During this year’s annual Coverings Installation & Design (CID) Awards special recognition for Innovation in Tile was awarded to COR Asociados Arquitectos for the Museo de las Collectiones Naturales. What was once part of a series of pavilions that served the Spanish military during the 1930s and 1940s is now home to a priceless collection of wildlife on the campus of the University of Alicante in Alicante, Spain.
The award-winning project first came to fruition as a way to reform and refurbish one of the oldest buildings on the University’s campus, with the idea of showcasing its highly prized collection never displayed before.
Architects Jesus Olivares and Miguel Rodenas who oversaw the project began the transformation inside with an open floor plan in the main hall. This allowed for versatile use of the space where visitors could move freely about the gallery while providing ample room to hold large events.
Eucalyptus wood panels were selected as the interior cladding to preserve specific technical and atmospheric conditions inside the museum. These panels are suspended just above the white marble floors lending to a weightless and calming environment, in line with the museum’s natural theme. To complete the main auditorium, an elevated catwalk extends across the ground floor of the main hall providing visitors a different vantage point of the exhibits below.
The main interior space connects to two additional areas. The first, a great window that leads to a semi-detached building reserved for the research and maintenance of the collections on display. The second space opens up to the main entrance and exterior of the museum.
With a goal to breathe new life into the renovated building, Olivares and Rodenas used green glazed ceramic tiles to adorn the front entrance while the exterior is accentuated with an extravagant lattice installation. The latticework is made up of white and green glazed terracotta pieces, anchored to a metal structure that attaches to the existing building, serving as a second skin.
About the Awards
The Coverings Installation & Design Awards celebrate outstanding achievements in the design and installation of tile and stone in both residential and commercial projects.
An esteemed panel of notable editors and leading designers evaluated submissions based on execution, original usage, and overall design and purpose, and gave special recognition to those projects exemplifying spectacular tile and stone applications. For additional information visit: https://www.coverings.com/cid-awards/
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