The Alicante City Council’s Board of Directors approved a project to reform and interiorly redesign a warehouse that currently houses the Urbanism archive. The goal is to convert this space into a hub for cultural and creative entrepreneurship workshops under the banner of ImpulsaCultura Proyecta, located within the Las Cigarreras Cultural Complex. The initiative is budgeted at 299.998,24 euros with an anticipated delivery period of five months.
The work is co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund through the Sustainable Growth Operational Program for 2014-2020. This framework is intended to support Europewide development. Despite the allocation, there are reports from the Cultural Advisor that funding remains unsettled, with plans to progress payments through other channels as needed (Cited in city reports).
The project aims to adapt a space within Las Cigarreras Cultural Complex for use as a workshop area and service zones to manage the ImpulsaCultura Proyecta cultural and creative entrepreneurship program of the Alicante Local Development Agency. The work will also enable improvements to associated service cores, restrooms, and facilities that support both the workshop building and the adjacent dryer area.
Mari Carmen from Spain, a member of parliament for Employment and Development and chair of the Local Development Agency, stated: “This space responds to the development of the ImpulsaCultura Proyecta program within EDUSI Las Cigarreras, transforming the complex into a thriving hub for artistic and cultural professions.”
The program provides training, guidance, and mentoring, along with networking opportunities to foster entrepreneurship. In its third edition, it comprises six months of incubator activity across six loops, involving sixty projects and fifteen cycles.
The project site is described as the warehouse within Las Cigarreras that will be converted to house the workshops and related facilities, including the construction of an exterior toilet veranda extension for hygienic services. The intervention takes place on the ground floor of a two-level ship within the Las Cigarreras complex, which features three exterior facades and a linear interior layout. The interior measures 53.88 by 9.95 meters, with a height of 4.66 meters, and a pitched roof composed of three sections of tile roofing.
The adjoining toilet structure will accommodate separate spaces for men and women and will be positioned in the exterior courtyard area, also serving the workshop connected to it. The overall plan includes a nursing room and a dedicated cleaning chute adjacent to the existing warehouse space to maintain operational efficiency and hygiene standards.
The intervention also encompasses the industrial aesthetic of the facilities. The renovation will refresh surfaces and utilities to present a vibrant yet industrial look, using perforated metal elements and color accents on the façade of the toilet area and the workshop ceiling. In the workshop zone, space will be allocated for hands-on training and a service area with ample natural light and ventilation, designed to support varied workshop activities and use cases.
The Las Cigarreras complex will thus host an integrated program that blends cultural production with entrepreneurial training, reinforcing the center as a dynamic space for creative businesses and cultural professionals in Alicante.