Garden blooms as finances flow

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    Project update February 2014 – The mysterious story of the garden that makes water, Cehegín, Spain

    Restart of construction: the park and building integrates with part of the old town, the elevated lookout, and some of the paths and water platforms. Image© Cómo Crear Historias - comocrearhistorias.com.

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    Project update February 2014 – The mysterious story of the garden that makes water, Cehegín, Spain

    Restart of construction: building on the right and the street of access for the construction machinery on the left. Image© Cómo Crear Historias - comocrearhistorias.com.

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    Project update February 2014 – The mysterious story of the garden that makes water, Cehegín, Spain

    Restart of construction: general view of the square situation higher than the construction site. Image© Cómo Crear Historias - comocrearhistorias.com.

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    Project update February 2014 – The mysterious story of the garden that makes water, Cehegín, Spain

    Restart of construction: corner of the park, showing one of the lower depuration platforms (right). Image© Cómo Crear Historias - comocrearhistorias.com.

After a pause in construction of 18 months due to financial issues, this Holcim Awards Acknowledgement prize winning project from 2005 for a public garden in Cehegín is now continuing. The project designed by Monica García Fernández and Javier Rubio Montero for the city in the dry south-east of Spain makes the most of the existing qualities of the site in order to maximize water retention. Priority is given to water recycling and careful guidelines are provided for gradual development of the park.

Last updated: February 04, 2014 Cehegín, Spain

After a pause in construction of 18 months due to financial issues, this project for a public garden in Cehegín is now continuing. The project in the dry south-east of Spain makes the most of the existing qualities of the site in order to maximize water retention. Priority is given to water recycling and careful guidelines are provided for gradual development of the park.

The project has been marginally adapted to meet changing demands and new conditions on the site. The depuration system is slightly different and will be based on floating plants without soil. The building won’t be the technical office for the city hall, but a business incubator instead. During the excavation work on the site, a wine cellar from the 18th century was found, and was integrated into the design of the park so the old wine storage vessels can be seen from above.