Exhibition and Conference Center
Architects
Sol89. María González and Juanjo López de la Cruz with Miguel Ángel Francisco and Camilo Silva
Collaborators
Insur JG, installations; NB35, structure; Scenic Light, scenic equipment; Instituto de la Construcción de la Universidad de Sevilla, acoustic study
Technical Architect
Rafael Luna
Cliente
Ayuntamiento de Ayamonte, Diputación de Huelva and Junta de Andalucía
Construction Companies
Begar S.A. and Jarquil S.A.
Photography
Fernando Alda and Javier Orive
Ayamonte is a border town defined by two vast bodies of water. To the west lies the mouth of the Guadiana River, a significant territorial landmark of the town and a natural border with Portugal. To the southeast, there are marshes and salt flats, a vast, ever-changing, and horizontal landscape that had been overlooked due to a railway belt dismantled in the nineties. It’s on this rediscovered land that the Congress Center is located.
The required facilities (a 1000-seat auditorium, two others with 400 and 150 seats, areas for congress participants, and exhibitions) could be perceived on two scales: On one hand, a cross-border and territorial scale, where the Center would function as a large congress space, accessed by car or bus, from an airport or another city. On the other hand, there’s a local scale; concerts in a hall, a lecture, traveling exhibitions… which would necessitate a fragmented use of the building, approached on foot or by bicycle from somewhere within the town.
The project aims to recognize the scenic value of the rediscovered marshland and the dual, unified, and fragmented interpretation of the program through a vast public space inside the building. An elevated, covered platform, which completes the network of squares and promenades that structure Ayamonte’s river journey from the Guadiana to the marshes, runs through the building, creating a void from which to view the salt flat landscape. Like a grand hall open to the territory, this space blurs the boundaries between public and private, proposing a communal place to gather, shielded by architecture. This concept is playfully explained by the English term “understanding,” which could essentially define the congress space. Surrounding it are the exhibition spaces and the three large halls, whose roofs shelter the inner square. The inner void simultaneously connects and separates, allowing for the desired unified and fragmented use. From the town, access via a generous ramp raises the entry level to the halls, hiding the vast void and offering a view of the landscape from this elevated and versatile plane, also avoiding conflicts with the water table. Meanwhile, facing the territory, the expansive marshland landscape pushes against the building, which hollows out to cater to this broad and territorial scale.
