
Location Barcelona (Spain)
Client INDRA, Grupo Castellví, Gratán, S.L.
Area 10.376 m²
Year 2009
Status Completed-Built
Typology Offices
Awards Finalist FAD Awards 2007
Photography Adrià Goula, Rafael Vargas
Team Fermín Vázquez, Cristina Algás, Peco Mulet, Alexa Plasencia, Ana Caffaro, Laia Isern, Pietro Peyron, Andrea Rodríguez, Miquel Santos
The slender office tower for the information technology company Indra is located in Barcelona’s 22@ district. The building has thirteen floors above ground and two underground floors. A plinth-like base forms the first three levels, above which rises a ten-story rhomboid-shaped volume that houses the company’s offices. Between these two volumes, a technical inset floor in retreat articulates the volumes and makes the upper part seem lighter.
The façade of the tower is double. On the interior face, the carpentry is anchored between slabs, giving continuity to the cantilevered slab – up to five meters long in some cases – to hold on its edge a second skin as a veil or filter. This is made from stainless steel mesh panels that, combined with the shade of the eaves, provide protection from the sun and excessive light, without sacrificing the enjoyment of a large glass façade. The mesh envelope is also the support for an ethereal and changing ornamental mechanism, sphere-shaped patterns designed to give the building an identity and highlight its corporate character.