Plaza Europa 31

Location : Hospitalet De Llobregat, Barcelona, Spain
Text : El Croquis 162

"This building was originally designed as the headquarters for a real estate company, however while under construction, the project was transformed into a clustered office building. The planning ordinances for Plaça Europa precisely defined the buildings, obliging their arrangement in a concentric curve on the square with a regulated three-part stepped setback in height. The air articulates and the structure shapes the interior of this pre-defined envelope. A series of steel ribs, which form the outer bearer structure, have a fan-like arrangement, adjusted one by one to describe the arc. Depending on one's angle of vision, these ribs project a tense, opaque image, or an open, transparent image. From inside, the structural ribs capture a framed view of the exterior.

The articulating air shapes the entrance square and the longitudinal porch, creeping inside the common zones and crossing the complex vertically, generating a courtyard. The inward facing glazing reinforces the air and the depth, facilitating the installation of external curtains.Two parking storeys complete the services for the office levels, which permit cellular or landscape floors, depending on their width."