Pau Sánchez (Q. Surveyor), Joan Ramon Soldevila (Q. Surveyor), Rafael Bellmunt (Structure), Oficina Tècnica Lluís Duart (Facilities)
The plot is a rectangular piece of land parallel to Avinguda de la Catalana, which follows the course of the Besòs River, being situated on its right hand side. It is part of a rectangular block with an interior landscaped courtyard whose west side is open to the linear park that acts as a buffer for the coastal ring road. The construction of the buildings was almost simultaneous, and as a consequence the block is well established.
The building has three stairwells with four dwellings per floor, which face east and west. Openings into small courtyards allow natural ventilation through the dwellings. The building has seven floors of flats and one subterranean floor for parking. On the ground floor are the dwellings, the foyer and an exit to the courtyard.
Urban planning and the orientation of the building determined two essential energy saving elements: sunlight and cross ventilation. The other energy saving measures include passive systems (insulation and sun protection), and also specific installations, such for solar energy panels, centralised heating and water reuse and saving.
Xavier Humet (Q. Surveyor), Rafael Bellmunt (Structure), Oficina Tècnica Lluís Duart (Facilities Engineering)
There are two main entrance halls next to the street corners. From there, two staircases lead to the corridors that provide access to the dwellings.
In the flats the number of rooms has been kept to a minimum by using them for several functions. There is a kitchenette in the sitting room. There is a small work/study space next to the bedroom window. The washing machine is in the bathroom and there is a cupboard and a clothesline on the balcony.
The building materials need little maintenance: brick facades, terrazzo floors, ceramic and clay walls and flat roofs covered in gravel. Hot water is provided by solar panels.
Antoni Batlle (Q. Surveyor), Rafael Bellmunt (Structure), Oficina Tècnica Lluís Duart (Facilities Engineering)
It rises from four to six stories in a helical shape to relate the steep topography to the different heights allowed by the urban regulations. It houses 100 social flats, commercial or retail premises on the ground floor, and the car park in the basement. There are seven staircases and seven entrance halls located on four different streets.
In the dwellings, the rooms and the kitchens face the facade. The corridors, bathrooms and laundry rooms are in the centre. An inner courtyard provides toilet ventilation and keeps interior air circulating.
The building materials and systems need little maintenance: manufactured facades of large GFRC wall panels, terrazzo floors, ceramic and clay walls and flat roofs covered in gravel.
Jaume Soldevila (Q. Surveyor), Rafael Bellmunt (Structure), Crisol, Ingenieros S.L. (Facilities)
The building is part of an intervention pulled together by a volumetric design, which expresses the block’s central position in the projected plan. Urban planning dictates this land can be used for two buildings: a linear block with retail premises on the ground floor connected to the pedestrian area and a separate building which resolves the intersection with Carrer Josep Serrabogunyà. The space between the two buildings is a communal garden.
The linear building has two basement floors for parking, retail on the ground floor and four floors with 2 and 3 bedroom dwellings. Access is via four staircases. The form of the building answers the need to relate the overarching shape of the block with its outer perimeter.
The type of dwelling chosen allows a flexible layout so it can adapt to different family situations and the needs of its users. The kitchen area communicates with the living-dining room. The facilities areas are near the party walls in the darker part of the flat, with the living spaces located along the strip adjoining the facade.
Urban planning and the orientation of the building determine two essential energy saving elements: sunlight and natural air circulation. The other energy saving measures include passive systems (insulation and sun protection), and also specific installations; such solar energy panels, centralised heating and water reuse and saving.
Joan Ramon Soldevila (Q. Surveyor), Rafael Bellmunt (Structure), Oficina Tècnica Lluís Duart (Facilities)
The shape of the project consists of two separate buildings; 14 meters deep and five stories high, located on the perimeter of a trapezoidal city block and sharing a communal area in the courtyard.
The two buildings contain housing units with two, three and four bedrooms on the floors above street level and parking on the basement levels. Formal differences and differences in surface area spawn a set of solutions that take the form of one, two, three and five housing units per landing and a catalogue of housing types that diversifies the range and personalizes the different units.
Most of the properties have the laundry room in the night-time area, which means the kitchen can be ventilated directly via the facade and treated as a habitable space integrated with the rest of the rooms in the daytime area. These rooms are located on the strip adjoining the facade and the bathrooms are on the dark side of the floor, allowing flexibility in the redistribution of the spaces according to users' needs.
