DESCRIPTION / PROJECT KEY POINTS

Located in the heart of Madrid’s capital, the highly recognizable Castellana 36-38 office building, one of the assets of one of the leading Spanish insurance companies Mutua Madrileña, has undergone a profound change of image proposed by MID to, according to the objectives of its ow¬ner, “make the building reappear in the very exclusive urban profile of Paseo de la Castellana, the Madrilenian Champs-Élysées”. The building is a reference, not for its architecture but for its geographical location, an urban articulation on several levels. First of all a prism, a cornerstone between two communication axes of the city: the major axis of the Castellana and its perpendicular that overhangs it thanks to the very borrowed autopont of Juan Bravo. Then a space, a retrenchment that opens to the Museum of Sculptures looks out between the piers where pieces such as “Mother Ubu” by Juan Miro or “Sirena Varada” by Edouardo Chillida, a 6 ton sculpture suspended from the bridge itself, can be seen. The discreet and defined geometry of the building, marked by its age, offers a great number of possibilities: “Our objective is to generate a true urban installation, a vertical park, a source of renewable energy, a landmark for the environment, much more than just any tertiary building”. The project is taking shape little by little, the rehabilitated interior spaces play on the contrast, reflection and geometric continuity of the decorative elements. Giving the building a newfound elegance.The proposed general intervention is conditioned by the maintenance and rehabilitation of some structural elements of the building such as the functionalist facade typical of Madrid in the 50s, the glass paving stone wall in the interior patio that accompanies the stairwell of the building over its entire height. The scope of the intervention should not alter the administrative licenses currently held by the building.
This restructuring also includes the improvement and replacement of the current technical installations with the objective of significant energy savings and the removal of architectural barriers for generalized accessibility. The Eloy Gonzalo 27 building is characterized by its ability to bring light inside the building in accordance with the comfort and dynamism relative to the tertiary activity that will take place there.
Over time, successive and partial renovations by its users, as well as the lack of maintenance of the common areas, these strong points of the building have been reduced to a minimum. The first objective of this restructuring is to recover the singular characteristics of this place and to give light, efficiency and comfort to the rehabilitated spaces.