The Santa Ana and San Joaquín Church of Roquetas (Almería) are an exponent of the use of natural stone in religious architecture.  The project has included the use of white limestone for building the ventilated facade on the outside and inside. Besides its architectural value, building this church has resolved a historic demand by the populous and authentic Roquetas del Mar neighborhood. This is because religious services have been celebrated in parish halls for 38 years.

The Santa Ana y San Joaquín Church of Roquetas del Mar (Almería) has received an investment of some 2.5 million Euros. The project was signed by the RGRM Arquitectos team, made up by architects Dolores Ruiz Garrido and Juan José Ruiz Martín, established in La Carolina (Jaén). The construction project was financed by the Diocese, and land ownership was transferred by the City Hall to the city of Roquetas del Mar.

The area for holding religious celebrations is 533 m2, on a total built-up area of 1889 m2, that include living quarters, parish halls, the tower and rectory. The church has a capacity for 700 seated parishioners and a total occupancy of 1300 persons.

The building’s floor is made up of a continuous wall folding over itself to shape the central nave that houses the sacristy and the parochial office. This area in turn is directly connected to the tower-bell tower and with the stairs leading up to the choir.

Building structure
The great axis marked on the ceiling is adorned with volumes that convey a feeling of suspension or weightlessness. The chapels are grouped to form a stony body surrounded by the exterior wall. This makes it an intimate place of absorption. Additionally, the nave fractured by a sliver of light reveals profound symbolism, tracing the axis up to the church’s altar.

The building’s structure is radial, and its focal point is the altar, a hall floor where the greatest possible number of people can be near the scene. According to the conception developed by RGRH studio’s architects, this structure enables a more numerous community to be accommodated, but a more participative one as well. The focal point breaks up the structure, and completely shatters the North facade as the endpoint of the roof’s axis.

The clear area inside the nave reaches 11 meters at the its highest points. The parish halls are located in the basement, which, through a southward-facing excavated patio, light up the offices on this floor.

Lastly, the church doors reach up to 9 m high. With such spaciousness, upon opening the doors, the building takes over the street. Highlighted by the crack in the roof, the altar is perceived as an invitation to the parishioners to enter the church.

Use of stone
According to the concepts of the RGRM Arquitectos team, the use of stone in this building has contributed toward creating a feeling of durability and permanence. The Diocese proposed from the beginning for it not to have an ephemeral image of architecture but rather of a legacy to Roquetas de Mar’s Catholic community.

The architects used white limestone in this construction project to build the facade ventilated on the outside and affixed on the inside. The stone is white limestone with a very marked streak. It is called Royal Travertine, and receives a sanding treatment. The Travertine floor tiles are made up of a very dense form of calcium carbonate. In spite of being limestone, they are generally considered to be a form of marble. The colors vary from pale cream to dark with an attractive variety of surfaces. The characteristic cavities in this material were caused by the gases present when the rock was in liquid state. These cavities look like holes in the tiles, and are filled in either when laid or at the factory.
The shades of white in the building range from the purest pieces of furniture to the grays provided by Macael white marble on the floor, with the streaked white of Royal Travertine of the chapels in between.

Silestone
The Santa Ana y San Joaquín Church is also known for being the first church in the world whose holy furniture is built with Silestone. The altar, the seat, the ambon, and the font all have been hewn from this material which has yielded a perfect shade of white. Thus, the RGRM Arquitectos team’s project has revolutionized the use of this material. It has taken it outside its regular realm of use when it produced the indoor furniture with white Silestone.