All the housing units have cross ventilation as they either have facades with different orientations or one facade and an inner courtyard. The terrace opening off the living room gives depth and protection to the largest opening on the facade.
The frontage of the building coincides with the edge of the plot. The varying height of the streets means that the car parking facilities, despite being underground, surface at the lowest point of the terrain. There are no commercial premises on the ground floor, but this absence is made up for by the creation of a transition space between the public and private areas that is formalized by grouping various accesses and porches in a continuous front on Carrer Consell de Cent. This space resolves the point of contact between the building and the terrain as well as the access to the communal space of the interior courtyard, which is treated as a small urban space.
On the roof there are the distribution installations for the gas supply network and the communal solar heating panels. The individual accumulator heat exchangers that supply domestic hot water are located inside each property.
Joan Ramon Soldevila (Q. Surveyor), Rafael Bellmunt (Structure), Edifica Ingeniería SL (Facilities)
This project was left uncompleted. The building in question corresponds to the last block in the row to the west. The plot is rectangular and has a uniform height difference of 4.5 metres. It is located between the main road and Carrer Viladecans and the town centre has gradually spread and engulfed the district meaning it is no longer situated on the outskirts and the public space has been developed and improved in quality.
The proposal includes the construction of a car park on two basement levels, a retail space on the ground floor and housing units on the upper floors. Three stairwells allow access to the seven floors of dwellings. The roofs of the car park and retail premises are for public use and have been treated to fit in with the perimeter streets.
The building has 18 housing units of three bedrooms and 31 parking spaces. The resulting shape is a compact block with awnings and retractable blinds on the south facade used as mobile features, which add life and movement to it.
The building type chosen has three stairwells with access on each floor to two dwellings per landing and giving rise to dual-aspect dwellings with natural sunlight, cross ventilation and with living rooms and kitchens to the south and bedrooms to the north. The dwellings at either end of the blocks will have a different layout to make the most of their three facades.
The different spaces in the dwelling can relate to each other to provide flexibility in how they are used and to adapt to the needs and preferences of each user. The continuous terrace along the south facade links the spaces, protecting them from the sun and providing an exterior space that is flows into the rooms used in the daytime.
Joan Ramon Soldevila (Q. Surveyor), Rafael Bellmunt (Structure), Oficina Tècnica Lluís Duart (Facilities)
The narrowest plots with older buildings, which are constructed with very simple methods and light materials, have a main section in line with the street facade, which in many places has become uneven as the streets have been developed. The back of the plot is reached through this main section and via a narrow passage and set of steps. The foundations of these constructions sit directly on the earth and there is a system of load-bearing breezeblock walls with joisted one-way roofs supported directly on the walls with no bracing.
This kind of building style; spontaneous, densely packed and unregulated, resulted in subsidence due to the cumulative effect of improvised makeshift constructions. The 1952 Regional Plan and the 1976 General Metropolitan Plan introduced a perimeter block layout, bringing radical change to the building model by grouping plots together and replacing buildings. Private developers carried out these projects in the 1970s, resulting in a significant change to the topography of the upper part of the block.
A public operator needed to intervene to drive this transformation forward and take charge of the most complex area. With this aim in mind, the General Metropolitan Plan of 1976 demarcated local development areas UA5 and UA6 to make the operation manageable. An area of 12 m occupied by fairly precarious buildings separates the two units; this is not included in the remodelling we carried out.
The aim of the project is the construction of three buildings with ground plus two floors above street level with a total of 36 dwellings, three retail units and a car park with 57 spaces. The ground and basement floors adapt to the lie of the land and street levels through architectural solutions particular to party wall construction.
Joan Ramon Soldevila (Q. Surveyor), Rafael Bellmunt (Structure), Oficina Tècnica Lluís Duart (Facilities)
It is a linear rectangular block measuring 56.50 m x 13.80 m and is comprised of five and six floors of flats over a ground floor housing the entrances, some dwellings and a basement car park.
The upper floors are arranged via two staircases giving access to four flats per landing, whose main facades are east and west facing. On the ground floor are services rooms and two lobbies, one for each stairwell, facing onto Carrer Molí de la Font. The small open courtyards allow air to circulate naturally through the dwellings.
