Education allocates 1.2 million to draft the project for the future Arts District of Palma

PalmaThe Ministry of Education and Universities has taken a new step to promote the future Arts District of Palma with the transfer of 1,220,021.67 euros to the Balearic Institute of Educational Infrastructure and Services (Ibisec). This allocation will finance the drafting of the construction project for the three buildings that will form the new campus for higher artistic education in the Balearic Islands: the Higher Conservatory of Music, the Higher School of Dramatic Art of the Balearic Islands (ESADIB), and the Higher School of Design.

The announcement was made this Thursday by the Minister of Education and Universities, Antoni Vera, during the presentation of the architectural proposal developed by architects Jaime Coll, Judith Leclerc, and Antoni Barceló, winners of the ideas competition convened by the Ministry with the Es Born project. The event was also attended by the Mayor of Palma, Jaime Martínez; the first deputy mayor, Javier Bonet; the academic director of the Center for Higher Artistic Studies of the Balearic Islands (EASIB), Antoni Planas; the manager of EASIB, José Manuel Martínez, and the manager of IBISEC, Belén Lloret.

According to Vera, this budgetary injection guarantees that Ibisec now has the necessary resources to commission the drafting of the project, an essential step before tendering the works. The drafting work will have an estimated duration of nine months and will be developed in three phases: the preliminary project, the basic project, and the executive project.

The drafting will be carried out by the temporary union of companies formed by the studios Coll-Leclerc Arquitectos and Barceló-Balanzó Arquitectes, responsible for the proposal selected from the finalists of the ideas competition.

A campus of more than 22,000 square meters

The future Arts District will occupy a built area of 22,315 square meters and will be built next to the current Conservatory, with which it will maintain urbanistic continuity. The project aims to concentrate higher education studies in music, drama, and design in the same environment, which are currently taught in different locations in Palma, with the objective of fostering collaboration between disciplines and improving students' training conditions.

The architectural proposal is structured around a large central promenade of almost 30 meters wide, conceived as a public space for interaction, coexistence, and cultural activity. This axis will connect the three buildings and will concentrate a large part of the shared spaces of the campus.

Among these common services will be green areas, study areas for students, multipurpose spaces for outdoor activities, a cultural agora, a library, a restaurant-cafeteria, and different spaces for performances and events open to the public. The intention is for the new complex to be not only a teaching space but also a cultural facility integrated into the city.

The Conservatory of Music will be the largest, with 8,541 square meters. It will include an orchestra hall of 310 square meters, a choir hall, specialized classrooms, recording studios, and spaces for research. The Higher School of Dramatic Art of the Balearic Islands (ESADIB) will occupy 5,245 square meters and will have a performing arts hall adaptable to different uses, a dubbing studio, dressing rooms, and specific spaces for training.

For its part, the Higher School of Design will have an area of 6,767 square meters and will include a conference room, workshops, classrooms, and multipurpose spaces for the development of different specialties. According to the Ministry, the entire complex will be adapted to the needs of higher artistic education and will be fully accessible.

What will happen to the current Conservatory

The new campus will allow higher music studies to be moved there, which currently share spaces with professional education. Once the Arts District is operational, the current Conservatory building will be exclusively for professional music and dance studies. The project is part of a broader urban development on the land located next to the Conservatory. In this same area, the construction of a student residence linked to the University of the Balearic Islands (UIB) and a new high school is also planned, although these two facilities will be developed independently of the Arts District.

The construction of the new Arts District will require a global investment of over 53 million euros. The project aims to provide higher studies in music, drama, and design with modern facilities specifically conceived for these teachings, while also creating a new cultural space open to the public. If the deadlines set by the Government are met, the project's drafting will be completed next year and will allow progress towards the tendering of works for one of the main educational and cultural infrastructure projects planned in Palma.