Work begins on converting Granada hotel into a cultural space
The work, which will take a year and a half, will create a space in the city where visitors will be able to learn about the connection between the Alhambra and the historic Albaicín district
A large crane on Paseo de los Tristes in Granada city is a clear sign that work has begun to convert the former Reuma hotel into a cultural centre. After more than twenty years of closure, work has begun to reform the historic building in the old part of the city.
The work will conserve the façade and reconstruct the inside of the building, as the interior was in very poor condition. In this first phase, the floors will be demolished and the archaeological work will be carried out, which has already borne fruit.
The work, which is being carried out by the Patronato de la Alhambra y el Generalife, will take a year and a half. Specialist restoration company Bados Navarro is responsible for the project which has a 1.6-million-euro budget.
Located at the foot of the Alhambra, with the Darro river in front of it, the area and the Reuma hotel are "the living memory" of Granada, according to architect and curator of the Patronato Alhambra, Antonio Peral, describes it. He says that the building will demonstrate the six constructive phases it went through: "We have already found Nasrid soil from an agricultural building and drawings on the walls. All this will be recovered to enrich the space," Peral explained.
In addition, the reconstruction of the building will provide an insight into what tourism was like at the beginning of the twentieth century, as the hotel opened its doors in 1910. Later it had other uses and other lives and now it will be converted into a cultural centre.
According to the director of the Alhambra, Rodrigo Ruiz-Jiménez, the ground floor will be converted into a permanent exhibition space that will tell the story of the evolution of Granada city, the history of the union between Granada and the Alhambra and specifically the Albaicín district. "In the offices we will create a cultural hub to host cultural associations so that they can have a space and work there, thus encouraging associations," he explained.
The project will also see the careful transformation of certain interior spaces into a space for the dissemination of cultural activities organised by the Patronato de la Alhambra y Generalife.
Important historical elements of the building will be preserved, while constructions added more recently will be removed. On the ground floor, the access system of the old hotel will be recovered, maintaining the entrance on the main façade protected by the plant lattice.
The vestibular space, supported by an information point in the façade annexe and illuminated through the opening in the enlarged floor of the old staircase, extends to the back of the plot to support the adjoining bay, where the stairwell is located. From this central bay are the entrances to the historic bays that contain the more exhibition-oriented use, as well as to the rear courtyard.
The Hotel Reuma, formerly Carmen de las Chirimías, was acquired by the Junta de Andalucía in 2000. The building forms part of the Alhambra and Generalife BIC.
