Electric Power Transformer (La Salud Neighbourhood)

Santa Cruz de Tenerife · Category: Architecture · Subcategory: Industrial architecture · Year: 1988 · Authors: Javier Díaz-Llanos, Vicente Saavedra

This interesting and ingenious building, intended as an electric power station, was designed in 1986 by architects Javier Díaz-Llanos and Vicente Saavedra for the company Unelco (Unión Eléctrica de Canarias).

The transformer is located in a very particular location, in the La Salud Neighbourhood, on the edge of the Santos ravine, at the urban boundary and facing a little frequented natural environment. The idea was to build a station that would receive a high-voltage line crossing the wide ravine bed.

The architects devised a structure in two parts: one located at the edge of the slope and responsible for receiving the electrical wiring, made up of vertical concrete piles with horizontal metal beams of triangular section; and another for the passage of the line underground, built as a small building, also in concrete, aligned with the adjacent streets.

Completed in 1988, the station is presented at the boundary between urban and natural space. It stands out for its geometry of triangles at different scales, combined with the exposed concrete material and the metallic anchors.

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