Botanical Garden In Nerja / ISMO Arquitectura

Architects: ISMO Arquitectura
Year: 2015
Photographs: Fernando Alda
Builder: TRAGSA
Landscape: Ignacio Morón
Structure: Alejandro Cabanas
Facilities: Laura Fernández
Measuring: Jorge Ayala
Execution Director: Rafael Tudela
Construction Foreman: Miguel Ángel Merchán
Topography: Antonio Fayos
Botany: Jaime Pereña
Project Manager: Pedro Bonillo, José Miguel Orejuela, José Pérez
Ss Coordinators: Fco. Trujillo, M. Dolores Ga, Fco. Astudillo
Promoter: Consejería de Medio Ambiente y Ordenación del Territorio Junta de Andalucía
Budget: 2.154.776,29 euros
Project Team: Isabel Amores, Modesto García, Silvia Renaud
Municipality: Nerja
Country: Spain

The Botanical Garden in Nerja, designed by ISMO Arquitectura, is located in the “Sierras de Tejeda, Almijara y Alhama” Nature Reserve near the Nerja Cave. The project integrates with the landscape, featuring unpaved paths and infrastructure that blend with the natural surroundings. Key elements include a viewing point, Reception and Herbal buildings, a rockery, a pond, a classroom-workshop, and a plant nursery. The design incorporates exposed concrete, wood, and rusty iron to create a natural aesthetic. Paths and modules are designed for accessibility and functionality, supporting climbing plants and displaying native vegetation. The garden aims to maintain botanical continuity and offer educational and recreational spaces for visitors.

Botanical garden in nerja / ismo arquitectura

Situated in the “Sierras de Tejeda, Almijara y Alhama” Nature Reserve, near Nerja Cave, and overlooking the sea, the project enhances the connection between the hillside and the pathways. The infrastructure program extends across the landscape like pieces of furniture. Visitors are guided along unpaved paths, sometimes at ground level and sometimes elevated to cross small valleys or improve accessibility. These paths also create covered areas, made usable through their connection to various structures. These elements are precisely sized and collectively form a cohesive environment, showcasing the natural setting.

Access begins at a viewing point that leads down to the Garden, situated on a lower plane. Visitors descend along a winding path that transforms into a roof for the Reception and Herbal buildings. The Reception building houses the information desk, administration office, and shop. After passing through this initial area, visitors continue through nature, akin to an open-air classroom, to the rockery and pond. Ascending from there, they will find the classroom-workshop and laboratory, both located near the plant nursery and orchard.

Some modules, organized for different uses, are situated throughout the Garden. These modules connect with the pathways, sometimes creating observation points where visitors can look out without being seen. They maintain a uniform appearance and can house spaces like classrooms or storage rooms. Occasionally, these modules can be walked over as they function as unpaved paths. Other times, they serve as structures for displaying vegetation, such as the ecological tank roof that extends the hillside. This design allows rainwater to be collected and used later, supporting the biological cycle of this part of the garden.

The color of the hills is integrated into the construction through paths and walls. The structure, made of exposed concrete, with evolving roofs, floors, and walls, reinforces the cave-like feel. Different types of wood, including grained concrete and natural wood lattice, connect functional elements with urban furniture. Rusty iron is used for protective elements and supports, giving them a lightweight appearance. Over time, this will develop a texture that unifies the natural and manufactured elements.

The architecture is distributed across the terrain to meet the display’s needs. Various facilities, such as toilets, a classroom, an information point, bins, and benches, are integrated into the landscape like large steel brackets, connecting different parts of the land. This design allows the architecture to serve as a structure for climbing plants, with air and perspective flowing through these elements.

The paths, designed to follow the land’s contours for accessibility, will feature various layers with different types of plants, ensuring the Garden is green and lush. These unpaved paths will vary in elevation according to the program’s needs. Elevated areas will serve as stages or shady spots for gathering and observation. The buildings rise above the landscape, folding to create covered viewpoints.

The Botanical Garden is designed to integrate naturally with its surroundings, following simple schemes for distribution and vegetation cultivation. While it is part of nature, it also represents the native plant species of the province. The garden must engage in a dialogue with the environment and maintain continuity with the landscape. The staff will include a guide, a gardener, and a biologist.

The path descending to the garden bypasses the back of the restaurant, running along the hillside and facing directly towards the sea. The “naturalization” of the area will be a gradual process, tied to the growth and preservation of the plants. Unpaved paths and wire mesh for climbing plants form a plant tissue that becomes another topographic layer, evolving and changing with the seasons.

During the first phase, pine trees will be systematically felled as necessary. They will then be replaced with native trees to establish botanical continuity across the different levels.

The reinforced, simply twisted wire mesh with steel struts gives the Garden an appearance that harmonizes with the Nature Reserve it seeks to preserve. The brackets connecting the different interventions will be replaced by wooden posts to create a smoother transition. Masonry, prevalent in the area and near the Nerja Cave, is used for small retaining walls and “parterres” for trees.

At the secondary entrance of the garden, there are plots designated as an educational orchard, allowing the classroom to be used separately for meetings, conferences, and other events. The stage area is located nearby, in the shaded area beneath the footbridge.

Another resting point is situated near the pond, in the natural valley. It offers a place to stop and enjoy the lush vegetation and the sounds of frogs and other amphibians, which are typically near ponds.

A more natural path, sculpted and cleaned to follow the hill’s contours, leads to a higher viewpoint, offering views of the Nerja and Maro coastline. This “mirador” is inclined to block the view of the motorway, directing the eyes straight to the horizon.