Colección ES Headquarters
The Colección ES Headquarters project involved the renovation of an approximately 600-square-meter space in the city of Santander, in northern Spain, transforming it into a setting for the private contemporary art collection of a prominent businessman. In addition to its primary function, the space was also conceived as an office and a venue for hosting meetings and gatherings with friends and guests, all centered around the art collection.
A significant portion of the space is devoted to exhibition areas, which coexist with a storage room for the collection, a private bathroom, two guest restrooms, a kitchen with a dining area for preparing and serving meals, and an office featuring a large window that offers a view onto one of Santander’s characteristic inner courtyards.
The more practical, intimate, or utilitarian areas—such as the kitchen, bathroom, and storage room—are seamlessly linked to the exhibition space by square glass partitions framed in pink, repeated throughout the layout. This unbroken visual connection keeps the artworks in constant view, while everyday scenes are framed as if they were additional photographs or paintings in the collection.
The layout of the space is based on the geometric logic of Cartesian axes, as a tribute to the collector’s background in mathematics. The influence of Japanese architecture—rooted in the architects’ early professional experience in Tokyo—is reflected not only in the calm, restrained atmosphere of the space, but also in the use of the module—here, the square—as the foundational element of the architectural composition.
White dominates the space, softened by subtle touches: grey flooring, pink-framed partitions, light blue furnishings, and birch wood ceilings in a few smaller rooms.
This carefully chosen palette reflects both the architects’ emotional connection to this coastal city—where they spent their childhood—and the gentle, childlike perspective of a collector closely engaged with the work of living artists.
Colección ES Headquarters is conceived as a stage for art and human connection, where every architectural decision contributes to creating a serene, thoughtfully structured, and purposeful atmosphere. A place where contemplation, work, and social interaction find a natural balance.
