Casa Sindical

Santa Cruz de Tenerife · Category: Cultural spaces · Subcategory: Institutions · Year: 1962 · Authors: Carmelo Rodríguez Hernández, Juan Margarit Serradell

This building was constructed to house the offices of the National Delegation of Trade Unions in Tenerife, with the idea of bringing together the different branches and services of the so-called "vertical union" of the Franco regime.

An initial project was prepared in 1957 by the architect Juan Margarit Serradell, a renowned professor at the Higher School of Architecture of Barcelona, a project that was rejected by the Political-Administrative Commission of the National Delegation of Trade Unions. The following year, the Canarian architect Carmelo Rodríguez Hernández presented a new project based practically on Margarit's previous one, which was approved this time. Rodríguez Hernández altered the main entrance (previously it was on a side), designing a triple portal protected by a wide canopy; he changed the purpose and height of the floors, achieving a greater number of storeys (thirteen) without altering the total height. Likewise, as a complement, he placed a water sheet pond with aquatic plants at the foot of the wall of the auditorium.

The result presents itself as a very vertical-looking construction, based on the principles and orthodoxy of National Syndicalism, where what prevailed was construction economy and aesthetic rhythm.

The works took time to start, as the City Council saw irregularities (the project had not been endorsed by the College of Architects, the plot was subject to street planning procedures for adjacent streets, the building height exceeded regulations, and parking spaces were lacking). After some of these defects were remedied, the licence was granted and work began in July 1959, finishing in 1962.

Currently, the building serves various functions: it houses the services of several trade unions, as well as several other administrative offices.

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