Sand Becomes Part of Comillas’ Seafront Landscape

 

Located on Spain’s northern coast, Comillas is a small Cantabrian town with a rich architectural heritage, including El Capricho, one of Antoni Gaudí’s few buildings outside Catalonia. Against this historic backdrop, the transformation of the town’s seafront by Hector Navarro + arkhitekton addresses its changing relationship with the Cantabrian Sea. Instead of treating sand as something to be removed, the intervention incorporates it into the everyday functioning of the promenade. Carried inland by wind and beachgoers, sand settles within planted areas and permeable paving, becoming part of the public space.

all images ©Imagen Subliminal

 

 

Dune-Inspired Landscape Connects Town and Coast

 

Through this strategy, the design team extends into a new landscape inspired by the dune ecosystems of the Cantabrian coast. The promenade creates a transition between the built fabric of Comillas and the beach, using vegetation, permeable surfaces, and mineral materials to accommodate the changing conditions of the coastline. Limestone riprap reinforces the connection with the rocky coastal landscape, while permeable surfaces allow water and sand to remain part of the ground.

aerial view showing the sequence of planted areas, paved surfaces and sandy beach

 

 

Benches and Open Space Reframe Comillas’ Waterfront

 

Individual benches are distributed along the promenade, providing places to stop and look toward the sea without creating a continuous line of conventional street furniture. By reducing the presence of cars and expanding pedestrian areas, the intervention gives greater space to everyday public use. Rather than introducing an autonomous object on the coastline, the project works with processes already present on the site: wind, sand, vegetation, water, and movement, to shape a new public landscape for Comillas.

sand is incorporated into the design as a material already present in the everyday life of the promenade

the renewed seafront establishes a continuous transition between town and beach

the promenade is conceived as a linear landscape between the urban fabric and the beach

planting and mineral surfaces respond to the changing coastal conditions

the new paving combines pedestrian continuity with planted strips and resting areas dune-like planting beds introduce coastal vegetation into the promenade local limestone riprap defines edges, seating areas and transitions between surfaces benches, planting and stone elements create small places to pause along the waterfront existing trees provide shaded resting areas overlooking the bay coastal planting and limestone rocks soften the transition towards the historic balustrade a single bench frames the open view towards the sea the new ice cream kiosk is designed as a light pavilion integrated into the seafront

 

project info:

 

name: Comillas Waterfront Promenade
architect: Hector Navarro | @hectornavarro + arkhitekton

location: Comillas, Spain

landscape designers: Héctor Navarro, Diego Jardinería (Diego Cuartas & Adolfo Vila)

photographer: Imagen Subliminal (Miguel de Guzmán + Rocío Romero) | @imagensubliminal

 

designboom has received this project from our DIY submissions feature, where we welcome our readers to submit their own work for publication. See more project submissions from our readers here.

 

edited by: Christina Vergopoulou | designboom

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