Funicular in Mogan

ARCHITECTS: RAMÓN LÓPEZ-NEIRA AND BEATRIZ CIAURRI (ATELIERLOPEZNEIRACIAURRI)

We were commissioned to refurbish a hotel designed in the 1970s, located 183 metres above sea level and crowning a densely populated hill on Mogán, Gran Canaria island. The intervention, proposed in different phases, consists in spreading an environmental layer with universal accessibility, giving a future to the previous construction with the implementation of environmentally friendly energy systems and inclined transportation.
During the early stages, the installation of the funicular was completed. With a 42-degree inclination, it provides accessibility to the different levels staggered over the mountain. We took on the challenge of creating a infrastructure with a soul. Strategy and poetics in equal parts.
In addition to the architecture and structure, our scope also included the entire design to manufacture the cabins. And, from the synergy of both environments, construction and industry, a comprehensive work has emerged, rich in design as well as in detail. The triangulated steel structure rests on the different mountain terraces, to which walkways are stacked to access the 6 different levels. The walkways feature tensioned stainless stell meshes and blue carpet laid on the floor. The cabins have been manufactured with curved and flat glass in a bright smoky-yellow, with two different degrees of transparency. All components have been designed specifically to improve the experience: from the buttons to the entry step.
The old solarium at the top, full of terraced floor levels and with obsolete uses and services, hosts the set of measures aimed at reducing energy consumption in the hotel’s common areas, hold the funicular machines, the land used in new plantations and the pools, in which the water bodies exchange heat with the renewable heating system. The air chamber generated in this space provides ventilation and cooling for indoor spaces, reducing the need for energy input.
And the ultimate result is a blue magic carpet, which provides a dimensionless experience, blending sky and floorings, pools and ocean. It hovers over the cornice of Puerto Rico and overlaps the existing hotel unabashedly.
The sustainable future of our buildings, towns and cities lies in energy refurbishment. The same is true for our industry and tourism is a clear example of this.