MVN Arquitectos: Botín Foundation

Inside a former silversmith workshop from the 1920s, the Spanish architecture studio has completed the new offices for the Botín Foundation, preserving remnants of the building's industrial past.

Spanish architecture studio MVN Arquitectos have designed the new offices of the Botín Foundation in Madrid, inside a former silversmith workshop originally built in the 1920s. Architects Diego Varela de Ugarte and Emilio Medina García were inspired by the building's historic references which led to an attempt to retain the spirit of the original industrial building, by exposing steel and brickwork in combination with a predominant usage of oak wood, steel and glass.

The atrium has been transformed into a two storey-high space, which helps to create an open plan, and allows natural light to fill the whole building. One of the roof trusses was removed and replaced with a metal structure, creating an opening for a skylight over the entrance. The ground floor is intended for public activities with a flexible but modular, clear open space.

The architects' extensive use of wood was "essential to emphasise the contrast between old and new," states Diogo Varela de Ugarte. Above the entrance's open space, the first floor harbours office spaces for the Foundation's senior management team, with a private area for meetings. Here, doors, wall panelling and the flooring throughout are made of wood.
MVN Arquitectos, new headquarters for the Botín Foundation, Madrid, Spain 2012
MVN Arquitectos, new headquarters for the Botín Foundation, Madrid, Spain 2012
MVN Arquitectos: Botín Foundation, Madrid
Architects: Diego Varela de Ugarte and Emilio Medina García, MVN Arquitectos
Client: Fundación Botín
Collaborators: Alfonso García del Rey, Laura Sánchez, María Pascual and Alicia Castilla, arquitects
Technical Architect: María Lamela Martín
Interior design consultant: Juan Luis Líbano
Consultants: Ingenor (Structural and service engineering), Luis Vallejo Estudio de Paisajismo (Landscape designer)
Project Manager: Santander Global Facilities
Contractor: Ferrovial
Wooden joinery: Moinsa (Ground, floor, ceiling), Parquets Román S.L. (Flooring), Teisa (Doors and wall panels)
Final completion date: 2012
Construction period: 8 months
Gross floor area: 1,541,95 square metres
Cost: 1,784,000€
MVN Arquitectos, new headquarters for the Botín Foundation, Madrid, Spain 2012
MVN Arquitectos, new headquarters for the Botín Foundation, Madrid, Spain 2012
MVN Arquitectos, new headquarters for the Botín Foundation, Madrid, Spain 2012
MVN Arquitectos, new headquarters for the Botín Foundation, Madrid, Spain 2012

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