Within the limited room for manoeuvre permitted by subsidized housing schemes, the role of the kitchen in family life has been emphasised, interconnecting it with the living room and separating it from the laundry area, which is located near the bedrooms, keeping the laundry inside the dwelling.
This layout allows the creation of a space near the kitchen window for breakfast, a quick lunch, children’s meals, food preparation, etc. The space being open to the living room allows the person in the kitchen to be involved in family life.
The washing machine is situated at the back of the unit, in an area reserved for white goods, which is ventilated by the courtyard. This courtyard allows natural cross ventilation of all the dwellings as well as being a very useful vertical space for installations ducts.
Joan Ramon Soldevila (Q. Surveyor), Rafael Bellmunt (Structure), Ventura & Milian (Facilities)
The project consisted of a building for subsidised housing, a residential care home and an elderly day care centre. The buildings were planned simultaneously for three different public bodies: Regis, Gisa and the Nou Barris district.
We put forward a proposal of three separate buildings whose main structures follow the building line of the existing streets and which are interconnected via a seemingly continuous ground floor. Formal integration of the buildings is achieved through their shape, composition and the materials of the facades. Facilities access and the entrance to the day and residential centres is via a small square created by taking advantage of the change of direction of Carrer Maladeta.
The aim of this project is the construction of a building housing 30 subsidised housing units opposite Plaça de Sóller. The building has two basement parking levels, a ground floor with retail premises and five floors of dwellings.
The plot measurements and buildable volume defined in the proposal prior to the project defined the chosen solution. The dwellings are arranged around two stairwells, with three dwellings per landing, with a shared entrance via a lobby on the ground floor. The car park is arranged over four half-stories joined by curved ramps, which share a vertical access core. The roof is home to the solar heating panels and communal clotheslines.
The facade onto Plaça de Sóller is designed in keeping with the scale of the square. A gallery with wooden slatting unifies the look of the facade and visually brings the building together. The retail units and transformer station are incorporated into the Sant Vicen’s stone plinth course, which interconnects with the ground floors of the rest of the buildings on the block.
Joan Ramon Soldevila (Q. Surveyor), Rafael Bellmunt (Structure), Ventura & Milian (Facilities)
Carles Bima (Q. Surveyor), Rafael Bellmunt (Structure), Ventura & Milian (Facilities)
The plan of this city block results from its position as a perimeter block opposite an area of open space (as well being opposite the airport), whilst respecting the main design criteria of being a perimeter block with interior pedestrian courtyard. The perimeter buildings facing the interior streets follow the orthogonal layout building line, whilst the building opposite the area of open land is polygonal, following the trapezoidal shape of the city block, and without therefore creating a new building line at odds with the urban morphology.
The buildings are lineal blocks of four housing units per floor, each 13.80 m deep, which together constitute a city block with two large openings. Retail units are located on the ground floor facing the streets with vehicular traffic. Parking facilities, located in the basement, occupy part of the floor below the courtyard.
The housing units are of four basic types, two and four bedrooms with variations. The two-bedroom properties are located at either end of the blocks and are open to the main walls, which are treated as the main facades. All bedrooms are arranged facing the exterior facades. A central courtyard with washing machines and clotheslines enhances the relationship between the kitchens and the outside space, and assists air circulation through the property. This allows for a small versatile space in the kitchen, linking it with the living room.
All the building's general installations are housed in ducts, which are accessible from each landing. The design of the roof allows for good access in order for it and the installations on it to be maintained.
The development of the park was conceived in tandem with this project as a longer linear space designed as a transition element between the buildings and the agricultural land within the airport influence area.
IDOM and Joan Ramon Soldevila (Q. Surveyor), Rafael Bellmunt (Structure), IDOM (Facilities)
Project UP14 is a group of 42 fixed-price housing units, arranged in separate three-storey buildings, each containing seven dwellings. These buildings are grouped around a communal garden, which opens onto a pedestrianized public square.
UP14 forms part of a larger city block developed at the same time and comprising seven-storey high buildings for subsidised housing. All UP14 buildings include a basement parking area and three floors of housing, with two units per landing.
AB Paisatgistes, S.L. (Landscaping)
Maintenance is a very important factor in this project. Whilst not seeking to compete with top-level international pitches, the idea is a pitch that would be suitable to play on just a few days after finishing the works. A sandstone base layer is used to guarantee that the pitch is still suitable for play in the event of uneven wear and tear. The improvement consists of the renewal of the base layer, the turf and the integrated sprinkler system.
