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Architects: Ventura Valcarce Arquitecto
- Area: 4775 m²
- Year: 2009
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Photographs:Francisco Nogueira
Text description provided by the architects. In a lively and modern city like Barcelona, architecture has an important role in maintaining standards of civility and quality. Moreover, the societal concern for maintaining a history and collective heritage, as well as caring for our environment, increasingly lead to the prolongation of life of our buildings, well above its materials.Therefore, continued care and maintenance of buildings during their use and further renewal or reform, are critical to maintain high levels of aesthetic quality, security and urban sustainability. Starting point As a major company headquarters in Barcelona, the new building should show a clear and consistent corporate image with its principles.
The project addressed the problem existing high-density zoning staff with unclear and undefined areas. The architects provided a comprehensive approach to the organization, construction and design of all elements. The strength of projecting a single gesture, the introduction of an abstract line, clearly defines a workspace and circulation space. Agenda and organization Since it was necessary to maintain the original structure and vertical communication cores, it was decided to restructure by dividing the spaces, one side featuring the vertical communication, and the other a spacediáfano. The organization of the workspace is further emphasized by two linear cabinets, which hide the servers.
These physical partitions are completely integrated into the initial black-white distinction and dematerialized before reaching the front, expanding the central space at the ends and allowing a total perception of the facades that emphasizes, even more-visual connection with the outside longitudinal. The cross-connection of the different areas is done through a longitudinal central axis that visually connects two interior lights for natural light, ventilation yards. Reflections and transparencies The facade is the contact plane of the buildings with the street, a building face that shows the city and its citizens.
Therefore, the solid and rigorous design of the plant is moved to the main facade, to convey a corporate image to the outside of clarity, consistency and reliability. Following the three-to five-line abstract of the plant is materialized in front with a break that breaks the 'flatness' of the façade facing the top-down power. The main facade faces one of the busiest streets of Barcelona, with a boulevard full of great old trees.
The transparency of the facade was imposed not only energy issues but also for aesthetic and ideological, despite the unfavorable orientation to the west. Indeed, this orientation to the west and the high incidence of solar radiation heat involved, advised to raise a double-skin facade, composed of an inner layer of low emissivity glass tube, metal walkways, and allows the passage of maintenance workers, refrigerate the facade providing hot air convection, while behaving as a 'brise-soleil', which casts a shadow on the inside of glass, and an outer layer screen printed glass ventilated reduced by 40% the surface of transparency and, therefore, transmission of solar radiation.
The end result is a flat facade with a broken glass opal tone, the result of transparencies and silkscreened on a travertine marble background that frames the whole. By day, the facade vibrates with the reflections of the city and the sky above their double surfaces. At night, lights with elegance and subtlety pounding causing almost negligible effect for the passerby distracted, but for anyone who wanders at night in Barcelona with a curious look.
