JG Ingenieros has provided the facilities engineering service for the design and construction management of Ciudad BBVA, the new global corporate headquarters of Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria located in Las Tablas, north of Madrid.
Ciudad BBVA is a 252,000 m2 built complex, consisting of a main tower – called La Vela – with 19 floors above ground and 93 meters high, like the Statue of Liberty in New York. The rest of the complex is made up of 7 horizontal buildings of a height of 3 levels named after continents, arranged by streets named after oceans (Caribbean, Atlantic, Mediterranean, Indian and Pacific streets).
In a first phase, the Asia and Oceania buildings were developed, located in the eastern third of the plot. It started with 4 existing buildings, reforming them on a large scale, to create 2 unique linear buildings or “fingers”, up to 160 m long.
The totally new second phase included the development of La Vela and the other 5 buildings (North America, South America, Europe, Africa and Antarctica). The whole complex is integrated creating a “mini city” organized and interconnected by streets, cross walkways and the connecting ring that surrounds the 100 m diameter square in the center of which is La Vela.
The complex is also a sustainable space, certified with the LEED NC – Gold Category in 2016. It is the largest building in Europe illuminated with LED lights, which represents an energy saving of 30%, to which must be added the 60% provided by the management system that regulates the contribution of natural light and presence detectors. This system is also integrated with the operation of automatically regulating blinds depending on the position of the sun and communicates with the air conditioning to optimize the temperature when the spaces are unoccupied.
Promoter: Gran Jorge Juan, S.A.
Conception: Herzon & de Meuron, Drees & Sommer, Martínez FM Arq.
Execution: Ortíz León Arquitectos SLP
Certification: LEED-NC Gold (Sept 2016)
Facilities budget: € 115 million
End: 2016
