-
Satellite Control Center
Madrid, Spain. 2010
Area: 2.300m2CLIENT: Hispasat
ARCHITECTS: estudio Herreros. Juan Herreros – Jens Richter
PROJECT ARCHITECT: Diego Barajas
PROJECT TEAM: Ramón Bermúdez, Ángela Ruiz, Carmen Antón, Ricardo Robustini, Verónica Meléndez, Joanna Socha, Jorge Montalván
CONSULTANCY: Interior design: Herreros Arquitectos (Paola Simone). Facade: ENTORNO (Andrés Rojo), Herreros Arquitectos (Jens Richter). Structure: Eduardo Barrón. Services: INTECSA. Construction consultant: Arturo Bressel
PHOTOGRAPHY: José HeviaAwards
-COAM Awards 2011 (renovation category): Honorable Mention
-XI BEAU 2011: ShortlistedThe project is based on the need to respond both to the lack of use and internal functioning of the original building that became obsolete due to the unplanned arrival of new technologies, and to problems of security, solar radiation and the natural lighting of its facades. The task has two essential complementary components: the creation of a work culture associated with the company’s mission and commitments, and the need to embody the image of an entity whose product has no physical presence. In the interior, the project undertakes the reorganization of the uses that are distributed in the operational zone, administrative zone and institutional zone by means of glass partitions of different degrees of opacity, colors and graphic treatments that generate a new artificial landscape for the workspace that induces a collective spirit of belonging and seeks both isolated concentration and encounters among the users. The facade is finished with a second skin consisting of 5mm-thick sheet-metal modules whose degree of perforation varies according to both the lighting needs for comfort and orientation and the need to dissipate energy from the sun’s radiation. The lacquered treatment of the panels in subtly different shades generates a reactive vibration when stimulated by the atmospheric changes and especially the sunsets that occur in this open area in the southeast of Madrid. The space between the two skins forms a route of ventilation, maintenance and safety that updates the building to its new needs. But without a doubt, the most significant achievement refers to the building’s capacity to become an image of the company’s modernity and technological ambition. Indeed, this building, located in an uncertain, invisible and inaccessible place, has become the most published image of the company, providing the firm for the first time with a physical representation of an activity that is diluted in the atmosphere.