Santa Cruz de Tenerife Local Police Building (former Financiera Canaria)

Santa Cruz de Tenerife · Category: Cultural spaces · Subcategory: Institutions · Year: 1960 · Authors: Luis Cabrera y Sánchez-Real

This is a building that marked a change in the aesthetic of the city's architecture. This building, which today houses the Local Police of Santa Cruz, was designed in 1957 by architect Luis Cabrera for the company Financiera Canaria, on a plot then located in the capital's industrial sector, on the margins occupied by the Oil Refinery.

We are faced with a building composed of two clearly differentiated elements. A low two-storey block occupying the front of the plot, originally intended as a warehouse and depot; and a tower rising from it, housing the offices. While the volume varies in height, the superimposed storeys remain symmetrical with respect to the vertical axis, giving it absolute prominence. Also notable is the open staircase on one side. Everything is simple, economical, rational, precisely fitted to serve the idea of a clean structure as the building's skeleton, with superimposed bodies functioning as a visor for those below. The whole ensemble masterfully combines its carefully studied functional concept with a highly aesthetic condition.

The building was inaugurated in 1960, causing a strong impact, to the point of marking a milestone in the typology of commercial buildings in Santa Cruz at that time.

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