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IDOM Headquarters in Madrid

This is a project by ACXT and it is located at Monte Carmelo, Madrid, Spain. Project's program: Office building. There are seventeen images for IDOM Headquarters in Madrid.

: © Fernando Guerra

Project details

Project name: IDOM Headquarters in Madrid
Location: Monte Carmelo, Madrid, Spain
Program: Office building
Area: Building Surface: 15,300 m2
Year: Completion: December 2010
More details: Budget: 16,000,000 €
Client: Grupo IDOM
Project by: ACXT
Team: Architects: Jorge Martínez Bermejo, Jesús María Susperregui • Principal Engineer: Antonio Villanueva • Assistants: Borja Arostegui, Ana Díaz, Andrés Mackena, Stephanie Peer, Ana Peigneux
Others: Engineering: IDOM • Structure: Rocío García Cuevas, Fernando de Aguinaga, David García, Jorge de Prado

Project images

Designer's statement

The most pleasant and unique circumstances were set before us: the client was also the developer, the architect, the contractor and the user.

The initial aspiration of the assignment was simple: to erect a building that would house the activity of IDOM, while at the same time representing it and becoming as it were a visiting card for clients. Its culture and way of working should be clear from the building itself. This was an opportunity to turn a building into a showcase for its philosophy.

Building the Non-Office: An atmosphere closer to that of a household which would do away with the axioms of the traditional office building. A space free from false ceilings and floors and with wood carpentry, cloth ducts, bare masonry walls, slow propulsion of air at room temperature and operational windows… in a nut shell: the non-office. Great structural spans that allow for a smooth and flexible flow area. Sun protection towards the south, and toned down light from the north. The perception of a continuous space both horizontally and vertically. A setting that includes fragments of nature, hanging gardens and green walls. A correct strategy for reusing water making the most of it for visual and acoustic pleasure.

Good, Attractive & Cheap: A building of reasonable cost and simple maintenance, easy to use and understand, flexible, kind in its presentation, quick upon changes, good, attractive and cheap and maximalist in its aspiration. A hi-tech building with low profile technology, complex in its conception but simple in its resolution.

Thermally Active Structure: The building has an HVAC system which must be considered an integral part of the building itself (TABS: Thermally Activated Building System). A number of hydraulic circuits are laid out over the concrete slabs, keeping the temperature of the mass of the whole building within values very similar to those of the surrounding environment. There is no thermal stress. There is no noise or temperature difference between areas.

Air Renovation: Air is renewed in a much calmer way, since temperature is no longer an issue, by means of a shifting textile ducts system, which contributes a great deal with the energy efficiency factor. The network deals with great flow variations and allows for making the most of favourable exterior conditions to ventilate the interior almost free of charge, without any unnecessary energy consumptions.

Natural Ventilation: The use of a natural ventilation system, without any mechanical aid, has been researched. To that purpose, vertical communication atriums have been planned, working as great HVAC return air collectors, dispensing with conventional return ducts. When natural ventilation starts, the air propulsion machines stop and the atrium continues to work as a return chimney, only this time it drives the air towards the exterior through the discharge systems at the top of the atriums, while the new air enters through the tilting windows of the offices, which are aimed at the ceiling. Zero consumption and natural ventilation allow the building to work without any other support when exterior conditions are adequate.