LITERATURE CASE STUDY – CENTRO BOTIN, SPAIN

SITE LOCATION FACILITIES PROVIDED

Location - muella de albareda,Santander, cantabria
Renzo Piano Building Workshop’s design deftly reimagines artistic and cultural programmatic requirements as extensions of the parkland in which they are situated. Centro Botín
Country - Spain
boasts 2,500 m2 of gallery space, a 300-seat auditorium, 300 m2 of ground floor multipurpose areas, and an outdoor auditorium which can accommodate up to 2,000 people. In
Typology – visual art workshop center
addition to providing a permanent home for the art collection of the philanthropic institution Foundatíon Botín, the centre provides amenity for a range of diverse educational and
Size - 6,823 sq.m
cultural programmes, as well as temporary exhibits.
Architect - Renzo Piano Building Workshop
Site location
ABOUT THE STRUCTURE
 The centre is organized into two parts, a west and an east wing, joined by an elevated walkway that-
culminates In a platform cantilevered out over the sea.
 The west wing of the building is an exhibition space: 2,500 sq. meters of 5m-high versatile spaces over two
levels providing galleries and support areas.
 The upper level has a skylight system that allows some of the gallery space to be naturally lit.
 The smaller east wing focuses on education and accommodates a convertible 7.5m-high auditorium space with
300 removable seats and, on the building’s upper level, a multi-purpose area of approximately 255 sq m.
 The auditorium has a glazed façade to the south, offering the option to have speakers, actors or musicians
performing against the backdrop of the bay with its traffic of ships.

SITE PLAN LEVEL ONE FLOOR PLAN

HOVERING FORM FRONT ELEVATION – Centro Botin

DESIGN PHILOSOPHY
 The Centro Botín is a new space for art, culture and the diverse activities of the Foundation Botín.
It is constructed in the Jardines de Pereda, on the seafront of the city of Santander in north-western Spain.
 The project reclaims an area currently used as a car park, restoring it to the city. The site, organized as an-
extension of the city grid through the existing park, provides direct access from the historic town centre
to the sea and enhances visual connections with the water.
 The building is a new landmark on the waterfront, both from a visual and cultural perspective,
as well as a mean of boosting the activities of the Botín Foundation. Thanks to the Foundation’s diverse-
cultural and research programmes, it is expected that the centre drives cultural, social and economic
development in Santander.

SEA SIDE VIEW— Centro Botín

Climate
Santender’s climate is classified as warm and temperate, under Koppen-Geiger climate The two bodies that make up the building are completely faced with 280,000 small,
classification is Cfb. slightly rounded ceramic tiles, pearl-coloured and vibrant, that reflect the sunlight,
the sparkle of the water, and the rarefied atmosphere of Cantabria. 
 The average annual temperature is 14.1*c, about 1267mm ofprecipitation falls annually
Transversal section — Centro Botín Ceramic tiled facade
 The warmest month is august – 19.4*c
 The lowest average temperature is in January – 9.3*c
 The driest month is JuLY with – 44mm rainfall, and most precipitation fall in December
with an Avrg. – 136mm
 The Avrg. annual relative humidity is 78.2% DESIGN CONCEPT
Piano has said of Centro Botín, that “from the very beginning, I wanted the building to fly”;it is clear from the completed project
that he has achieved this end and much more.
Centro Botín is an exemplar of the metaphoric function of architecture, converging art with culture,the city with the sea, and the
earth with the sky.the size and presence of Centro Botín is skilfully calibrated to resonate with the scale of the small city within
which it is situated.

An outdoor amphitheatre on the building’s west side can

seat 2,000 people for concerts or film projections.

Conceptual sketch by Renzo Piano

West elevation — Centro Botín
East elevation — Centro Botín 
Half way cantilivered towrds the sea

NAME – PRASHANTH B S SHEET NO

PERFORMATIVE
ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN - VII LITERATURE STUDY ARCHITECTURE
USN - 1AA16AT014
SEM - VII “B”
ACHARYA NRV SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE
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