The Botin Centre is conceived as a new space for art and culture. An open and relaxed center that will perform the function of enriching, both socially and culturally, the public spaces of Santander.

Located in the very heart of the city, the project is centered around three main actions:

• The first is freeing up an area that was previously a port and destined to be a car park, and eliminating the road traffic, which isolated it, by building a tunnel.
• The second consists of the enlargement of the hundred-years-old Pereda Gardens, doubling its area and extending it to the very shore of the bay so that nothing blocks the continuity between the historic center and the port, making it possible to look again at the sea from the center of Santander.
• Finally, the third step is to “land” this art center on the edge of the dock, projecting above the water like a small ship. A space destined for art, music, literature, education, and cultural exchange.

Under the characteristically grey skies of Santander, the building and its light colored ceramic coating, the play of reflections, and the lightness of the cantilevered volumes bring vitality to the landscape, creating brand new settings of the bay.

A new space for art and culture; an open and relaxed center