Bear Architects designs Zubitegi Park in Spain as "living infrastructure"

An open steel grid topped with green barrel-vaulted roofs frames this park in Spain, which has been completed by Bilbao studio Bear Architects.

Named Zubitegi Park, the project occupies a challenging plot on a former water treatment plant in Mallabia with a dramatic change in height and a poor connection to the nearby road.

The park is designed to be flexible and cater to a wide range of leisure and sports activities, which Bear Architects said it achieved by referencing the work of British architect Cedric Price.

Specifically, the studio referenced Price's unbuilt Fun Palace proposal from the 1960s, which envisioned an adaptable and flexible "laboratory of fun".

"The aim, related to the theories of Cedric Price, is to make an open building in terms of both time and use; an open building without an interior that could have now a padel court, playground or a gym but could contain a skatepark or bike park in the future," explained the studio.

"[It is] a living infrastructure for the territory, for its residents and its visitors," it continued.

Two ramped pedestrian pathways and a spiral staircase provide access along both edges of Zubitegi Park, traversing the change in height from the nearby road and creating a new route from Mallabia to the neighbouring town of Eruma.

Framed by a steel grid, these elevated walkways and a circular terrace at the site's eastern end overlook a geometric paved area at the centre, where seating areas and play equipment can be easily adapted to new uses in the future.

Facing south, the elevated areas double as a viewpoint of the woodland surrounding Zubitegi Park, where an additional circular terrace is accessed by a winding path.

"The intervention starts by generating an accessible network of paths and connections that provide a new network of friendly paths for people with reduced mobility and generate a new connection network with the lower part of Mallabia and Ermua," explained Bear Architects.

"Well lit and without black spots, with infrastructures to carry out adapted and enriching sports and activities, it is focused on generating an immersive and unique experience from the creativity of its proposals and variety of activities and uses."

The thin concrete and steel grid for Zubitegi Park's structure was chosen to minimise the need for large earthworks while existing aggregate on the site was reused for the new gravel and paving.

Different coloured finishes enliven the metal structures, including mint green for the barrel-vaulted roofs, pale cream for the columns and beams and bright red for the balustrades.

"The materials are in part consequence of the extreme difficulty of constructing on the existing landscape," the studio told Dezeen. "It is extremely light, using steel in different shapes and colours, concrete prefabs with recycled stones and lighting and furniture."

Other parks recently featured on Dezeen include Tianjin 4A Sports Park in China by BAM and Park of Memories in the Czech Republic by SOA Architekti.

The photography is by Luis Díaz Díaz.

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