Architecture studio Laplace and landscape architect Piet Oudolf have transformed and repurposed a collection of historic buildings on Isla del Rey in Menorca into an art centre for the Hauser & Wirth gallery.
Named Hauser & Wirth Menorca, the gallery is located on a small island off the coast of Mahon in the south of Menorca. It is housed within a formerly derelict hospital facility that was built and occupied by the British Navy from the early 1700s.
Top: the island is located in Menorca's natural harbour. Photo is by Be Creative. Above: Laplace restored the 18th-century buildings
A two-year conservation project saw the three buildings converted into a 1,500-square-metre cultural hub. The site is complete with eight exhibition spaces, a restaurant, a gallery shop, a sculpture trail and biodiverse gardens. Laplace explained that the studio looked to preserve the memory of the existing building by highlighting its "scars" and adapting the structure to appear as though it was always there.
Elogio del vacío VI, 2000, by Eduardo Chillida was positioned beside a courtyard.
"We wanted to celebrate the history of the building and bring value to all its scars," Laplace co-founder Luis Laplace told Dezeen.
"We have to keep the building's integrity and work around the context. We have been working for a long time against the white-cube sort of space."
The Cantina has a nautical look
Long, linear exhibition spaces occupy the two largest building...