Rock Art Center of Cantabria
Architect: sukunfuku studio
Location: Puente Viesgo, Cantabria, Spain
Type: Visitor Center
Year: 2023
Photographs: courtesy of sukunfuku studio
The following description is courtesy of the architects. The Visitor´s Center is located on the hillside of Monte Castillo, within the area of influence of the caves that bear his name and surrounded by the access road to them. The program demanded a relatively large volume, on complex ground and immersed in a landscape of great beauty.
The program is divided into three separate blocks: reception and service area, exhibition area and restricted area. The three volumes are articulated and arranged around a central courtyard that distributes and connects the different spaces. The resulting volume is a “C” shape facing the natural slope of the plot, which closes the building creating a “green tribune”. The mountain becomes a part of the program, the protagonist articulating the building, inviting the visitor to go out and acting as an external space associated with the activities of the center.
The building is executed in two different layers. The lower part is resolved with concrete walls in the areas that contain the land, while the façades that overlook the patio and the access area are mainly glazed. On this base sits the stone roof, which sews the three volumes together and folds to become part of the façade, generating a chromatic contrast, scale and texture. The building integrates and interacts with the natural environment around it, creating a relationship with the topography, breaking its volumes to adapt to the environment.
Project Details
- Location: Puente Viesgo, Cantabria
- Client : Consejería de Cultura de Cantabria
- Plot area: 10.000m2
- Total area: 1678m2
Project Team
- Architecture: sukunfuku studio
- Team members: Miguel Huelga + Iria de la Peña
- Construction manager: José Manuel Gómez Illa
- Structure Engineer: Estática Ingeniería SL
- Mechanical Engineer: A6 Ingeniería SL
- Context collaborator: Mónica Pérez
- Landscape consultant: Arantxa Zabalza
- Curtain Design: Akane Moriyama Studio
- Contractor: Siec SA
