Francisco MANGADO
 
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FRANCISCO MANGADO

Metrovacesa Offices+

2016-2018

Madrid-Spain

18 m2


To raise an office building of uncertain ownership, in a place of little allure, at least one of few clear references, where there are no examples to look at, no other buildings worth commenting on or establish a dialogue with. In such circumstances, the main reflection governing the project has to do with the typological and constructional aspects of offices, in particular of offices in the climate and reality of Madrid. Almost all the buildings in this part of Madrid are characterless glass boxes, anonymous, as if office buildings had no rightful place in the world of representation. What we have to do here is raise a building that, independently of the people who will be renting the spaces, permanently expresses what it does, just as the first office buildings of the end of the 19th century and start of the 20th did. So our building has a classical bent. It is classical in layout, with a symmetrical floor plan, in accordance with two axes, and it is classical in external appearance, with the facade superposed by a second one that steps up solar protection while giving the elevation increased depth, built with prefabricated concrete panels which are grooved and geometrically abstract in their unmistakable classical intentions. The classical reference, however, is softened by the way the building sets itself backward in the higher floors and by the way the corners are sealed with a material different from the above-mentioned prefab concrete panels. In this way the facades are perceived as planes superposed on the concrete volume, increasing the impression of lightness that the construction gives, and the corners of the building are also visible from inside.

The choice of a golden color for the prefab concrete pieces is intended to make light its and reflections what give expression to the building, a building which will change in appearance throughout the day.

Calle de Josefa Valcárcel, 40B, 28027 Madrid, España

Office Building for Gamesa Eólica
2005
/
2008
The building is configured as a large excavated mineral, open in its interior to let the landscaped gardens become part of the construction all the way to its geometric center. The exterior perimeter, clear and delimited, contrasts with the broken and open interior one. As much the geometry of the building as its external materialization, with laminar glass sheets that have in their interior a stainless steel mesh that generates reflections and mineral textures with the impact of light, stress this idea of configuring a mineral piece, attractive in formal terms.So conceived, the piece rests in the 'place' and makes it its own. The plot is not a mere perimeter of the building, but actually becomes part of it creating spatial and visual complexities, blurring and enriching the boundary between interior and exterior. This circumstance makes it possible to establish a fruitful dialogue between the building and the place.The project had to include a broad and relatively complex program divided into functional areas. During the work process there were several meetings with the client to determine the functional organization of the building, but the more conceptual decisions linked to the architecture are the ones that have given the complex functional clarity and, in the end, sufficient capacity to adapt to the changes of future programs.The exterior perimeter is configured with the spaces and offices that, according to the program, must be enclosed, with acoustic privacy. The interior perimeter, flowing onto the large gardened central space, takes on the spatial character of an open-plan office.Though the perimeter of the building is not closed (it is substantially a U-shaped floor plan), there is a level, the upper one, where the perimeter is extended by way of a “bridge” that permits the communication of uses without unnecessary circulation movements. The exterior perimeter of the building is oriented towards the south, east and west; and the large interior garden, more protected, faces north. The whole exterior facade is designed as a double glazed and ventilated facade whose climatic properties, especially in winter, are well known. The interior space is protected from wind and, generously lined as it is with tall trees, becomes a cool place in summer, a lung that guarantees natural air-conditioning.