Light spirited - design of an office building in Madrid, Spain

Architectural Review, The, April, 1996 by Hugh Broughton

Tucked away in a courtyard in Madrid, an office building has been designed with careful restraint, constituting an elegant new thread in a rich urban fabric.

The central Madrid district of Almagro is imbued with a sense of authority. The grid of smart residential blocks has now been taken over by offices, government ministries and embassies. Nestling in a courtyard behind an imposing nineteenth-century mansion on Calle Alcala Galiano, the office building by Alvarez-Sala, Rubio Carvajal and Ruiz-Larrea offers a contrast to this formal context with a minimalist essay brought to life by subtle manipulation of light, space and materials.

Planning regulations dictated that off-street parking had to be provided and that the height of the offices could not exceed that of the previous building in the courtyard. Parking is arranged over three underground floors reached by a car lift.

The offices are organised over five floors with a lift, glass stair, lavatories and service risers filling the irregularities of the site. To maximise flexibility, column-free floor slabs span the width of the patio, supported on the north edge by a steel Vierendeel beam. This is divided into a square of 16 3 m x 3 m double-glazed panels and forms an eloquently abstract facade. The depth of the slabs and carpet finish have been coordinated with the flanges of the steel to minimise the overall height of the building while maintaining maximum floor-to-ceiling zones. Air supply grilles in the ceiling bulkhead reduce condensation on the glass with return air removed through slatted timber panels above lavatory doors.

The upper levels appear to float above the glazed ground floor, an approach reiterated by the glass stair which climbs up the back of the offices, free from the timber clad wall. The timber absorbs light flooding down from a rooflight and brings depth to emphasise the three-dimensional quality of the composition. The juxtaposition of white suspended ceilings, concrete panelled side walls and glazed north facade with the timber clad service core clearly differentiates served and servant areas.

The transparency and simplicity offer a jewel-like architecture which achieves potency through understatement. Hidden away from the public eye, the architects have sewn a rich thread into the urban fabric of the city. Every part has been minutely detailed in the quest for a clarity and purity which enables light and people to become the true protagonists of the space.