Built |2000 | Erandio | Due to operational requirements, the building had to occupy the central space within the complex, in a sloped area, overlooking the Nervión valley.
However, efforts were made to leave this central area, topographically the geometrical point of inflection, as free as possible. Then, the new building has been split into two low volumes, coupled to the slope. The natural terrain crosses through the building between both volumes. The division of program and the embedding of spaces on the ground prevented the appearance of a volume in the most significant point of the site, which is also the convergence point of views from other buildings in the complex. Ultimately, it was an attempt to not to take the air.
Indoor spaces flush, almost sunk, recover the culture of contact with the wet ground of disseminated in the landscape vernacular Basque architecture.
One of the volumes is elongated and contains the work areas. The other volume houses the technical centers, diaphanous rooms, lecture halls and all-purpose rooms. A glass façade looks out over the slope. Garden patios and embankments, the result of sculpting the terrain, provide natural lighting for all the work spaces. Lighting is provided through extensive glazing, level with the ground outside. The circulation paths that cross this volume and link it with the preceding block had overhead lighting throughout their length because they are streets and squares.
It was possible, furthermore, to surround a working environment focused upon the virtual world with sunlight, sky, earth and grass.
The roof of the compact block is configured as a horizontal main elevation and shows the different uses of the interior. Part of the roof is a cobblestone plaza from which entering the building. The access and security controls are located in a small transparent volume which is reached after walking on the roof, between the aluminum domes, through the stone plaza and horizontal glass surfaces.
The tower, which contains facilities that require ventilation and communications systems that require high, expresses the technical and ethereal nature of the program.