Mermet fabrics in Centre Botín

Centro Botín is located in Santander, north-western Spain. It hosts the artistic, educational and cultural events of the Fondation Botín, the largest private cultural foundation in the country. This two-part arts centre is built on the waterfront in the Jardines de Pereda gardens. It has become a major tourist attraction, not simply because of the 270,000 ceramic discs that embellish its outer walls.
To protect the artwork collections and ensure optimal visual and thermal comfort for visitors throughout the year, an ingenious combination of Mermet fabrics Satine 5500, SV 10% and Karellis 11301 was developed.

Light and transparency

For the architects, several points were essential:

• allow as much natural light in as possible while limiting glare,
• ensure seamless  transparency, both inwards and outwards, to enjoy this remarkable construction that offers magnificent visual links with the water of the bay and the surrounding park,
• protect art installations while ensuring visitors enjoy optimal thermal comfort.

A technical solution

Developed and installed by blind maker Resstende s.r.l,  the solution to meet all these requirements involved overlaying three Mermet fabrics up to 8 m high (a total of 300 blinds):

• a tall external blind to control light and heat: the Satine 5500 fabric 0201 White Grey filters 94% of solar radiation to deliver thermal comfort while preventing glare and blocking UV radiation to protect exhibited works

•  two internal fabrics complete the solar shading:

  - to darken and block out sun rays, zip internal blinds using Karellis 11301 colour 608 Chartreux, thin and lightweight fabric, serve to regulate light and provide full blackout capability,

  -  to enhance the light levels in open spaces, the SV 10% fabric 0102 Grey White was selected for use on roller blinds due to its light diffusion capabilities and transparency.

See more photos

© Fundación Botín - Centro Botín - Arquitecto Renzo Piano - Santander 2017 - Resstende Srl - Marcella V. Grassi Morell - Mermet SAS