Museum and Plaza in Adeje, Tenerife island, Spain

Technical data:

Project name: Plaza and Senses Museum in Adeje

Designer: Fernando Menis

Designer team. Architecture collaborators: Juan Bercedo, Maria Berga, Alejandro García. Consultants: Calcularq SL (structure), ZAS Engineers, Ramón García, Carlos Borromeo (quantities survey)

Location: Adeje, Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain

Client: Town Hall of Adeje

Cost: 1,764.247 Euros

Site area: 4.034 m2

Gross floor area: 1.217 m2

Design time: 2007 – 2009

Completion date: 2010 (Plaza); stand-by (Museum)

Construction unity: Construcciones Daltre; Francisco Hernández (construction superviser)

Awards: First position, 2006 Sacred Museum Design Contest; Finalist, European Public Space Awards 2012;  WAF Award (World Architecture Festival) New & Old Category 2012, WAF (World Architecture Festival) Director’s Award 2012

Description:

The old quarter of Adeje is set on the western side of Barranco del Infierno and the Plaza España, the heart of the town, sits on its edge. Despite housing the Town Hall and the Santa Ursula Church, this latter a listed building from the 15th century, the square was laid out off centered with respect to them, a situation worsened by a couple of uninteresting ruined houses that blocked the views to the ravine. We complemented pre-existing valuable features, such as the healthy trees, and improved the accessibility of the plaza and the relationship with its limits. To the west, the balustrade was removed to enhance the relationship between the space and Calle Grande; to the north a wide staircase was built rising towards the Church; to the east, descending bleachers allow views towards the mountains; to the south it connects with the walk along the cornice of the precipice. The square, thus made two and a half times bigger, is transformed into an “infinite plaza” that projects views towards the landscape.