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.

The proposal for the Center for New Technologies of Santiago de Compostela is based on two essential ideas. The first one springs from the conception of the place and its process of topographic adaptation, and the second entails a sense of efficiency. Efficiency having to do in this case both with the speed in which the project must be executed and with the fact, strictly functional, that the resulting building may need to undergo variations in program over the years.The building is laid out in two parallel pieces separated by a large glazed courtyard. The first piece rests on the higher and narrower area of the site, and contains the access as well as all the uses which may be considered ‘complementary’ to the academic and other general activities of the building (control, administration, services and systems); and the second piece goes up on the lower area of the terrain, oriented towards the south, orderly and smoothly gathering all the classrooms and workshops in such a way that these can be subdivided or brought together in accordance with the different needs and circumstances. Both pieces are connected by a series of bridges, more or less wide, which hover above a landscaped surface full of trees. A wider piece (supported off by the two prisms and located next to the entry to provide direct access from the exterior) contains the assembly hall. The cafeteria and library take up a relevant position in the upper part of the building with panoramic views onto the horizon and the buildings that surround the church of Santa Mercé.The surrounding terrain thereby manages to sneak into the building in the form of a garden, structuring the construction as a sequence of volumes adapted to the topography where the rich and textured granite walls, retaining and enclosure walls, shall engage in dialogue establishing a contrast with the smooth walls clad in marine aluminum sheet treated with sand and glass blasting, the two materials that define the final appearance of the building. The adopted solution is also expressed through a logical construction system. The tight construction deadlines suggested developing a system of structures based on prefabricated concrete and light and dry construction. Considering the assigned uses, and their foreseeable variation, the systems are mainly exposed.

Following an analysis of the typologies that to a greater or lesser degree belong to the tradition of industrial architecture, the project tries to solve the problem that arises when a dialogue must be established between two scales: that of the production areas, generally vast open-plan spaces requiring large-scale structures, and that of the administration and office spaces. By manipulating materials and pure forms, the project tries to come up with an image that speaks of the use of clean energy sources like wind, as well as address the scarcity of architectural quality in the industrial complex the factory is situated in.

From an urban viewpoint, the proposal’s aim is to accentuate those features of the premises that most define it, and from such an angle we understand that the north-south axis becomes a scheme to reinforce in order to maintain the urban and public character of this first part of the axis. The proposal wishes to minimize the construction’s impact within the area, so it concentrates the actual building mass on a specific area.The pieces in a linear arrangement incorporate a new industrialized system that brings together a series of advantages: speed of assembly, dry construction all the way, flexibility for future alterations, significant cost reduction.The system involves a change in the way a project is executed, using the philosophy of the assembly chain and concentrating work in the production areas. The system is based on prismatic structures with 12 x 2.5 meter floor areas and rising 3 meters. Both the floor and the ceiling of each module are formed by 1.5 mm thick corrugated metal sheets, which work on a structural level, with metal props at the corners.

The Technology Dome is to rise on the outskirts of Zamora, on land much marked by the footprints of agricultural, industrial, and service-sector activities, traversed by important infrastructures, irrigation channels, and the stationary bed of the Valderaduey, a tributary of the Duero. Our project seeks to lead the way in bringing out the rich potential of a place that may at first go unnoticed, but possesses a wealth of references and elements that have yet to find their role in the landscape. In view of works planned for the area, the Dome is conceived to be the visible head of a large corporate park of uses tied to the most important advances in agriculture and industry.The landscaping strategy is intended to revive some local farming traditions and to implant them through compositional criteria, in such a way that they come through with an aesthetic component, alongside anthropological, patrimonial, and productive factors. A simple geometry will incorporate some native plants – with clearings in between for recreational and sport activities, parking, etc. – and its dialogue with the irrigation ditches and the changing landscape created by the swelling of the Valderaduey will serve as support for the constructions, which will go up at a pace adapted to economic circumstances and chancing needs.The criteria for the design of the buildings point to industrialization and to units as large and complete as possible. The units are based on planes, bays or fragments of facade prepared in the factory and assembled on site, or on a system of assembling large three-dimensional units.All the construction processes will be carried by dry systems, except the composite slabs. The arrangement of the units seeks to protect the premises from a confusing environment by creating a sheltered courtyard that will serve as a reception space, but it also seeks to take on importance in the landscape, and thus makes one of its pieces rise to a height that will make it visible from the road and the train.