Héctor Navarro lets the Cantabrian coast shape a new promenade in Comillas

Héctor Navarro and ARKHITEKTON have reshaped a 5,400-square-metre stretch of Comillas’s waterfront in Cantabria, Spain, turning a narrow pavement and a large car park into the Comillas waterfront promenade. The project treats the shifting sand of the coast as part of the design, softening the line between the town and the beach.

The new seafront is organised as two parallel bands: a continuous route alongside the historic balustrade and a planted strip set further inland. Together they create a sequence of open walking space, shaded pauses and quieter paths.

Comillas promenade makes room for the movement of sand

Wind, tides and beachgoers regularly carry sand across the edge of the town. Instead of treating it as debris to be cleared, the design accepts its movement as a defining condition of the coast. Permeable paving and landscape beds allow sand to settle into the promenade, while undulating bands of concrete pavers recall the patterns left by wet sand. Photocatalytic pavers are also specified to help reduce airborne pollutants.

The shoreline path follows the existing balustrade, maintaining a familiar edge while opening the waterfront to pedestrians. Its clear, continuous route connects beach access points and the adjoining public spaces.

A planted belt draws on Cantabrian dune landscapes

Further inland, a green belt brings native planting, gentle topography and places to sit into the promenade. The landscape takes cues from local dune ecosystems, using vegetation as environmental infrastructure to provide shade, support biodiversity and help temper the urban heat island.

Reclaimed limestone blocks, recovered from discarded coastal armour stones, are set into the landforms as informal seats. Accessible benches with backrests and armrests add more comfortable places to rest.

New kiosks, beach access and a pedestrian link complete the seafront

The wider intervention includes permanent ice cream kiosks that reinterpret the glazed galleries of Cantabrian architecture, renewed beach access, a terrace beside La Caracola restaurant and a redesigned lighting scheme. Parking has been reorganised around a new pedestrian axis connecting the promenade with the former canning factory, now the Civil Guard headquarters; a new roundabout also improves traffic flow and safety.

Water management, permeable surfaces, native planting and the reuse of stone form part of a broader approach that treats the waterfront as a connected landscape, public space and piece of urban infrastructure.

Project Credits

Project: Comillas Waterfront Promenade
Architecture: Héctor Navarro + arkhitekton
Location: Comillas, Cantabria, Spain
Year: 2026
Area: 5,400 m²
Photography: Imagen Subliminal (Miguel de Guzmán & Rocío R. Rivas)