A new geology for the port

We start from the rehabilitation of an existing building in Getaria to create a new public facility tied directly to the life of the town and the port. The original structure is kept as a “skeleton”, and contemporary modules are inserted inside it, among the bare historic concrete: a dialogue between past and new uses.

Light is the axis. We enlarged an existing opening and placed a circulation core in it, strengthening the vertical relations; at the opposite end we opened a second light entrance so the interior is lit continuously. The ground floor and the roof are joined by stepped seating, forming a vertical public route; the services are arranged in coherent vertical bands, giving a clear, flexible plan, and a multipurpose patio at the centre is the building's social heart.

The building is also an urban connector: it overcomes the large level difference between town and port with outer and inner circulations (lift and stairs included) that link both areas accessibly. At sea level, a store for small boats and a workshop tied to port activity; on the middle floors, rooms for the town's associations; at the top, a tavern and a gastronomic society open to the town and the views.

The Nautikoa is a deep remodel. Much of the original structure is kept, but the interior partitions and the original façade are removed entirely so the building can be given an interpretation of its own. It is not only a restoration: the hillside the building stands on has been excavated to build an extension, and the architecture is inserted into the topography with two new underground floors.

To soften the meeting with street level, a sequence of terraces at different heights is created. The stepping breaks the rigid rectangular volume and nods to the stones of the neighbouring breakwater and to the rocky hill, in dialogue with the landscape; functionally, it offers a new open public space. Those geometric, integrated forms give the project its name: Arroka.

Light and transparency are the material: the original concrete stays visible, alongside light metal railings, wide glazed enclosures and acetate panels for the interior partitions. Visual continuity and natural light reach every corner, blurring inside and outside. The programme joins research and outreach: marine-science and innovation laboratories in the original building and, on the Arroka terraces, the sea interpretation centre, a lecture room and a tavern opening onto the port.

The main aim is to combine Getaria's historic heritage with modern urban needs: to insert a new public and educational space that respects collective memory and improves the relationship between town and port. Most of the original structure and the main façade are kept; the interior parts are removed, and that is how Arroila is born: a large void crossing the building from top to bottom. The original façade stands isolated like a stage set, highlighting its monumentality and giving the interior light and drama.

The level difference between the port and the upper streets is a challenge for pedestrians, and the building itself is what joins the levels. The external stairs, hung from the façade, form a “vertical street”: they are public and open 24 hours a day, even when the school or the library are closed, and create sequential viewpoints. The covered plaza on the first floor works as a filter: it receives the urban flows and sends them down, to the library, or up, to the school. Above, the roof plaza is a large balcony open to the sea, where fishing activity once took place.

Structure and materials respond to memory too. The original concrete structure is largely kept and the new construction grows from its logic, reaching current school standards while minimising environmental impact. The outer stairs and galleries are steel with aluminium grating floors: light, safe and letting light through. The timber comes from local pine forests (those planted in the Zilegimendiak of the Urumea) and is used for window joinery, wall finishes and furniture; interior floors are terrazzo tiles (60×60). In the drawings, red marks the new, black the existing and grey the context.