Located between the cities of Santander and Bilbao in Northern Spain, Laredo is well-known for ‘La Salvé’, its picturesque, five km-long beach and also for the historic part of the town, which dates back to Roman times. Economically, Laredo is considered one of the main resorts on the Cantabrian coast, with the local industry based on fishing, the service sector and tourism.
Opened in 2011, the new port of Laredo has been built next to the existing one and the old city centre, sheltered to the north by a curved groyne. At just over 700 metres long, this provides a sea defence and withstands waves of over eight metres for both the marina and the fishing port basins. The port has been designed with both leisure boating and fishing needs in mind. It has a fishing basin, a marina with jetties and the old port‘s marina berths. It can moor 857 boats on 12 docks and accommodates crafts up to 20 metres in length. It has the latest technology such as a Travelift system for 50-tonne craft, and a car park for 420 vehicles.
The new port buildings include a fish market containing an ice factory. The building is divided into three sectors: ice production, fish processing and offices plus cafeteria. Spread over two floors, it has a total surface area of 1,700 m². The facades were erected with exposed concrete, with hot dip galvanized steel used in the structural frame and within the stairs and flooring.
Given the aggressiveness of the environment, in terms of both rainfall and salinity, zinc was chosen for the covers and to protect the concrete walls. The second building, with a floor area of 2,700.00 m², accommodates differing sized-boats, both for storage and repair and maintenance. Constructed from reinforced concrete, the marine environment meant that due consideration had to be given to have some form of protection for the reinforcing steel. On balance, galvanizing the rebar gave the best economic solution for protection purposes.
Architect: Axis Arquitectos
Image: Antonio Fernandez