Authors: Miguel A. Alonso del Val, Rufino J. Hernández Minguillón, Álvaro Cerezo Ibarrondo. Collaborators: Víctor Ugarte, Maite Lorenzo, Iñaki Llanes, Miguel A. Maestre, David T. Goss, Adelaida Barreiro, Clara González. Technical Architects: Michel Aldaz García-Mina, Ana Moral García, Carmen Castizo Lagares, Andoni Gallart Otano. Engineering: GE & Asociados, Labein. Developer: Ayuntamiento de Zarautz. Constructor: UTE Etxezabala (Altuna y Uría, S.A., Cobra, S.A. y Giroa, S.A). Project Date: September  2006. Completion Date: November 2009. Gross Area : 1,655.98 sqm. Photographer: José Manuel Cutillas - Proyectar.

The Zarautz Municipal Market, a building classed as an element of Zarautz’s Built Heritage, is situated in the town’s Historic Quarter. The location of this piece inserted inside a block is extremely important, since it turns the Market into a unifying thread for the three buildings (Casa Portu-Town Hall, Etxezabala and the Market itself). It, therefore, provides a ground-floor connection out to the street (Calle Nagusia and Calle Zigordia) and a possible interior connection on its upper floor to future users of Casa Portu and Etxezabala.

Hence, the project develops the dual strategy of recovering and adapting the space of the current Municipal Market and promoting the image and use (as a kind of urban salon) of the upper floor as a future venue for various municipal activities and a linking space between the buildings of Casa Portu and Etxezabala.

In the definition of the market, the following actions have been tackled: grouping the stalls by guilds, standardising the general image of the market and the stalls using the definition of an ordinance, providing the facilities and services required in accordance with Sanitary Hygiene regulations and, finally, the elimination of architectural barriers in all accesses and inside the market.

On the first floor, having abandoned the previous use made of the market, the aim is to use this level as a space for activities: exhibitions, conferences, etc. Hence, the proposal is to preserve the current image, emphasising the presence of the structural elements of the roof and increasing the dimension of the oculus with a view to increasing the amount of light in the lower space and promoting the visual relationship between the lower and upper spaces.

Urbarama (Página consultada el 12 de mayo de 2011). Mercado Municipal de Zarautz – Zarautz Municipal Market [ES]. [On-line]. Dirección URL: http://es.urbarama.com/project/mercado-de-zarautz-zarautz-municipal-market

Sólo Arquitectura. (Página consultada en Mayo de 2011). Mercado de Zarautz. [On-line]. Dirección URL: http://www.soloarquitectura.com/proyectos/ah_asociados_mercado_municipal_zarautz.html

Mimoa. (Página consultada el 01 de junio de 2011). Municipal Market of Zarautz. [On-line]. Dirección URL: http://www.mimoa.eu/projects/Spain/Zarautz/Municipal%20Market%20of%20Zarautz