RENOVATING BILBAO'S
OLDER BUILDINGS
Considerable effort has been spent on the recovery of some of the city's historic buildings aimed at preserving their most noteworthy features. Bilbao remains proud of its heritage whilst looking to the future.
The Alh贸ndiga Ricardo BASTIDA hit a milestone in 1905 when he successfully combined industrial architecture with an elegant design for a building in Ensanche district. A hundred years later, architect Phillipe STARK converted the old wine warehouse into a cultural and leisure centre.
Inaugurated in 2010, the complex consists of three buildings and two semi-basements housing services such as: an exhibition hall, multiplex cinemas, and an innovative multimedia library. The roof hides the swimming pool area with a diaphanous glazed floor and solarium. There is also an underground car park for 900 cars, along with specialised retailers on the premises.
Today's Alh贸ndiga is radically different from the original warehouse of a century ago, although the fa莽ade has been left intact in every detail to everyone's delight. Another of the striking features surprising visitors to the new building is the columns in the spectacular central atrium of the building, depicting various cultures and historical milestones. The work of prestigious Italian scenographer Lorenzo BARALDI, who employs a diverse variety of materials such as: marble, bronze, wood, steel, glazed terracotta, cement and/or Milkstone. Measuring three metres high with diameters ranging from 1.5 to 1.7 m., each column can weigh anywhere from 700 kg for the steel columns, to 7,000 kg the marble columns. The large crowds of people attracted to the facilities is undoubtedly the greatest mark of success of this highly functional work of art.
Arteria Campos Eliseos Theatre The Campos Theatre in Bertendona Street was inaugurated in 1902 as part of the expansion of the Bilbao Ensanche. The original project was signed by the Bilbao architect, Alfredo ACEBAL, while the modernist faรงade was designed by the French-Basque decorator Jean Baptiste DARROQUY. The theatre was re-inaugurated in 2010 after it was completely revamped, all the while being mindful of the building's importance and prestige in Bilbao. Functional requirements and compliance to existing legislation meant increasing the building mass, accomplished by adding extra stories, excavating a basement and by annexing the ground floor of the building next door.
The most relevant feature of the building is the main faรงade, decorated with naturist images, earning the theatre its nickname of bombonera, the Chocolate Box, along with the large horseshoe arch over the main doors.
Inside one sees that Horseshoe theme is continued in the main hall itself, decorated in French Art Nouveau, while highlighting the ceiling and the ornamentation of the metallic beams and columns, supported by six pillars in a palm tree shape. The main hall's new design is intended to make it a multi-purpose space for all types of events. The mechanical systems combining mobile platforms and retractable seats enable the stalls and stage to be arranged as required by the event in question.
Casta単os Market Originally a public wash house, this modernist style building was designed by architect Ricardo BASTIDA in 1905. Following its recent remodelling, it was converted into Bilbao District 2 Civic Centre, meeting public demand for locales and services. The renovation included restoration of the two original floors, raising the building by another floor, a glazed mass, thereby increasing total surface area to 1,627 m2.
Museum of Archaeology Located in Unamuno Square in the heart of Old Bilbao-Casco Viejo, this building dates to 1895, and was used as a train station for the Bilbao-Lezama railway line. Known as the “Railway of the dead�, it was used to transport the earthly remains of the deceased to the Bilbao Municipal Cemetery, located in Derio, until the 1920s. The building underwent expansion due to the demands of heavy passenger traffic. Although the station closed its doors to passengers in 1969, it was reopened in 1986 with the terminal operating until 1994.
Today modern laboratories co-exist side by side with the restored machinery that milled corn throughout the 20th century. Declared a Monument of Cultural Interest by the Basque Government in 2005, guided tours are regularly conducted although it was not designed as a museum. The brightly coloured paint of the old machinery makes it stand out while surrounded by a complex system of pipes which the flour used to flow through.
Gran Casino Bilbao Designed by architect Rafael FONTAN, the Coliseo Albia Building was for decades the hall with the largest seating capacity in Bilbao. In 1916 it was erected and inaugurated with the Verdi opera Otello. The building which was the Bilbao Opera centre and theatre for decades will now become the new Gran Casino Bilbao. Furthermore, the premises will house a 4 star hotel occupying the storeys above the gaming hall, currently in the process of moving from its present location on Navarra Street. The old Coliseo Albia Building was revamped by Inbisa Construccion, which entirely demolished the interior, while retaining the classic faรงade. The basements have been converted into a car park, as well as where the drainage and fire-fighting systems are located.
Restoration of the faรงade required exhaustive cleaning coupled with painstaking handicraft restoration of the decorative features. In addition, it has been fortified with several layers of resins and cement to prevent new cracks from appearing. The lacquered finish gives it sheen while protecting it from damp and making it fireproof.
Ribera Market Designed by architect Emilio PUERTAS, the renovated Ribera Market has maintained Pedro ISPIZUA's 1927 design, rebuilding it without the apse on the side near San Anton Church, according to ISPIZUA's original design.
The reconstruction of the apse has freed up 1,700 m2 of space between San Anton Church and the new Ribera Market. Undoubtedly, the less crowded San Anton Church is now surrounded by a friendlier more dignified space where market and church establish an architectural dialogue, while respecting the idiosyncrasy of both City icons.
Naturgas Energia Building Two current trends in Bilbao are the construction of corporate headquarters of large companies or the use of unique historic buildings. This is the case of the new Naturgas Energia Building to be inaugurated in approximately 2 years' time.
Originally erected in 1924 as the pharmaceutical centre of Bilbao on the corner of General Concha and Fernandez del Campo Streets, it was designed by architects Tomas BILBAO and Hilario IMAZ. This building complex was classed as being of historical interest due to its great historic value, as well as a prime example of rationalist architecture. Initially built as a one floor building to house laboratories and storage areas, it subsequently grew to its current height as need also grew.
IMB architects' studio was commissioned with bringing this project to fruition, whose most dazzling feature of the interior renovation will be the construction of an atrium with glass walls allowing natural light to enter in order to improve both lighting and acclimatisation. Its inverted pyramid structure will be fitted in the centre of the building, and will proportionally increase in surface as the building grows in height.
Gi単a House
Although it is not known what use will be determined for every part of the building, the second floor is already home to the neighbourhood library. Its present 200 m2 m. of surface area triples that of the prior home when it was housed in the nearby Civic Centre. Finally, there is a coffee shop on the ground floor, where more and more one may see people enjoying a cup of java, or even playing a game of cards, in sharp contrast to a not so distant past when barnyard birds could be seen freely running around the tower-house.