Far from a radical transformation, the project proposed by Rambla9 Arquitectura preserves the essence of the historic building, adapting its spaces and materials to a cultural and public use. Using light and stone as key elements, the intervention presents itself as an architectural dialogue that maintains the memory of the place and facilitates continuity between past and new uses.
The proposal combines rehabilitation and adaptation to new uses as a space with a social purpose in this Mallorcan town. The building regains its status as a meeting point for citizens with its new cultural role, highlighting its resilience to become an active space where citizens connect with the future, without forgetting their past.
Abeurador Santanyi by Rambla9 Arquitectura. Photograph by Fran Alonso.
Project description by Rambla9 Arquitectura
Located in the historic heart of Santanyí, Mallorca, this architectural renovation transforms an old municipal warehouse beside the historic abeurador, the traditional stone trough that long served as a
shared point of access to water for the community, into a contemporary cultural center open to the public.
The new space welcomes exhibitions, gatherings, and public events, transforming the flow of water into the flow of culture, a quiet renewal of the communal spirit that has long defined this place.
The original structure is preserved and refined, adapting its proportions and material expression to contemporary uses while maintaining the integrity and presence of the historic building. Inside, a new skin of local Santanyí stone envelops the space, enriching the interior with a tactile and cultural connection to the town’s heritage. This material presence reinforces the continuity between the site’s original character and its new role as a cultural landmark, emphasizing both permanence and renewal.
The entrance, framed beside the old porch, reinforces the dialogue between architecture, memory, and place. Light becomes a central element in this transformation, guiding movement and deepening the relationship between material and space.
This intervention is precise and respectful, a careful effort to link heritage and modernity. It renews the life of a historic building through light, material, and time, offering an expression of Mallorca’s architectural continuity and cultural identity. What emerges is not simply a renovated structure, but a living space that allows the community to reconnect with its past while participating fully in the cultural life of the present and even the future.
