Integration into the surroundings of Line 1 of the Serra Grossa TRAM

Alicante, Alicante, Comunidad Valenciana.
Special mention / Diploma in the category Conservation / Conservation and adaptive reuse in the year 2011.

Dating of the building: 18th -19th century.

Applicant: Eduardo de Miguel Arbonés.

Reason for the award :

For the original landscape recovery carried out along the route of Line 1 of the tram, in Serra Grossa, an example of the everyday scene, which includes the industrial heritage characteristic of this space, such as the old La Británica refinery.

  • © Eduardo de Miguel Arbonés y José María Urzelai Fernández
  • © Eduardo de Miguel Arbonés y José María Urzelai Fernández
  • © Eduardo de Miguel Arbonés y José María Urzelai Fernández

The construction of a tram as it passes through Serra Grossa has been used to recover an old quarry and reintegrate into a new and scenic urban space in Alicante.

The landscape intervention of the TRAM is carried out to the north of the city of Alicante, an area located at the foot of the slope of the Serra Grossa next to the Mediterranean Sea. It is a space with a magnificent landscape and heritage value, whose character is clearly defined by its industrial past. The spectacular cuts into the mountain are a reflection of the numerous extractions carried out in a quarry located there years ago, and imprints on the rock show the traces of the ships of the old La Británica refinery in operation until 1966. This industrial complex contains immense deposits and underground galleries dug into the rock, making it unique in the Spanish territory because of its size and complexity.

The project arises as a result of the construction of Line 1 of the TRAM as it passes through the Serra Grossa. The development of this infrastructure was the ideal opportunity to convert an abandoned place into space for public use, accessible to the population and capable of valuing all the forgotten remains to rescue a magnificent hidden cultural heritage. Minimum intervention was taken in order not to destroy the character of the place. To start, the reconversion of the old quarry into a park is planned to act as a hinge between the city centre and the Serra, thus transforming this strategic space, currently in disuse, into an accessible and ideal place for the development of different types of public activities through the rehabilitation and enhancement of its industrial heritage, an imposing cylindrical deposit embedded in the mountain of approximately 40 m in diameter and the underground facilities described above are exposed. On the other hand, the realization of the Sangueta stop enables the creation of a tree-lined square that marks the origin of a walk that runs through the gap between the TRAM tracks and the imposing stone wall of the mountain.

The materials used in the project seek integration into the environment: the walls and pavements use concrete with a rough, coarse, and slightly coloured finish with shades similar to the local stone; dry stone masonry factories, originating from the site’s quarries, line the structure of the tram installation, and the various existing slopes are covered with native vegetation. The result is to ensure that the execution of the new TRAM layout is capable of recovering the public dimension of an abandoned urban space, turning it into a modern, friendly public transport infrastructure that is fully integrated into the Serra Grossa landscape.

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