Rafael Bellmunt (Structure), Ingeniería Ingest (Facilities)
This project proposed developing the square to the same level as the rest of the urban space by constructing a car park in the empty space demarcated by retaining walls, using a large part of the existing structures as earth-retaining walls for the underground car park and a section of its entrance points.
The car park is spread over two 50 m diameter circular basement levels and has 124 spaces, each measuring 2.40 x 4.80 m, and 15 motorcycle spaces, each 2.00 x 1.00 m. The car park will be connected to level -2 of the residential building of the PVd plot via a tunnel, allowing direct access to the retail premises from the car park.
Vehicle access is via a descending ramp parallel to the pavement of Avinguda de l’Estatut de Catalunya, and the vehicle exit is via an ascending ramp parallel to the pavement of Avinguda de Can Marcet. These accesses connect street level with level -1. Vehicle access to level -2 is via an interior two-way ramp. There are three pedestrian accesses, one for disabled access, without physical barriers, and linked to the aforementioned tunnel.
Joan Ramon Soldevila (Q. Surveyor), Rafael Bellmunt (Structure), Oficina Tècnica Lluís Duart (Facilities), Josep Codinas (Building Surveyor)
This project to replace the existing buildings with a new one consists of:
1. The demolition of all the old school buildings.
2. The construction of an entirely new building for the Antoni Gaudí Primary School.
3. The construction of the boundary fences to demarcate the school grounds.
As a result of agreements between the Town Council with the Department of Education and residents’ associations for shared use of the outside space and school sports facilities, an L-shaped building was designed, situated parallel to two sides of the perimeter of the available plot. This means one section can be left free and the other, which faces Carrer Antoni Gaudí, can be for shared use. A complex system of perimeter fences allows flexible use of the shared space and helps social integration between the school and its surroundings.
The entrance and the teaching block are arranged in a three-storey wing parallel to Carrer Pablo Picasso. The services department, dining hall and sports hall are arranged in a section of varying height parallel to the boundary fence of the neighbouring school. The entrance hall stretches across the main body of the building from the street to the playground, allowing the space to be used flexibly, as is required. A porch reinforces this as the central axis of the building and links the foyer with the sports hall.
On the ground floor are the communal areas, the school services and the preschool classes with their adjoining outside space, whilst the upper floors house a double row of classrooms, which face northeast and southeast and are sheltered by adjustable vertical slats.
Xavier Humet (Q. Surveyor), Oficina Tècnica Lluís Duart (Facilities)
The premises have two levels. On the lower level there are two entrances from the street. The upper floor is the main floor of the centre. Part of the courtyard, which is on the same level, is incorporated into the kindergarten as an outdoor play space.
The corridors are arranged next to the courtyard facades, whilst the classrooms and spaces for staff and administration are arranged next to the exterior facades. A two-storey porch on Avinguda de Catalunya facade protects the classroom windows from direct sunlight as they are south-facing.
The air circulation, heating and solar energy installations are on the roof of the building.
Xavier Humet (Q. Surveyor), Oficina Tècnica Lluís Duart (Facilities)
The premises have two levels. The lower level houses the entrances and most of the centre’s spatial requirements. An upper floor is designated for the staff departments.
Access to the medical centre is through the two-storey cloister, which faces onto Avinguda de Catalunya. There is a second emergency exit, also used by centre staff.
The main entrance opens into the reception area, located between the waiting room and the administrative area. The general medicine consulting rooms are arranged around this waiting room, which also links with the emergency department. The main waiting room runs through to a second waiting room, which is used by the dentistry and paediatric departments.
The air recirculation, heating and solar energy installations are housed on the roof of the building.
Joan Ramon Soldevila (Q. Surveyor), Rafael Bellmunt (Structure), Ventura & Milian (Facilities)
The school is arranged into two parallel buildings of different sizes, one for the preschool and the other the main school. The entrance is in the space between the two buildings. The porch connecting the buildings is the transition space between the school entrance, the buildings and the playground. The porch stretches over the length of the ground floor of the school, strengthening the relationship between the entrances and the playground.
The school has two floors. The ground floor houses the communal areas, the dining room, administration, services and the sports hall. The dining room and sports hall, the largest spaces, are located at either end of the main corridor, which provides the building’s backbone and structure. The upper floor houses the classrooms, departments and staff room.
