in Tenerife. After its remodeling, carried out by the architect Fernando MENIS, it will be a public, green space of 15,000 m2, in the urban heart of the capital of Tenerife.
The Viera y Clavijo Cultural Park is an inconic landscape and cultural space, located in the urban heart of Santa Cruz de Tenerife. Built in 1903 with a design by the architect Mariano Estanga and the engineer José Rodrigo Vallabriga, and named after the botanist José Viera y Clavijo, it was a cultural complex, made up of the Pérez Minik Theater, now in ruins, and the Colegio de la Asunción, a former neo-Gothic church founded by Belgian nuns, later transformed into the first school for girls in Tenerife, which was in operation until 1978.
The only example of a neo-Gothic religious building in the city, the School has been classified as an Asset of Cultural Interest in the Canary Islands (Historic Artistic Monument) since 1986 and is still standing, although very deteriorated due to inadequate reforms, alternated with years of neglect. The park is home to extensive gardens that contain some botanical gems such as its immense Ceiba (Ceiba pentandra), a Caribbean tree, whose crown extends to a diameter of more than 20 m.
Located at the intersection of the main urban circulations of Santa Cruz de Tenerife, the park could connect the lower area of the city with one of the access avenues to the city. However, the progressive development of the city, the perimeter fences, the scarce and narrow sidewalks that surround the park, as well as its proximity to the ravine contributed to the fact that, little by little, it became isolated from the rest of the city.
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After its rehabilitation, the park will be a large, open, green public space of 15,000 m2 in the heart of Santa Cruz de Tenerife, overlooking the sea and the ravine, with a prominent role in reestablishing the connection between the lower part and the upper part of the city.
The objective of Menis's project is to restore the building and heal the vegetation, prepare them for the intense public use that they will be given as an urban park and home to cultural uses. The intervention is based on the minimum necessary touch-ups complemented with strategic actions, which seek to make the park a green lung, connect it with the city and open its views to the sea, make it accessible and easily passable, thereby helping to solve some of the mobility problems in the capital of Tenerife.
Thus, the old school and the chapel will be restored, while the current park will be expanded in the form of a green ring. A small forest of Ceibas will be planted to accompany the existing specimen and urban orchards will be included for pedagogical purposes to recall this tradition that already existed in the Colegio de la Asunción.
The Zero Kilometer principles are applied in this project as an economic and sustainability strategy: the redesign project is conceived in such a way that only local materials, craft and companies can be used. The Circular Economy is prioritized through the use of recycled aggregate, limestone and picón (local volcanic stone), while favoring passive solutions for lighting, ventilation and irrigation. Durable, low-maintenance materials will also be used.