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. Technical Architects: Michel Aldaz García-Mina, Ana Moral García, Clara González Juanes, Carmen Castizo Lagares, Andoni Gallart Otano. Engineering: GE & Asociados y Labein. Developer:Ayuntamiento de Zarautz. Constructor: UTE Etxezabala (Altuna y Uría, S.A., Cobra, S.A., Giroa S.A.). Project Date: Septiembre de 2006. Completion Date: Noviembre de 2009. Built Surface: 1,615.25 m2. Photographer: José Manuel Cutillas - Proyectar.

The Etxezabala building project is born out of the need for Zarautz Council to concentrate the different administrative departments scattered throughout the municipality into one administrative hub (Casa Portu-Town Hall, Etxezabala and the Municipal Market) within the Historic District, endowing each of the buildings with a specific personality. For this reason, the current Town Hall (Casa Portu) retains its institutional character, the Municipal Market maintains its current usage on the ground floor, whereas the upper floor could be used for cultural and institutional purposes, and finally, the new Etxezabala building will house the different additional administrative departments required.

The Etxezabala building is an administrative building which aims to maximise the potential of the available surface area, making it compatible with the image and spatial conception of the building before the fire that destroyed it. Hence, the new building, as one of its most significant features, has the main staircase where the previous courtyard was located; a staircase designed to be a light object that stretches out through the empty space. The rest of the floor is free to group the different administrative departments required.

The image of the building reacts in a dual way. On the one hand, it highlights the recovery of the value of the former building, through the adoption of materials and the composition of areas on similar vertical lines to the buildings in Calle Nagusia and, on the other hand, it emphasises the public character and welfare orientation of the building, by opening up and making the ground floor more transparent through a large section of glass.

Urbarama (Página consultada el 12 de mayo de 2011). Edificio Etxezabala – Etxezabala Building Offices [ES]. [On-line]. Dirección URL: http://es.urbarama.com/project/edificio-etxezabala-etxezabala-building-offices

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