Thanks to the plot’s orientation, the buildings have both northeast and southeast facades. The ground floor porch and the eaves over the windows of the first-floor classrooms protect the interior spaces from direct sunlight. The smaller spaces are along the northeast façade and are alternated with courtyards, which draw light into the central corridor.
The classrooms in the preschool building are orientated southeast, with a porch for sun protection. Classroom access in the other facade is via a glazed gallery situated in front of the main school entrance. Each classroom faces an outside space, which complements the interior teaching space.
Isabel Vega
The proposal coordinates and plans the different works that will have to be done over the coming years.
This plan builds on projects in progress and initiatives and aims stated by the Town Council.
The gardens are situated in the Can Estruch industrial estate and require partial remodelling for three reasons.
Firstly, the petanque courts, which occupy substantial space in the park, are no longer used and the space and its purpose could be redesigned. Secondly, a large space is needed for local festivals. Thirdly, there is a desire to characterise the park with Mediterranean elements and planting due to the strong presence of the Casa de Andalucía association in this neighbourhood.
The project plans to reuse a large part of the existing construction and planting, complemented with new elements and with the aim of giving the park meaning and personality.
In keeping with the linear nature of the park there are parallel strips of land with: a wide pavement where the weekly fair can be held, an open transition space, turfed dunes created with earth from the car park excavation, a narrow pavement next to an existing double row of elm trees which are being preserved, another transition space, and a flowerbed which acts as a buffer for the dwellings on the ground floor of the polygonal building.
Two rows of existing elm trees have been integrated into the park design to add to the pedestrian routes running the length of the park. The same outline has been adapted for the triangular city block perimeter.
Tristán Velasco (Architect)
This change to the Development Plan adjusts the sector layout to conform to POUM specifications and improves some planning and volume regulation issues of the buildings in residential areas.
This layout proposes a five-storey frontage on the facade facing the avenue and a community space that resolves the transition between this building and the as yet unused facilities block planned at the rear.
Àngels Ulla, Joan Enric Pastor, Antoni Tobella
The development was a chance to create an urban park to make up for the lack of the open space in the town centre. The park resulted from a claim by residents’ associations against the local council, and was a condition for approval of the planning application. Sports facilities, with minimal associated buildings, were planned for this park.
The building layout was structured with a 50 metre wide main avenue, providing the backbone connecting different areas of the new neighbourhood and integrating with the town centre road system. The city blocks are aligned parallel to this avenue and are adapted to the available topography and space. The district is completely built, with some changes to the initial plans.
The main elements are the versatile multi-use space and the space for the elderly, which have a unique shape that stands out from the rest of the rooms in the centre. These shapes are the image of the building seen from the square and reflect the important role in social relationships that a centre of this type should play.
The building entrance, via the courtyard, is designed to articulate the three main operational sections, being between them and the communal spaces. The administrative and management offices are linked to the foyer, either side of which is the multi-use space and the space for the elderly. The workshops are on the first floor.
We accept the role that facilities play in the city, the importance of their location in the urban network and their ability to be landmarks within the urban landscape. We therefore proposed situating the public buildings opposite the main avenue of the new urban settlement, which runs tangentially down one side of the plot and diametrically crosses the town.
We grouped the facilities into two buildings that flank the entrance to the interior courtyard and on the perimeter we arranged shops and offices, designed in three modules so they can be built in stages.
The shopping centre car park occupies two floors below the square. Parking for the facilities occupies two basement levels of the administrative building.
On the ground floor this main section stretches over two parts; one containing the preschool teaching block and the other the library, which occupies the only part of the plot free from building. The sports hall and changing rooms are smaller independent shapes, linked through a porch, which surrounds the playground and sports pitches.
With the buildings thus arranged, we situated the entrances so that they relate to the nearest pedestrian spaces. We linked the main entrance and the sports area to the pedestrian urban axis, which runs tangentially to the plot. The children’s play area entrance is linked to the garden, a public space that acts like a quadrant due to its shape. In addition to the urban furniture already in place here, this action encourages its use. The entrance to the kitchen is exclusively from the street via a service yard.
The limited size and shape of the site, with the limitations imposed by the need for the old building to remain operational until the new one can be occupied, were determining factors in the solution chosen for the project.
