Plaza Urdanibia. The redevelopment of Irun’s old town square

The redevelopment of Irun´s old town square and surrounding streets, promoted by the Ayuntamineto de Irún, is a part of a global renovation project that affects the whole central public space of Irun, Guipuzkoa.

The project of Plaza Urbanibia, realized by SCOB Arquitectura i Paisatge, provides a new urbanistic space, comfortbale and adaptable, open and renewed, but at the same time it conserves its signs of identity. As a result of this project, the square has become wider, including different fragmented spaces, it has been pedestrianized and revitalised with green areas, creating a new community meeting point.

Description of the project by SCOB Arquitectura i Paisatge

Plaza Urdanibia is a public area at the heart of Irun’s old town, where the main public events of the city take place, such as the weekly market, the patron saint festivities, craft fairs, concerts, etc. Before this area was redeveloped, the space destined to these activities was limited to the interior of the first boulevard. The rest of the public space was occupied by roads, parking lots and fenced areas.

The Project reclaims this great central empty space, while establishing close bonds with the existing urban elements and their history, with an emphasis on the great dimensions of the area, which were highly fragmented in the past. It also represents a big opportunity for the economic and social development of the neighborhood and the city itself.

New connectivities

The square becomes a central connectivity point for pedestrians, vegetation and other urban structures, previously isolated, and encourages more fluid communication flows, both pedestrian and ecological.

Sustainable mobility

Movements of private vehicles are diverted and the traffic is limited to internal transit, prioritizing pedestrians and allowing public transport to have a more fluid flow on its route to the centre. With this in mind, we blur the vehicle’s circuit through the use of a single platform section and the pavement layout.

Vegetation

The general criteria for the vegetation’s proposal place emphasis on the project as a whole, rather than an isolated unit, thus contributing to the ecological and environmental processes and it seasonal dynamics. The tree vegetation runs from one end of the square to the other end, creating new resting areas and alternative movements, away from traffic.

The banks of shrubs situated within the open space of the square are laid out in such a way that the interior landscape connects with the nearby agricultural space background, comprised of big forest glades as well as dense forests.

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Site plan. Plaza Urdanibia. The redevelopment of Irun’s old town square by SCOB Arquitectura i Paisatge.

Plan. Plaza Urdanibia. The redevelopment of Irun’s old town square by SCOB Arquitectura i Paisatge.

Plaza Urdanibia. The redevelopment of Irun’s old town square by SCOB Arquitectura i Paisatge. Photograph © Mayor´s Office. Ayuntamiento de Irun

Plaza Urdanibia. The redevelopment of Irun’s old town square by SCOB Arquitectura i Paisatge. Photograph © Fernando de la Hera

Previous state. The redevelopment of Irun’s old town square by SCOB Arquitectura i Paisatge.

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More information

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Architects

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SCOB Arquitectura i Paisatge: Sergi Carulla Altadill, Oscar Blasco Lázaro

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Collaborators

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Conchita Ruiz, Kyriaki Ilousi, Gerard Yubero, Sergio Sanna; Installations: Oscar Cabrera

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Client

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Ayuntamiento de Irún

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Construction company

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URBYCOLAN

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Location

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Plaza Urdanibia. 20304 Irún, Guipuzkoa. Spain

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Built area

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13.820,00 sqm

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Year

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2015

Sergi Carulla , Oscar Blasco. SCOB

Sergi Carulla and Oscar Blasco are architects and landscape architects trained in Barcelona. In 2005, they founded the architecture practice scob, where they develop projects that combine both disciplines. They both teach in the Master's Program in Landscape Architecture and are professors at the Barcelona School of Architecture (ETSAB) and the European Institute of Design (IED).

Their work has garnered international recognition through awards, competitions, and specialized magazines. In 2023, they won the Architizer Awards (NY) for the renovation project of the Casa Pich i Pon building in Plaça Catalunya. In 2020, they won the LILA Awards (Ljubljana) and both the Jury and People's Choice awards at the Architizer Awards (NY), all for the outdoor spaces project at the Terra Dominicata Hotel & Winery.

They recently received other international awards such as the FX Awards (London) and the ARCHITIZER Awards (NY) for their renovation and expansion project of Barcelona's Port Vell Marina, and the OIC/IAKS Award (Cologne), a prestigious award sponsored by the International Olympic Committee, for their Urban Sports Facility projects.

Among their current projects, scob has won the competition for the renovation of Palma's Plaza Mayor and the Barcelona Center for Applied Neurosciences (BCAN) project.

Alongside their professional practice, they conduct research on landscape architecture in other formats. Their documentaries Landskating and Picapapedrers have been selected for several film and architecture festivals and have been screened in more than 15 cities in Europe and Latin America.

Sergi Carulla Architect. Escuela Técnica Superior de Arquitectura de Barcelona, 1996 Landscape architect. Master de arquitectura del paisaje UPC, 2002 Founder partner of scob arquitectura y paisaje, 2005 Currently teaches in Master in Landscape Architecture of Barcelona and the Italian Centre of Architecture in Milan.

Oscar Blasco Architect. Escuela Técnica Superior de Arquitectura de Barcelona, 1999 Landscape architect. Master de arquitectura del paisaje UPC, 2002 Founder partner of scob arquitectura y paisaje, 2005 Currently teaches in Master in Landscape Architecture of Barcelona and the Italian Centre of Architecture in Milan.

Published on: February 28, 2017

Cite:

metalocus, OLGA SVISHCHEVA

"Plaza Urdanibia. The redevelopment of Irun’s old town square" METALOCUS. Accessed

<http://www.metalocus.es/en/news/plaza-urdanibia-redevelopment-iruns-old-town-square> ISSN 1139-6415