{"id":434005,"date":"2026-02-19T11:03:09","date_gmt":"2026-02-19T11:03:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/434005\/"},"modified":"2026-02-19T11:03:09","modified_gmt":"2026-02-19T11:03:09","slug":"the-transformation-of-palmas-gesa-building-begins","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/434005\/","title":{"rendered":"The transformation of Palma’s GESA Building begins"},"content":{"rendered":"

“When you come here, you can see things that you don’t see in photos.” The words of one of the twenty or so architects who visited Palma’s GESA Building<\/a> on Wednesday. Most people’s impressions come from photos or from observations of a building that can typically generate a negative reaction. It’s an eyesore. Demolish it.<\/p>\n

The architects think otherwise. They all stand to win the competition for the building’s renaissance. “This is a competition of the highest calibre,” says the same architect, who with others was able to get a first-hand appreciation not just of the exterior but of the interior of a structure considered to be iconic in terms of 1960s commercial architecture. (The building didn’t actually open until the following decade.)<\/p>\n

\"Inside
\nThe building hasn’t been used since 2008. Photo: Miquel \u00c0. Ca\u00f1ellas. <\/p>\n

Another architect expressed his admiration for what was the work of Mallorcan architect, Josep Ferragut. “It’s an architectural landmark, and this building has a bright future in the city, despite what some residents may think. It’s a privilege to work on this competition. It would be wonderful to be able to restore this building.”<\/p>\n

The architects were from Spain and abroad. It is an international competition for a town hall stellar project. There are 30,000 square metres to be redeveloped. The building will form the centrepiece of the Palma Culture & Innovation Bay plan, which is scheduled to be completed – it is hoped – by 2031, the year when the town hall also hopes that Palma will be a European Capital of Culture.<\/p>\n

\"Inside
\nMosaic tiles will be retained. Photo: Miquel \u00c0. Ca\u00f1ellas. <\/p>\n

A building with listed status, various of its features will have to be retained. As to uses, the architects have been given free rein for proposals relating to 20% of the building. The uses will otherwise be split equally between administrative and cultural\/social purposes. The total budget is 91 million euros.<\/p>\n

The deadline for the architects’ submissions is in a few weeks’ time – the first of April.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"“When you come here, you can see things that you don’t see in photos.” The words of one…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":434006,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[6225,6485,6486,1120,96,158501,2739,158502,158503,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-434005","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-arts-and-design","tag-arts","tag-arts-and-design","tag-artsanddesign","tag-design","tag-entertainment","tag-gesa-building","tag-latest-headlines","tag-mallorca-architecture","tag-palma-mallorca","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/434005","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=434005"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/434005\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/434006"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=434005"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=434005"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=434005"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}