The proposal takes into account the specifications for operational use of the spaces and is consolidated in a building facing onto Carrer Castellar in two parts: the garage bays and the administration and station staff offices.
The new market building will efficiently resolve the clash between the movement of goods and parking with the pedestrianization of the urban space, at the same time providing a building with energy, environmental and comfort technology levels in line those required in new buildings.
We have grouped the different spatial requirements into one building, located in the same place as the current market. The inside of the market building, its offices, the youth centre, multi-use room, library and crèche are housed together in one overarching shape. The building envelope is transparent to the floor and permeable, allowing continuity between the square and the interior of the market. On the first basement level there are entrances to the car park and an area to be used exclusively by the market for the movement of goods, storage for stallholders and facilities rooms. The car park is situated on the second and third basement levels.
These buildings are situated in exceptional location. The site, located on the upper edge of Av. d’Aragón, near the border between the developable and the undevelopable land, has good views and good orientation.
The proposal consists of two identical groupings, each one comprised of two different buildings: a block and a tower, meaning the apartments can take full advantage of the location. This arrangement means a large proportion of the properties are well orientated and have lots of natural light.
90 dwellings, a retail unit and 91 parking spaces are accommodated without exceeding the maximum buildable area or the number of floors stipulated by urban planning. The car park is on the basement level and the retail premises and four apartments are on the ground floor. The remaining properties are on the upper floors. The roof is home to the solar energy panels.
Distribution within the flats can be improved without increasing their floor area. The relationship between different living spaces can be changed to achieve greater visual width and allow the space to be used differently by, for example, opening up a bedroom or the kitchen directly to the living room.
The proposal we presented is based on including variable relationships between the spaces in the properties, allowing them to be used flexibly and adapting to the needs and preferences of each user.
The site has an exceptional location; situated on the higher side of Avinguda d’Aragó, the apartments have good views and are well orientated, exactly as housing should be.
We proposed an 11.60 metre deep building, which reproduces the curve of the Ronda dels Catalans and sits on a stone plinth course whose geometry strengthens the characteristic features of the public space. The apartments are all housed within a single shape. The floor plan provides the majority of the apartments with good orientation with regard to the sun and good views.
We propose renovating the part nearest to Carrer Balmes and organising the entrance through the space separating it from the street. We construct a new facade, preserving the interior space as a container for the offices that do not require compartmentalisation (foyer, reception and waiting room) and the larger public spaces (the healthcare training room and meeting room). We reserve the outer section for the smaller spaces that, due to their intended use, need to be more closed-off.
The size of the intervention allows us to consider a layout that solves all the formal issues derived from the topography of the site, relating the building with the road network and the symbolic problems of its situation on the perimeter of the district, opposite the undeveloped land of Collserola nature reserve.
The margin for flexibility within the tender makes it possible to find a solution that resolves all the aforementioned factors within one unique shape, based on the design of a block, which repeats with small variants on the ground floor.
The repetition results in a fan of blocks formation and well suits the urban location of the site, which is on the slopes of the Collserola hill range and can be seen for miles around.
Spaces between the blocks give the whole building visual transparency and paths run through the development, joining it with the park. Entrances to the foyers of the lower section blocks are arranged in these spaces, which integrate with the landscaped slopes of the upper part and become a transition element between the city and the hills.
The upper part of the street is pedestrianized, with restricted vehicle access for cleaning and gardening services’ parking.
This tender for an office building for the Lleida Architectural Association was in a unique location in a group of new buildings in Canyeret.
The proposed circular building was born out of rational thinking. The cylinder form allowed us to dispense with references to the geometry of the plot and the slope of the land, which we standardised as a slope. Its height and size would integrate the building into the surroundings, whilst its shape and materials would contrast with the older constructions and establish a dialogue with the triangular entrance tower of the Seu Vella Cathedral.
This was the first project jointly undertaken by the partners of Martí-Miralles Architectes.
It was a tender for a cultural centre that called for the creation of a unique landmark building in the town’s urban setting. We put forward a white building, slightly set back from the avenue in order to allow the creation of a square facing Passeig de Lepanto.
To facilitate a good relationship between the buildings’ public spaces and the outside we designed large gaps in the lower floors. A sealed white form with a broken outline emerges from the second floor and contains the conference hall and stage, which for operational reasons have to be opaque.