A small plot of fifteen metres per side, situated between two squares and adjacent to the small chapel of San Bernardo, is the peculiar urban location of this Centre. The programme includes only a multipurpose assembly hall and three flexible workshop spaces that can be used as classrooms and meeting rooms or as a small library.
The principal multipurpose space, situated on the upper level of the building, is conceived as a meeting place, an extension of the Plaza San Bernardo. It is covered by an alternating system of concrete elements with a Z-shaped section that extends to the west façade.
The discontinuous diecast shape forms a shade-filled space pierced by the light, revealing its contorted embodiment in the surface of the floor. The cut-out light and shadows play indistinctly on the ceiling, the walls and the floor and dissolve the differences between them.
Under the dispersed shadow of the lattice, opening onto both squares, is an empty, bare space activated by the light.
Project
San Bernardo Cultural Centre
Situation
Plaza San Bernardo, Los Silos. Tenerife. Canary Islands. Spain
Architects
GPY Arquitectos
Project Team
Juan Antonio González Pérez, Félix Francisco Perea Pérez, Urbano Yanes Tuña, Constanze Sixt
Technical Team
José Domingo Bethencourt
Structural Engineers
Arcal S.L.
Civil Engineers
Gpi Ingenieros
Technical Drawings
Miriam Hernández Pérez
Client
Tenerife Island Council
Contract
U.T.E. Centro Cultural San Bernardo
Constructed Surface
494.48 m2
Models
José Luis González Doña
Photographs
Miguel de Guzmán, José Ramón Oller
Awards
AR+d Award, 2003: Winner | Premios FAD, 2003: Finalist | Premio Manuel de Oráa y Arcocha, Xth Edition, 2002: Honourable Mention.
Publications
Books: Ruiz Cabrero, Gabriel: Guía de Arquitectura Contemporánea / Contemporary Architecture Guide 1962-2006. Tenerife. Tenerife: Cabildo Insular de Tenerife, 2008 AW 208: Gemeindehäuser und Gemeinschaftszentren / Community Centres and Municipal Halls. Stuttgart: Karl Krämer, 2006 Juan Gopar / Lara Almárcegui: Taller – Exposición. Las Palmas de Gran Canaria: CAAM, 2006 10x10_2. 100 Architects 10 Critics. London / New York: Phaidon, 2005 Magazines: arquitectos 164 (2003), arquitectos n.169 (2004), Arte y Cemento n. 10 (2004), Basa n.27 (2002), Detail n. 1 (2004), On Diseño n.243 (2003), The Architectural Review n.1282 (2003)
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