The new public space designed by Scob is built upon the existing topography to define a system of tiered seating and pathways, integrating a circular stage, seating for approximately 300 people, and a service building and dressing rooms with elements, proportions, and geometries that harmonize with the circular features of the early 20th-century garden.
For the construction of the theater, the main material used was sand (earth from the decomposition of granite), a material widely used in the garden and the local area, integrating it into the paving, the stands, the walls and the lime plasters to maintain compatibility with the architectural and landscape heritage.
Theater in the Gardens of Santa Clotilde by Scob. Photograph by Judith Casas.
Project description by Scob
A New Cultural Space in One of Catalonia's Most Emblematic Historic Gardens
The intervention in the Santa Clotilde Gardens incorporates a small open-air theater that extends the principles of order, clarity, and connection with the landscape characteristic of the Noucentista garden. The project takes advantage of the existing topography to define a system of steps and pathways oriented towards Cala Boadella, while the use of sandstone as a unifying material ensures continuity with the historic paving and walls. The intervention is integrated into the clearings of the woodland without affecting the vegetation, consolidating a new cultural space fully coherent with the geometric and landscape logic of the original garden.
Mediterranean Noucentisme: Order, Clarity, and Landscape
The Santa Clotilde Gardens were born under the principles of Noucentisme, a movement that championed simplicity, proportion, and a return to Mediterranean roots as a response to the excesses of Modernisme. Rubió i Tudurí conceived the garden as a space for reconciliation between humankind and nature, where the topography, the horizon, and the sea form an inseparable part of the experience.
The original layout is articulated through a network of paths, staircases, and small circular plazas, accompanied by distinctly Mediterranean vegetation: cypresses, pines, ivy, myrtle, agapanthus, and oleanders. The current intervention takes these values as its starting point and projects them toward a new cultural space fully integrated into the historical complex.
A theater facing the sea. A new meeting point
With more than 130,000 visitors annually, the Santa Clotilde Gardens are one of the most visited heritage sites in Catalonia. To consolidate and diversify its cultural activity, the Lloret de Mar City Council is promoting the construction of a small open-air theater at the western end of the garden, in a natural clearing with exceptional views of Cala Boadella.
The program includes:
• A circular stage.
• Seating for approximately 300 people, adapted to the natural slope of the land.
• Dressing rooms and a small service building.
The complex is oriented towards the landscape, transforming the sea and mountains into a permanent backdrop. The seating, integrated into the slope, directs the viewer's gaze towards the horizon, where light and relief merge into a unique natural backdrop on the Costa Brava.
Mediterranean Materiality. Building from the site
The proposal adopts the principles of simplicity, order, and clarity characteristic of the historic garden. It focuses on a materiality based on the use of sablón—earth from the decomposition of granite, widely used locally and present in the gardens themselves—as an omnipresent element in paving, seating, walls, and lime plaster.
The two small architectural structures—the service building and the volume housing the dressing rooms—are situated in existing clearings, without affecting any trees. Their forms, proportions, and geometries engage in a dialogue with the circular elements of the early 20th-century garden, reinforcing the continuity between the historical and the contemporary.
The service building, with its circular floor plan and central courtyard, incorporates a green roof, an axial cypress, and climbing plants that partially cover the façade, evoking the tradition of topiary and the constant presence of vegetation in the original garden.
A journey towards the landscape
The path connecting both volumes descends gently, following the line of least slope, towards the sea. This design choice, consistent with the garden's topographical logic, allows the new theater to operate independently of visiting hours, expanding the versatility of the complex and facilitating its cultural and educational use.
The stage, defined by a continuous bench and a perimeter fence, is conceived as a flexible space for small-scale activities, from musical performances to workshops, conferences, or educational initiatives related to heritage.
Commitment to the environment, beauty, and community
In addition to landscape integration and material continuity with the historic garden, the intervention incorporates criteria aimed at optimizing resources and respecting the environment:
• Resource efficiency and optimization of construction processes.
• Use of local materials and techniques, with a special emphasis on sandstone and lime plaster.
• Respectful integration with the existing topography, avoiding earthworks and preserving all surrounding vegetation.
• Reduction of energy consumption and minimization of future maintenance through passive solutions and durable materials.
• Landscape integration without altering the environmental dynamics of the garden or the surrounding woodland.
The project understands beauty as a social value, reinforcing the artistic dialogue with the historic gardens and expanding the cultural and educational offerings of the complex. Its relationship with the local community contributes to urban regeneration based on accessibility, diversity, and inclusion, compatible with the preservation of the architectural and landscape heritage.
Since its inauguration, the new theater has established itself as a space for meeting, culture, and community life, from which Lloret de Mar continues to promote respect for and dissemination of the historical and natural values of the area.
