SOMOS.arquitectos proposal along with Janine Galiano for the Biomedical Sciences Building for the Carlos III Campus in Getafe (Madrid).
The proposal relies
on four main ideas:
01.- Dissolve
the topographic break that borders the northern and western limits of the plot.
02.- Strengthen
the landscape continuities between the existing Paseo de la Estación and the
pedestrian walkway of the campus.
03.- Clearly
define the boundaries of the plot and in a very specific way, the accesses.
04.- Limit the facades
surfaces oriented to the west to favor summer comfort.
ORGANIZATION OF
THE PROGRAM
The most
crucial concept of the project is to use the program to establish a LOGIC that
apart from giving a solution to PROGRAM, can also deal with STRUCTURE, SPACE
and FLOWS (people / fluids). The competition proceedings identified three
functional groups that we wanted to synthesize in two:
01- Spaces
dedicated to pedagogy, which are housed in the first two levels, called
Plateaux.
02- Spaces
dedicated to the research staff, offices, located in the last two levels.
The hall adopts
the morphology of a GALLERY that defines the HEART and the "foyer" of
the building. Developed on two floors, the gallery has two entrances: a main
entrance that connects the building with the pedestrian walkway of the campus,
and a second one directly at level with the Paseo de la Estación.
An emblematic
space and a representation of the pedagogical function of the building, the
gallery offers a generous volume that gathers several uses: reception, distribution
for the pedagogical areas and offices, collective work spaces or relaxation
spaces for the students ... Between the two levels of the gallery, several
physical, visual and functional relationships are developed along its length, creating
a shared, distended and complementary SPACE OF COEXISTENCE and STUDY around the
pedagogical spaces (classrooms and laboratories).
PEDAGOGICAL
SPACES AND FLEXIBILITY OF USE
The inevitable
evolution of functional uses and needs must be considered as a requirement for
the durability of a building. The conception of pedagogical spaces integrates
that condition. For the classrooms as well as for the laboratories, the
partition system is totally independent of the structure, allowing for a
maximum flexibility of use over time.
The structure
is an indispensable tool to guarantee that freedom. Thus, on the ground floor
the number of supports has been minimized. The available pillars support two
Vierendeel beams that are located on axes V and X and that occupy the entire
height of the Laboratory level. To span the distance of almost 20 meters
between the two beams, a system of hollowed prefabricated wooden floor is used.
This extra thickness allows installations to be distributed. These Vierendeel
beams support the load of the offices level, that thanks to the dividing
bearing walls between each unit, work as one single slab.
The ground
floor houses all the classrooms. Following the will for a pedagogical
environment adapted to new learning methods, they can be extended through a
system of modular panels, opening towards the gallery or onto another
classroom.
The
laboratories and the animal center are located on the first floor, also
arranged in such a way that the distribution gallery offers complementary
spaces for study or relaxation, in turn opening to outdoor terraces. A series
of voids and perforations allow to establish visual connections with the lower
floor and thus, building a true programmatic and perceptive unit.
LEVELS I and II
All offices
occupy the two upper floors of the building. They are grouped into small units
structured around the distribution spaces which are enriched with outdoor
terraces, or with free spaces without an assigned function. They can be used as
shared work areas or being dedicated to relaxation, in order to favor a comfortable
working environment.
