CajaCanarias Central Headquarters

Santa Cruz de Tenerife · Category: Cultural spaces · Subcategory: Institutions · Year: 1987 · Authors: Francisco Artengo Rufino, José Ángel Domínguez Anadón, Carlos Schwartz Pérez

This is the fourth building to house the headquarters of the Caja General de Ahorros in Santa Cruz throughout its history. The first offices opened in 1911 on the ground floor of a now disappeared building, designed by architect Antonio Pintor, which was located at the corner of Juan de Padrón and Carmen Monteverde streets. The next two headquarters were works by architect Domingo Pisaca: the first on Pérez Galdós street (1929), and the second in Santo Domingo square (1957), at the corner of Valentín Sanz and Ángel Guimerá streets.

This last building, constructed in the 1950s, became obsolete over the years, so the banking entity called a preliminary project competition in 1974 for its new headquarters, to be located on a large plot previously occupied by a building notable in the city's entertainment history: the Parque Recreativo, an old variety theatre built in the early 20th century, which had served as a cinema and for various other leisure activities.

The Caja aimed for its new headquarters to be an operational, flexible building with a clear sense of sectorisation, but above all it needed a representative building, a construction that would be among the city's singular and monumental works. The first prize of the competition was awarded to the team of architects formed by Francisco Artengo Rufino, José Ángel Domínguez Anadón and Carlos Schwartz Pérez. After some adjustments to the project due to urban and zoning difficulties, and after resolving foundation issues (the new building was to be situated over the course of a ravine), the works were extended over time, with the new CajaCanarias headquarters finally inaugurated on 15 May 1987.

The building presents itself as a powerful piece, splendidly constructed. It features a material richness that shines especially in the stone with a very special pigmentation extracted from the Tindaya mountain (Fuerteventura), which clads the volumes. These are arranged following a careful analysis of the diverse conditions of the adjacent streets and unfold over a grid base and a play of diagonals, highlighting the edges in a daring game that produces triangles and trapezoids in a mutual balance relationship. A strong play of balcony windows orders the façades, which sometimes display blind courtyards. Inside, there is a generous and very well-utilised space.

28.469351, -16.250925