Cover-up for Bellver Castle´s courtyard

PALMA council is seriously considering putting a removable cover over the patio of Bellver Castle.
Three years ago, the City of Palma prize giving ceremony, which should have taken place in the Castle courtyard, had to be urgently transferred to the Xesc Forteza Municipal Theatre because of torrential rain. The design task was entrusted to the Polytechnic University of Catalonia and the proposed solution is a pneumatic structure, in the form of tranparent cover, which is at the moment being studied by the Historic Centre Commission and the Historic Heritage deparment of the Council of Majorca. The project was developed under the guidance of the architect Ramon Sastre who, in his report, explains that “this transparent cover, 24 metres in diameter, will have an interior space of around 4.8 metres. On the perimeter, the membranes will be attached to struts fixed to the structure”. The material used for the cover, “is high resistance polyester covered with PVC”. To fasten the cover to the structure, Sastre confirmed that “we looked for the most sturdy element on the roof”. This is the central wall of the castle, one metre thick, circular and made of stone, which stands up above the roof and reaches the foundations”. So, “the cover is supported at 32 points around the perimeter and fixed via cables to a metallic structure of bars. This metallic structure is composed of posts which are fixed to 32 bases situated in a circle around the central wall of the castle which juts up above the cover”, said the architect. Palma council's councillor for Culture, Rogelio Araujo, confirmed that “the quality of the building and its historic value are vital elements which this project had to take into account. The cover is not just capable of being taken down, but also, during the times when it is not in use, the anchoring elements will be minimal and practically invisible”.