The headquarters building in Paseo Pereda will cease to be used exclusively as such and will be opened for public interest. The intention is to transfer more than a thousand works from the Group’s private art collection, with paintings by Rubens, El Greco, Van Dyck, Picasso, Chillida, Sorolla and Miró, among others, as well as the world’s largest and best private collection of works by José Gutiérrez Solana.

It will also host a Banco Santander House Museum and the Group’s flagship branch of the future.

Ana Botín: “I want this project to be the symbol of our commitment to Cantabria and the city of Santander at a time of transformation and great challenges for everyone.”

Santander, 1 June 2018 – PRESS RELEASE
The Group executive chairman of Banco Santander, Ana Botín today announced the project to transform two of the bank’s most emblematic buildings in Santander: those located on Paseo Pereda and on Calle Hernán Cortés. The buildings will become cultural, intellectual and institutional landmarks, contributing to the economic and social progress of the city and the region.

The refurbishment, called the Pereda project, will enhance the historical and heritage legacy of the two buildings, with an investment of €40 million and the creation of jobs. The bank’s institutional headquarters in Paseo Pereda will no longer be used exclusively as such and will be opened to the city. The intention is for it to house Santander Group’s private art collection, a house museum of the bank and the Group’s flagship branch of the future. The Hernán Cortés building will house the bank’s Cantabria Regional Head Office and a roof terrace open to the public, as well as multipurpose rooms for customers and non-customers.

The Pereda building will thus be integrated into the city, with open cultural spaces that enhance the bank’s legacy to Santander and Cantabria, as well as the cultural hub of the city and its appeal as a tourist attraction.

The intention is to display over 1,000 works belonging to the Group’s private collection - with paintings by Rubens, El Greco, Van Dyck, Picasso, Chillida, Sorolla and Miró, among others, together with the world’s largest and best private collection of works by José Gutiérrez Solana – currently displayed in the Art Gallery of Santander Group City in Boadilla del Monte, Madrid. They will be transported to this headquarters in Santander, which will also exhibit sculpture, decorative works, collections of tapestries, ceramics, furniture and clocks, and a collection of notes and coins. The aim is to launch educational and cultural activities for the general public, so that visitors can enjoy the works in various settings.

The Pereda building will also host Banco Santander’s House Museum, which will allow the visitor to take a tour of the shared history of the bank and the city.

The project represents a unique opportunity to redefine the role of the bank’s head office in Santander’s society, while maintaining the historical essence of the institution and its projection towards the future. Moreover, it will transmit Santander’s values: its commitment to responsible business and its contribution to the progress of people, businesses and society in general: “We want to promote and support projects that create economic development and prosperity for Santander and Cantabria and we will continue to do so. Opening our headquarters is opening our house, and allowing customers and non-customers to know us better and to make it theirs,” Ana Botín asserted during the presentation of the project.

The architect for the refurbishment of the Pereda building will be David Chipperfield, known for having recently carried out the extension of the Royal Academy in London, among other works. As regards the Hernán Cortés building, the renovation will be undertaken by the prestigious architects Antonio Cruz and Antonio Ortiz.