A heart for San Ignacio

Bilbao, Spain

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A heart for San Ignacio

Bilbao, Spain

Firm

Canobardin

Type

Cultural › Cultural Center
Landscape + Planning › Public Park Playground

STATUS

Built

YEAR

2021

SIZE

0 sqft - 1000 sqft

BUDGET

$500K - 1M

The Heart of Barrio de San Ignacio

A canopy between
the mountain
and
the estuary

A heart of a neighbourhood:
San Ignacio, is a neighbourhood in Bilbao, located between the mountain and the estuary. A quiet, family neighbourhood.
There, the Bilbao City Council proposes the creation of a new heart, a place that will be a public space for the whole family, and at the same time identified with the character of the area.

The opportunity:
The creation of a public square that both overlooks and is overlooked.
An open space with free circulations and multiple configurations for its use.
A place that identifies with the hill and the estuary, which are the identity of the neighbourhood.

The response:
An organic-shaped roof is planned and delimits two spaces, one which is a children's playground area and the other which is the multi-purpose area. In total 605m2 of covered area, which embraces an interior connecting courtyard of 110m2.
All the spaces are delimited by the shape, but are connected visually and through free circulation between them. In this way, the roof becomes a public square where interior and exterior blend and programmes intertwine.

The construction system, alluding to the estuary, resembles the construction of ships, with cross-laminated timber frames that are the main structure and a second order of tubes that support the polycarbonate cladding in the form of slats. All of this is mechanized and prefabricated.
The polycarbonate slats are translucent on the roof and transparent on the walls, thus controlling solar radiation and maintaining a safe public space.
To encourage natural ventilation, the slats are separated from each other to allow fresh air to enter from the sides and hot air to escape through the roof.

The floor is presented as a continuous blue element that runs along the entire roof as if it were the seabed. In the playground area it is a recycled rubber topography and in the multi-purpose area it is made of polyurethane resin.
The children's games all emulate marine fauna and flora, and the perimeter of the entire roof is covered with wooden benches hanging from the porticoes.
The lighting appears as an element that uniformly envelops the entire space as if it were a giant lamp.

The result:
The mountain and the estuary that appear in San Ignacio. A piece of mountain that appears as a boat under the sea. A ship that builds its hull with the wood of the mountain and that, like an inverted shipwreck, houses all kinds of marine life inside it.
Marine life and the life of the neighbourhood.