Palace of Aiete / isuuru arquitectos

Architects: isuuru arquitectos – Aitzpea Lazkano Orbegozo y Carlos Abadías Banzo
Location: San Sebastian, Spain
Project area: 1,990 sqm
Project year: 2010
Photographs: Jesús Martín Ruiz

Located in the monumental Aiete Park the program for this site included a Cultural Center and House of Peace. The project also required the rehabilitation of the Palace of Aiete, a building that was built by the dukes of Bailen in 1878 and holds great historical value to the city of San Sebastian.

The project was to find a balance between program needs and possibilities of the Palace focusing on providing a balance that would maintain the essential nature of the pre-existence structure.

first floor plan

The key action has been to place the House of Peace on the main floor of the Palace. Located on the second floor are the workshop exhibition areas and Cultural Center, connecting to the new building, half buried by the stairwell of service.

The project also proposes a way to use the building that enhances the spatial structure: the House of Peace can function independently from the rest of the Cultural Center by using the main staircase of the Palace.

section 02

The new building houses the main uses of cultural facilities. Carved into the ground the volume creates a lawn space for the Palace, and was deliberately designed as an abstract form as to not compete with the figurative language of the existing Palace architecture. The relationship with the Palace and the relationship with Aiete Park are maintained through the structure of the existing platforms.