Presidency of the Government of the Canary Islands

Santa Cruz de Tenerife · Category: Cultural spaces · Subcategory: Institutions · Year: 1999 · Authors: Felipe Artengo Rufino, Fernando Martín Menis, José María Rodríguez-Pastrana

After years of moving between various rented buildings, the headquarters of the Presidency of the Canary Islands in Santa Cruz de Tenerife was established in 1999 in a large square a short distance from two emblematic historic buildings of the city: the hermitage of San Telmo and the San Carlos barracks.  

The new institutional building arose from the architectural studio where Felipe Artengo, Fernando Martín Menis and José María Rodríguez-Pastrana worked. The technicians proposed an exterior featuring a succession of prismatic volumes, sometimes cantilevered, of concrete structures clad in rough black basalt stone. The stony display of solid forms is configured as a huge sculpture.

Inside, the imposing space is planned around what was the courtyard of the Hamilton house, built in the 18th century and dismantled from its original location on La Marina street when that building was demolished in 1973. The historic courtyard, now preserved and placed at the centre of the Presidency of the Government of the Canary Islands headquarters, is framed as a historical relic that blends with new materials and the most avant-garde designs.

On the ground floor, accessed through a lobby, are the public service offices, the press room and the auditorium with a capacity for 300 people; on the other side of the courtyard is the library, from which the splendid Indian laurels of the square can be seen. On the first floor are the technical general secretariat, the Presidency's office and the data processing centre; the second floor houses various offices, meeting rooms and a large reception hall overlooking the Anaga massif and the vast Atlantic. At the top, on a landscaped roof, is the President's residence.

After seven years of work, the building was completed in 1999.

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