The rehabilitation of Palace of Letter It has undergone a long and tortuous path since it began in 2018, with the award of the drafting of the project, to the present, already finished, pending only the last auctions for open its doors this week as a Tourist Information Point. The works, which began in 2019, were to have finished only six months later, but the discovery of a cistern insidefirst, the pandemic later, and various setbacks such as the disinsection of wood or requests from the insular Heritage area, have made this building, the only one from the 18th century that remains in the cityhas remained closed and under construction for almost four years.
The Consistory has invested 1.3 million in the first phase of the rehabilitation of what was the first BIC in Santa Cruz, and which will now become the first of the municipal heritage properties to see its rehabilitation completed. The Carta family stopped inhabiting the property in 1853. Now, 170 years after that march, the Palacio de Carta recovers its essence.
Among the most important milestones of this long-awaited reopening is the recovery for the public of the second interior patio, whose access is through Bethencourt Afonso street (formerly San José), and the main patio that recovers its splendor. In addition, the two spaces that will make up the tourist information points that will be managed by the Development Society are joined.
To get to this point, the project had to be modified beforehand after finding the aforementioned cistern, and it ended up being sealed in order to continue with the work. Before the pandemic was declared, the technicians were forced to take another break to carry out a disinsection treatment, and also to increase fire safety measures. A wood of tea and barbuzano, which is well preserved and which makes up one of the richest carpentry that exists right now in the Canary Islands, due to its decoration and details, explained the mayor of Works, Dámaso Arteaga, in one of the visits. These woods contributed to the building being declared an Asset of Cultural Interest in 1947.
With the stoppage of the pandemic, and the subsequent problem of supply of materials that was generated, the time of the work gradually increased until reaching the last setback. The insular area of Heritage demanded that the door of the building should be adjusted to its historical characteristics, since the project implied raising the door lintel to the original height. With the new dimensions, the door that reproduced the original was commissioned. Its manufacture and arrival on the Island has been another of the delays that the work has had to face.
When it opens its doors next week, visitors will be able to enjoy a completely recovered main patio, with a second patio that can be accessed from San José street. The security cameras of the bank were located in this second courtyard, which, from 1950 to the 1970s, occupied the Palacio de Carta.
An access for people with reduced mobility has been created at the main entrance of the building, which will be unique in Spain, and which will have a retractable staircase, as well as an elevator.
The architect studio FADG was awarded the drafting of the project carried out by the companies Víctor Rodríguez e Hijos and VVO Construcciones. In this project, the premises from which they started were six, as stated by the studio on its corporate website.
The first of the points was to make the building visible. “Formerly the Palacio de Carta, due to its height, was the dominant building in the public space, but currently its presence, especially when accessing from the Plaza de España, is very scarce. For this reason, a series of elements of public furniture are proposed, such as benches on both sides of the entrance, small trees in a pot, or a vertical banner on the limits of the façade to advertise the tourist activities offered.
The second of the premises was to transmit. “The old Plaza de la Pila was 1.5 meters above the current level, having access at the same level to the main patio (…) We therefore propose a visual and ephemeral element that draws that line of the old level on the façade ”.
Recovering the façade was another of the premises. “Due to the changes in use of the building, and the level of the square, the entrance is the element of the façade that has suffered the most modifications. In the 1952 reform, the height of the lintel of the entrance door was lowered to house the marble plaque with the name of the banking institution on it. In this way, the proportion of the doorway bears no relation to the rest of the façade. In addition, the wooden door of Canary Island pine was removed, replacing it with a door and windows made of cast iron grating. Our recommendation is that these items be restored to their pre-1952 state.”
The fourth point was to adapt. “In the entrance hall we propose to remove the red marble from Alicante and the white from Carrara, which bear no relation to the history of the building prior to 1952, as well as the stepped side next to the steps, replacing it with the same basalt as we found on the façade”. Accessibility is solved with the retractable staircase and the already mentioned elevator.
The fifth objective was to rebuild. “In the interior, it is proposed to remove the skylight and cover of the secondary patio, as well as to recover the original level of this patio, which was formerly below the main patio. These elements were added and altered respectively in the 1952 reform. The secondary patio was lost and also its relationship with the Bethencourt Alfonso façade, completely turning its back on this street. By recovering the original level of the secondary patio, this façade will enjoy ventilation and natural light through it at the same level as the sidewalk, creating great added value in this space. The creation of the cafeteria and possible commercial premises that would economically justify this operation are proposed for this area.
The last of the objectives was, obviously, to finish. “To give the building a new use, a series of strategies will be followed in terms of elements to be recovered and elements to be removed. In the exterior areas, a basalt stone pavement is proposed, cut and treated with digital cutting and engraving techniques to demonstrate its new date of implementation. And on the other, a wooden floor is proposed in the interior rooms that recovers the finish prior to 1952. As for the furniture, a series of highly functional elements are proposed that in no way compete or detract from the original pieces of furniture that can be maintained. , such as the original cabinets and doors, as well as the approach to the recovery of elements such as the Doors of the Oratory (which are currently in the Museum of Fine Arts of Santa Cruz), which should be part of the historical complex that we are trying to recover ”.
All this is what, next week, will be able to be verified, a Palacio de Carta that will invite you to be part of its history, with a renewed image but very respectful of its past, and that will help to understand the changes not only of its own architecture, but also to tell that of the city as an immovable witness during the last 275 years.
