heatherwick studio unveils its winning design for an office building in madrid, its first project in spain. designed for el corte ingles, europe’s biggest department store, ‘castellana 69’ adopts a strong sustainability agenda with the building set to be carbon neutral within 15 years of completion. the scheme has been developed in collaboration with CLK architects and BAC engineering consultancy group, and it saw off shortlisted competition entries from the likes of BIG, fosters, KPF and nieto y sobejano. 

 

 

castellana 69 will be located close to el corte inglés’ flagship store on paseo de la castellana and it will accommodate a total floor area of around 15,000 sqm (161,458.66 sqft). the design includes a plant-filled internal courtyard, or ‘green heart’, to bring nature into the center of the workplace and the city. greenery also populates the elevational treatment, which will provide welcome shade during madrid’s hot summers.

heatherwick studio's first building in spain will produce more energy than it consumes

image by heatherwick studio

 

 

to achieve the goal of net zero-carbon, heatherwick studio incorporates a large number of solar panels that will produce more energy than the building consumes. in addition to the operational carbon consumption, the project team has also considered the environmental impact of the construction and the engineers are aiming for 60%-70% less embodied carbon in the building process than a typical office block.

 

 

inside, the office responds to new ways of working with a flexible organization and spaces that flow from indoor to outdoor working and social spaces. heatherwick’s ambition is to create a human-centered workplace that’s both inspiring and stimulating. castellana 69 is planned to break ground in early 2022, with completion due in 2024.

 

 

‘it’s thrilling for my studio to be building our first project in spain,’  said thomas heatherwick, founder of heatherwick studio. ‘castellana 69 is an exciting opportunity to move away from the formality and staleness of so much modern office building design to develop a more humanized workspace that simultaneously prioritizes social and environmental sustainability. we’re proud to have el corte inglés as our client, and we share their commitment to making greener and more human-centered cities for everyone.’

 

 

project info:

 

name: castellana 69

location: paseo de la castellana, madrid, spain

client: el corte inglés

design: heatherwick studio

collaborators: CLK architects, BAC engineering consultancy group