Odiseo Gastronomic and Leisure Center / Clavel Arquitectos

Curated by Clara Ott

Architects: Clavel Arquitectos
Area: 15494 m²
Year: 2020
Manufacturers: AutoDesk, Cosentino, Hisbalit, Kriskadecor, Sika, Adapta Color, Complementto, EGE, ESCOFET, Flaminia, Gancedo, Maxwell Render, Naturtex, Porcelanosa Grupo, Robert McNeel & Associates, Trencadís Innovación, Tres
Lead Architect: Manuel Clavel Rojo, Luis Clavel Rojo
structure: Qube Ingeniería
construction team: TECOPSA S.A.

Odiseo Gastronomic and Leisure Center / Clavel Arquitectos - Exterior Photography — © David Frutos

Text description provided by the architects. Odiseo is the result of the desire to create a big urban leisure complex, which wants to become a reference, not only for the city of Murcia, but for the entire southeast region of Spain. Covering a total built area of 15,500 m2, the building houses two restaurants, a nightclub, a performance hall, a casino, and a sports bar, as well as two parking levels underground.

Located in one of the main entrances to the city, surrounded by high-speed roads (where the landscape is dominated by the billboards and logos of shopping malls and other businesses), the building seeks to make itself visible without appealing for external sign poles, becoming a colossal totem that houses air and vegetation, designed to be appreciated in motion and from a 360-degree angle.

Odiseo Gastronomic and Leisure Center / Clavel Arquitectos - Image 23 of 28 — Axonometry

On the other hand, and assuming the essence of the main use of the building (a leisure center), the project pursues the user experience as a fundamental objective: from the purely sensorial (comfort, the sound of water, reflections, textures) to the psychological (curiosity, amazement, expectation, surprise, smile ...).

Based on these guides, the building is made up externally by a two-level plinth, slightly shifted from each other, generating a large terrace on its roof, where a pavilion for a restaurant is placed. Above this appears the “totem” (a large latticework of metal tubes supporting the sign that crowns the building) and a raised terrace crossed by a cantilevered pool on both sides, which, by leaning only on two central concrete cores, overhangs up to 22 meters. A challenging and complex structural design, where singular resources become conventional, is ultimately used to generate an elevated forest: water features, vegetation, shade, ventilation... combine to create an ecosystem that defends the building from the strong climate of one of the sunniest cities in Europe, very focused on tourism.

Inside, an extremely careful design generates independent worlds, juxtaposed with each other, led by the restaurant space. Taking the Mediterranean as a starting point (which also guides its kitchen) and Greek mythology as its most essential representation, an accumulation of textures (woods, gold and bronze, natural fibers, velvets, artisan ceramics...), blended under deeply warm lighting, transmit to the user different perceptions of the beauty of this concept.

Odiseo Gastronomic and Leisure Center / Clavel Arquitectos - Interior Photography, Facade — © David Frutos

Odiseo Gastronomic and Leisure Center / Clavel Arquitectos - Interior Photography, Glass — © David Frutos

The construction, financed exclusively with private money, has counted to a large extent on local talent and workers, based on a spirit of economic responsibility with the small city in which it is located, badly hit by the previous crisis. Architecture, communication, and nature overlap to give character and livability to a previously inhospitable and charmless area of the city, creating an urban oasis with a domesticated climate open to all citizens.