Cruz y Ortiz and David Chipperfield will renovate two Banco Santander headquarters in the Cantabrian city

The Group executive chairman of Santander, Ana Botín, today announced the project to transform two of the Bank’s most emblematic buildings in the city of Santander: its headquarters on Paseo Pereda and the building on Calle Hernán Cortés, a project that will transform these edifices into cultural, intellectual and institutional reference points for the city of Santander and the region which will help to foster its economic and social progress.

The renovation of the Paseo Pereda building will be carried out by the architect David Chipperfield, known, among other things, for having carried out the recent expansion of the Royal Academy in London and the renovation of the museum island of Berlin: the Neues Museum, the Pergamon Museum and the National Gallery.

The remodelling of the Calle Hernán Cortés building is being undertaken by the renowned architects Antonio Cruz and Antonio Ortiz, whose studio has been responsible for the restoration of the Rijksmuseum in the Netherlands, the Basel and Seville railway stations or the design of the Wanda Metropolitano in Madrid.

Site plan. Renovation of the Paseo Pereda building by David Chipperfield. Image courtesy of Santander.

The renovation, called the Pereda Project, entails investment of EUR 40 million, and will enhance the historical value and heritage of the buildings and create jobs. The Bank's institutional headquarters on Paseo Pereda will cease to be of exclusive use and will be opened to the city. The project envisions housing the private art collection of the Santander Group in the building, a Banco Santander Museum and the Group’s flagship branch of the future. The building on Calle Hernán Cortés will house the Cantabria Territorial Directorate and an observation deck on the terrace roof along with other multi-purpose rooms for customers and non-customers.

The Paseo Pereda building will be integrated into the city with cultural and open spaces which enhance the Bank’s legacy in the city of Santander and Cantabria and serve to attract tourists.

Over 1,000 works from the Group’s private collection, including paintings by Rubens, El Greco, Van Dyck, Picasso, Chillida, Sorolla and Miró and the world’s largest and most outstanding collection of works by José Gutiérrez Solana, which are currently exhibited in the Art Gallery of Santander Group City in Boadilla del Monte (Madrid), are intended to be transported to Santander and displayed in the building, which will also exhibit sculptures and works of decorative art, collections of tapestries, ceramics, furniture and timepieces and a collection of banknotes and coins. The objective is to start educational and cultural activities for all age groups and allow visitors to enjoy the works of art in different settings.

The Pereda building will also house a Banco Santander Museum, where the visitor will be taken on a journey through the shared history of the Bank and the city.

The estimated period of execution of this project, which will turn these buildings into a cultural, intellectual and institutional reference of the city of Santander and Cantabria and that will contribute to favoring their economic and cultural progress, will be 20 months in the case of the building of Hernán Cortés street and 36 for the Paseo de Pereda. The forecast is that the works begin within approximately one year, once the corresponding municipal licenses have been obtained, and the investment will reach 60 million euros. During the execution of the works, in addition to having the collaboration of Cantabrian companies, it is estimated that an average of 150 people work on them. In addition, another 50 direct jobs will be created for the operation of both buildings.

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Rendering interior view. Renovation of the Paseo Pereda building by David Chipperfield. Image courtesy of Santander.

Rendering exterior view. Renovation of the Paseo Pereda building by David Chipperfield. Image courtesy of Santander.

Site plan. Renovation of the Hernán Cortés street by Antonio Cruz y Antonio Ortiz. Image courtesy of Santander.

Rendering interior view. Renovation of the Hernán Cortés street by Antonio Cruz y Antonio Ortiz. Image courtesy of Santander.

Section. Renovation of the Hernán Cortés street by Antonio Cruz y Antonio Ortiz. Image courtesy of Santander.

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David Chipperfield

Sir David Alan Chipperfield was born in London, England, on 18 December 1953 and grew up on a farm in Devon, southwest England. He studied architecture at Kingston School of Art, graduating in 1976, and at the Architectural Association School of Architecture in London, where he completed his studies in 1980. After working with Douglas Stephen, Norman Foster and Richard Rogers, he established David Chipperfield Architects in 1985.

His early commissions included the interior design of a shop for Japanese fashion designer Issey Miyake in London, which led to further work in Japan. His first major building in the United Kingdom was the River and Rowing Museum in Henley-on-Thames, completed in 1997. As his international activity expanded, the firm opened offices in Berlin (1998), Shanghai (2005), Milan (2006) and Santiago de Compostela (2022), in addition to its London headquarters.

Over the following decades, Chipperfield completed more than one hundred commissions across Asia, Europe and North America, encompassing civic, cultural, educational and residential buildings, urban interventions and the restoration of historic architecture. In Berlin, he directed the restoration and reconstruction of the Neues Museum (1993–2009), followed by the construction of the James-Simon-Galerie (1999–2018) on Museum Island.

His other works include the Veles e Vents building in Valencia (2006), Turner Contemporary in Margate (2011), The Hepworth Wakefield (2011), the extension of the Saint Louis Art Museum (2013), Museo Jumex in Mexico City (2013), the Amorepacific headquarters in Seoul (2017), the extension of the Royal Academy of Arts in London (2018), the West Bund Museum in Shanghai (2019) and the extension of Kunsthaus Zürich (2021). His interventions in existing buildings also include the restoration of Mies van der Rohe's Neue Nationalgalerie in Berlin (2021) and the refurbishment of the Procuratie Vecchie in Venice (2022). More recent works include Casa RIA in Santiago de Compostela (2024), Arena Milano (2026) and the transformation of the former Bank of Spain building in Santander into Faro Santander (2026).

Alongside his architectural career, Chipperfield has taught at institutions in Europe and the United States, including the State Academy of Fine Arts Stuttgart and Yale University. In 2012, he was curator of the 13th International Architecture Exhibition of the Venice Biennale, entitled Common Ground, and between 2016 and 2017 he participated as an architecture mentor in the Rolex Mentor and Protégé Arts Initiative. His publications include On Planning – A Thought Experiment (2018), and in 2020 he served as guest editor of the Italian magazine Domus.

In 2017, he established Fundación RIA, an independent non-profit organisation dedicated to research and sustainable territorial development in Galicia, Spain. The foundation works on territorial planning, environmental issues, local economies and cultural heritage in collaboration with public administrations, institutions and local communities. In 2024, it inaugurated Casa RIA in Santiago de Compostela, a historic building refurbished by David Chipperfield Architects that also houses the firm's Galician office and accommodates a public programme of lectures, exhibitions and other activities.

Beyond architecture, he has developed furniture and product designs in collaboration with international manufacturers through David Chipperfield Design. In 2026, Casa RIA presented Design for Living, an exhibition bringing together more than fifty objects, prototypes and drawings produced over a period of thirty-five years.

Chipperfield is a member of the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) and an honorary member of the American Institute of Architects (AIA) and the Bund Deutscher Architekten (BDA). He received the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany in 2009 and was knighted for his services to architecture in 2010. His professional distinctions include the RIBA Royal Gold Medal (2011), the Praemium Imperiale from the Japan Art Association (2013) and the Pritzker Architecture Prize (2023). In 2021, he was appointed to the Order of the Companions of Honour in the United Kingdom, followed in 2022 by his appointment as Commander of the Order of Isabella the Catholic in Spain and his admission to the German order Pour le Mérite for Sciences and Arts.

Published on: July 29, 2019

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"Cruz y Ortiz and David Chipperfield will renovate two Banco Santander headquarters in the Cantabrian city" METALOCUS. Accessed

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