Rodin Museum Tenerife. Adaptive reuse of an architectural heritage listed park

The Viera y Clavijo Cultural Park is an iconic landscape and cultural space in Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Spain. Built in 1903, it has been used as a cultural complex, made up of the Pérez Minik Theater now disappeared and the Colegio de la Asunción, a former neo-Gothic church founded by Central European nuns, later transformed into the first school for girls in Tenerife, in operation until 1978. The only example of a neo-Gothic religious building in the city, the school has been listed as a heritage building since 1986 and still exists although badly affected by years of neglect. The park also contains some botanical jewels such as its immense Ceiba (Ceiba pentandra) whose crown extends over a diameter of more than 20 m and a bronze sculpture by Joan Miró, the Femme Bouteille, donated to the city in the mid-1970s. The site is located at the intersection of some urban circulations of great relevance, connecting its lower area (ravine) with one of the entrance avenues to the city. However, the progressive urban development, the existing perimeter fence and the proximity of the ravine contributed to its growing isolation from the rest of the city while scarce sidewalks makes walking around it unsafe. The redesign is based on the respect of both the pre-existent neo-Gothic architecture and nature - vegetation, ravine and topography - while integrating the client's brief, which requires underground parking lots. The objective is to heal the building and the vegetation and prepare them for the intense public use that will be given. The intervention is based on the minimum necessary touches completed, however, with strategic actions that seek to make the park a lung full of oxygen in the middle of the city, open it to Santa Cruz de Tenerife and thereby solve some of its mobility problems. The former school and chapel will be rehabilitated and the current park will be expanded in the form of a green ring. A small Ceibas forest will be planted to accompany the existing specimen and educational urban orchards will be included. After its redesign, the Viera y Clavijo Cultural Park will be a green and open public space spread over 15,000 m2 in the heart of Santa Cruz de Tenerife, overlooking the sea and the ravine and playing a major role in restoring the connection between the low and high parts of the city. Moreover, it will house the second Rodin Museum in Europe. The philosophy of the Km0 architecture is applied as an economic and sustainability strategy: everything is designed to use locally sourced materials, techniques, companies and craft. The Circular Economy is prioritized through the use of recycled aggregate, limestone and picón (local volcanic stone). The design is based on the use of natural elements such as daylight, trade winds for cross ventilation and the collection of rainwater for irrigation of the greenery. Durable materials that improve with aging will also be used to ensure low-cost maintenance in time.