This is what the new Malaga port tower hotel designed by top British architect will look like
Created by the international design studio of David Chipperfield, the luxury hotel will stand 144 metres tall, have nearly 400 rooms and feature a large rooftop garden terrace
It was the best kept secret... until today. SUR can now exclusively reveal the first images of the new design of the Malaga port tower, created by the international studio of British architect David Chipperfield.
The promoters of the luxury hotel planned for the end of the port, past the cruise terminal - the Hesperia Hotels group together with the Al Alfia Qatari fund - will reveal more details of the skyscraper and the project for the total remodelling of the end of the Levante quay, both designed by the international studio of David Chipperfield, next Monday, 17 November. The meeting, in the building of the former institute of port studies (currently the headquarters of the UNIA), will be attended by the promoters and the technical team responsible for the project.
This step comes now that the Malaga port authority has given its approval to the project in its entirety, and has sent it to Puertos del Estado (a higher body, dependent on the ministry of transport) so that it can determine its legal validity. Ultimately, if the response is positive, this body will be responsible for submitting it to the cabinet of ministers for final approval. In any case, before this step can be taken, the two contentious-administrative appeals against the skyscraper currently being heard in the courts will have to be resolved.
It is already known that the building designed by the Pritzker Prize winner (Nobel Prize for architecture) will have a very simple and stylised rectangular structure. It will rise to a height of 144 metres (some 35 storeys) and will house between 350 and 390 suite-style rooms. A key feature, in addition to its glass façade, is the large roof garden terrace, which will be the most iconic part of the building and one of the main characteristics of its design.
A new urban centre
In reality, in the new proposal on the table, which already has the blessing of the port and the city council, the skyscraper is part of a wider urban intervention. Chipperfield's project proposes to redevelop the entire length and breadth of the Levante quay, with gardens and new uses, open to the general public, and a convention centre with a capacity for 2,000 guests.
The conference centre will have a capacity for an audience of 2,000, and the project plans to make the entire Levante quay available for public use
The architect said back in February, when the first presentation of the still incomplete proposal was made: "The focus of the project, the main mission is the hotel and the congress centre. But the real opportunity is to transform the quay into part of the city, to bring that part of the port closer to the city. And we believe that the hotel and congress centre can be the catalyst."
"The project has a more vertical part, which is what might initially attract attention, but equally important to us is the whole horizontal part, the public programme that is open to the general public. Until now it has been an industrial area, and we believe that this is a great opportunity to incorporate it into the fabric of the city."
The current Levante promenade will become a landscaped area and will be equipped with seating areas, viewpoints overlooking the sea and the city and photovoltaic pergolas. "It is a total transformation from an industrial to an urban space."
The new spaces will have commercial uses and other open and leisure areas, not only for hotel guests. Of these, the centrepiece will be the convention centre, "which is an infrastructure that the city does not have today and which will allow it to compete in the convention tourism business with the big international cities", said Jordi Ferrer, the CEO of Hesperia Hotels, at the time.
Green light for the project
Recently, the head of the group promoting the skyscraper-hotel celebrated the decision of the port authority's board of directors to give the green light to the project, which he considers "a key milestone" after almost a decade of processing.
"The fact that the port of Malaga has decided to go ahead is a strategic commitment to consolidate a first class investment," emphasised the CEO of Hesperia Hotels. "There is no project of this size in the hotel industry in Spain. It is a strategic investment for Malaga, but also for the country.
Ferrer also highlighted the architectural and urban value of the proposal designed by the British architect David Chipperfield, winner of the Pritzker prize for architecture, whom he described as "the right choice for his sustainable vision and his commitment to urban integration". "Chipperfield insisted from day one that he wanted to do a project for the city that would reclaim a disused area of the port and create new green spaces open to the public. His design naturally integrates the city and the sea."
Furthermore, he insisted that the tower "does not compete with the city", but rather "embellishes its skyline". "The height is not to attract attention. It is within the approved urban planning parameters, and far from competing with Malaga, it projects it internationally." He also pointed out that the building will be located at the end of the port, "away from the historic city centre", and will contribute to revitalising a space "in disuse".
What happens now?
Since the end of October, the dossier for the hotel planned for the Levante quay has been in the hands of Puertos del Estado, a body dependent on the central government's ministry of transport. At that time, the Malaga port authority fully validated the file of the proposal by the architect David Chipperfield, commissioned by the Qatar fund Al Alfia and Hesperia Hotels, and sent it to this national body to continue with its complex and lengthy processing.
The technicians of the maritime institution have carried out an analysis of compliance with the regulations in all areas: urban planning, environmental, mobility and port, as well as the technical and economic proposals. The proposal was presented by the private promoters in March 2025, and the processing by the port technicians began a few weeks later, so it took approximately six months.
"The project complies with the parameters of the competition that was called at the time, and is within the limits of the 2025 Special Plan, the 2023 environmental impact statement and all the required regulations. For this reason, we give it the go-ahead and send it to Madrid," declared the president of the Port, Carlos Rubio, at the time.
Therefore, it will now be up to the legal services of Puertos del Estado to report on it and check that the initiative complies with the provisions of the legislation. Finally, if it is approved by this body, the same authority will be responsible for submitting it to the cabinet of ministers for the final green light.
However, the minister of transport, Óscar Puente, emphasised at the forum organised by SUR in Málaga last July that this procedure would not be carried out until there is a definitive verdict on the two contentious-administrative court appeals that have been filed by the citizens' platform Defendamos Nuestro Horizonte and the Academy of Fine Arts of San Telmo.
So the project is now subject to the outcome of both appeals, and it will be up to the courts to decide the timing of the next steps. In both cases, there are still many months to go before the judge's decision is known.
