Reform of the Mercado de Colon

Dating of the building: 1916.

Applicant: Urban Actions of Valencia (AUMSA).

Reason for the award :

In recognition of the restoration of the Mercado de Colon and its recovery for public use.

The rehabilitation of the Mercado de Colon has returned to the city of Valencia the beauty of one of its most perfect Modernist buildings.

Located in the zone of the first expansion of the city, between Cirilo Amorós, Conde Salvatierra, Martínez Ferrando, and Jorge Juan streets, the Mercado de Colon is located in one of the commercial centres of modern Valencia. The building, constructed in 1916 and the work of the municipal architect Francisco Mora, shows the influence of the Catalan Modernism of Domènech i Montaner and Puig i Cadafalch. It is an immense longitudinal area with three naves, separated by metal trusses, and closed at their ends with two brick and stone doorways, in the manner of triumphal arches. The whole complex is lavishly decorated with polychrome tiles.

Although the building functioned until the 1990s as a municipal market, its condition was beginning to deteriorate, and the Valencia City Council proceeded to reform and change its use. Thus, the artistic restoration was linked to the creation of three basements for parking and a commercial gallery in the basement. The first phase of the project was especially difficult and required complex excavation and underpinning techniques to maintain the existing historic structure. Later, work was carried out on the oxidation of the knots in the iron structure, the rehabilitation of the brick factory, and the recovery of the original decorative elements. The Mercado de Colón is today a modern shopping gallery within a former municipal market.

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