Desert Canopy
Location
Tabernas, Spain
Year
2026
Typology
Public Space
Area
2,100 m²
Status
Under construction
Client
Junta de Andalucía
A shade structure and sunken plaza for a visitor centre in Europe's only desert.
In the desert, shade is architecture.
A single concrete canopy, 64 metres long and 30 centimetres thin at its edge, shelters a sunken plaza and the entrance to an underground visitor centre. Its height was set by the low winter sun: in December, light reaches the back wall; in July, the plaza stays in shadow until evening.
The plaza is cut two metres into the ground, where temperatures remain eight degrees cooler than the surface. Stepped seating along its north edge serves as an outdoor auditorium for evening events.
A weathering-steel marker indicates the visitor path from the road, 400 metres away.
Climate
The canopy is shaped by a year-long solar study of the site. Its underside is finished with a pale aggregate to reflect light into the plaza without glare.
Architecture — ARQVE
Landscape — Paisaje Árido
Structure — Mecanismo
Photography — Unsplash (placeholder)
Expertise
Urban Design, Architecture, Research & Development
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