The Faro Santander launch will bring a northern Spanish grande dame back to life
Spain's new cultural destination, Faro Santander, gears up to open its doors on 8 September 2026 – in anticipation, we tour its historic building, redesigned by Chipperfield Architects
Faro Santander, a major new cultural destination about to launch northern Spain, has just announced its opening date – 8 September 2026 – and unveiled its majestic home, a period building redesigned by Chipperfield Architects. The historic Pereda Building in Santander, which was until recently the headquarters of Banco Santander, is nine years into its transformation journey to host the expansive art collection of the bank’s philanthropic foundation and invite visitors into its masterpiece-laden galleries.
Explore the new home for Faro Santander
The Pereda Building is an instantly recognisable, listed landmark, known by locals as a key point on Santander’s seafront. Chipperfield Architects has been hard at work, refreshing and reimagining the former office building into a thoroughly contemporary space for culture. Now, spanning ten storeys, the building will house the Banco Santander Collection and its thousands of artworks.
The interior – some 10,000 sq m of usable floor space – now includes 3,000 sq m of galleries across five floors. Respecting the original structure while refining and upgrading it for 21st-century art standards, the renovation sees the building awarded an Outstanding BREEAM certification, with a score of 92.96 – 'the world’s highest registered by a museum or cultural space', the museum's representatives explain.
Beyond simply restoring a historic structure, or creating a high-profile home for a private art collection, the project has a strong civic face too, David Chipperfield reminds visitors: 'Architecturally, it boasts a complex and multi-layered history.' The building has been part of the city's history for centuries, its oldest parts erected in 1795 and added to, reworked, and expanded over time. A major 1961 renovation by architect Javier González de Riancho was one of its more recent chapters.
'We focused on rethinking the spaces and connections a public building needs, while recognising that the real significance of the project lies in the institution’s commitment to openness, culture and participation,' says Chipperfield. He adds: 'The project is the result of a shared ambition to reimagine Banco Santander’s former offices as a civic and cultural space for the city.'
Daniel Vega Pérez de Arlucea, director of Faro Santander, concurs: 'The transformation was about pursuing our vision of creating a cultural centre that is open to everyone – somewhere that is welcoming and accessible, with wonderfully diverse and high-quality spaces, where every visitor can enjoy a truly unique experience.'
