The construction of shade is an intrinsic act to the conscious and planned act of human dwelling.
It is an instinct of protection, an expression of the intentional search for environmental comfort. Shade is an architectural element in itself, it is both the end and the means: it delimits, protects, weighs, darkens…; it has materiality, geometry, density… A shadow is a refuge; a shadow is a place.

Our proposal for the municipal pool in Estepona is based on this consideration: defining shade as a new place within the San Fernando sports complex. A place that should act as the epicenter of social interactions for the community that frequents these sports facilities and, of course, house the new swimming program. To construct this shade, the proposed building minimizes the surface contact with the ground. As if it were a tree, it rests on just five points, five robust legs, which support a light wooden roof. Permeability is encouraged to allow the structure to be visually traversed. The lightness of the roof makes the shadow the protagonist, as it takes over the ground plane and exceeds its physical boundaries. Shade and water thus create the physical and conceptual foundation of the new sports building.

The building belongs to the interior of the complex. It does not interrupt the street scene. It remains sheltered from the exterior, but due to its size, it becomes the absolute protagonist of the internal scene. We consciously decided not to alter the sober image of the wall that encloses the site. It is its characteristic image: an almost endless wall that accompanies you as you walk along the surrounding sidewalk; a pure, radiant white color; openings dotted across it, hinting at life behind; others allow you to look and partially discover what is contained. The wall must continue to elegantly protect the inner world of the San Fernando sports complex. Its access must still take place at a single point, through the door, the same door as always, the place that symbolizes a change of state, the transition from one place to another, the door that everyone identifies as such.