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BMW Motor Munich
BMW Motor Munich
133, Carrer de Costa i Deu, Sabadell, Spain
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Other Projects by EQUIP Xavier Claramunt
BMW Motor Munich
133, Carrer de Costa i Deu, Sabadell, Spain
Type
YEAR
2004
SIZE
500,000 sqft - 1,000,000 sqft
BUDGET
$5M - 10M
Daddy, whassat?
From the motorway we can see
something new shining, there, there! At the entrance to Sabadell. Daddy,
whassat? A bit concealed by the protection barriers of the road on which we are
driving, both when going and when coming, there it stands, this thing that is
drawing our attention. Until one day we drive into Sabadell. Stuck in the great
queue of cars that are tiredly advancing, the occupants of the vehicles while
the time away looking for something. It is the peculiar way we now have of
entering cities. The hum of vehicles on the motorway behind us reminds us of
the yearned-for speed at which we came, and now in front of us we see the great
façade of a species of heavy metal shutter that is concealing something from
us.
The intervention takes place in the
city of Sabadell, an industrial textile centre in the vecinity of Barcelona.
Specifically it is located in the industrial development by the south entrance
to the city, in full view of the drivers on the Barcelona-Terrassa dual
carriageway, next to the aero-drome. This is the last plot remaining in a
built-up block with terraced constructions fronting the streets of Bernat Metge
and Joan Costa i Deu, with a surface of just over thousand square meters of
façade giving on to these two streets.
We are on a half-built plot
partially occupied by three bays with a metal structure, one of them with a
greater centerline with tahn the other two. All this must be turned into
premises for a high-end car dealer.
First we COMPLETE, a decision that
entails a twist in order to face everyone driving along the motorway or
entering the city of Sabadell. The original buildings are extended in two
directions: the longitudinal extension of the three existing bays and the
construction of half a bay in one of its two laterals, right up to the boundary
with the street. In the first zone the peaked roof typology is maintained, with
the addition of a series of perversities to permit natural light to penetrate.
Come and see. To this end we adopted two different project mechanisms: where we
want to gain height for the space immediatly below, we extended the ascending
slope up to the necessay height and then completed the other slope in a
symmetrical manner. A point of greatest heigh thus appears. The second
mechanism is used to build half a flat roof that opens the way for the light
that floods in through the other half, which does conserve the original slope.
A point of lower heigth thus appears. Alternating slopes and planes on a
diagonal allows us to keep the unity of the enclosure, where stretches of
lesser greater height appears as rhythmical anecdotes. The metallic trusses
that extend the bays rest on two concrete porticoes in the central part and
metallic pillars in the ends.
In the second zone, a metallic
structure supports a roof that ascends when it approaches the street and ends
up by crowning the façade with a curved line. This is the display space for the
vehicles, where the metallic summers bridge the existing span between a line of
steel pillars ant the continuous and self-supporting structure of the façade.
The final manipulation of this space seeks the degree of comfort one might
expect from a drawing room, a car sitting smoothly on a rug.
Then we DISTRIBUTE, and an
intermediate level is built inside the original bays with a horizontal forging
and concrete pillars parallel to the existing metallic structure. The height is
determined by the requirements of the activities that take place on the ground
floor. On the second level is a car park for the staff and the management and administration
offices. Ont the entrance leval are the workshops, storerooms, after-sales
services, sales and display space.
Thirdly, we COMMUNICATE, which means
returning to the initial movements. The aim is to shape a façade that will
transform the building into an advertisement of itself. Daddy, whassat? A
metallic structure was erected to hold two shells. By means of fibre cement
plates, the enclosure is built to make the building watertight and to finish
the inside. The second one, more external and not waterthight, is made from
mechanised stainless steel panels installed longitudinally, parallel to the
streets and road. This curtain of waves shrinks at certain points to mark the
accesses and to give a view of the car display zones. The ratio of scale between
the open glazed parts and the curtain of waves insinuates two distances from
which to perceive the building: one from the motorway and road, in movement,
and another one a few meters from the building, static, from street level. The
middle point is a no-man’s-land. You are either far away, reading an
advertising hoarding, or in front of the cars on display, about to walk into
the building. The clue to interpreting the shape is provided by the protection
barriers of the motorway, from where one has privileged views of the building.
A fleeting brightness. Daddy, whassat?
From the motorway we can see
something new shining, there, there! At the entrance to Sabadell. Daddy,
whassat? A bit concealed by the protection barriers of the road on which we are
driving, both when going and when coming, there it stands, this thing that is
drawing our attention. Until one day we drive into Sabadell. Stuck in the great
queue of cars that are tiredly advancing, the occupants of the vehicles while
the time away looking for something. It is the peculiar way we now have of
entering cities. The hum of vehicles on the motorway behind us reminds us of
the yearned-for speed at which we came, and now in front of us we see the great
façade of a species of heavy metal shutter that is concealing something from
us.
The intervention takes place in the
city of Sabadell, an industrial textile centre in the vecinity of Barcelona.
Specifically it is located in the industrial development by the south entrance
to the city, in full view of the drivers on the Barcelona-Terrassa dual
carriageway, next to the aero-drome. This is the last plot remaining in a
built-up block with terraced constructions fronting the streets of Bernat Metge
and Joan Costa i Deu, with a surface of just over thousand square meters of
façade giving on to these two streets.
We are on a half-built plot
partially occupied by three bays with a metal structure, one of them with a
greater centerline with tahn the other two. All this must be turned into
premises for a high-end car dealer.
First we COMPLETE, a decision that
entails a twist in order to face everyone driving along the motorway or
entering the city of Sabadell. The original buildings are extended in two
directions: the longitudinal extension of the three existing bays and the
construction of half a bay in one of its two laterals, right up to the boundary
with the street. In the first zone the peaked roof typology is maintained, with
the addition of a series of perversities to permit natural light to penetrate.
Come and see. To this end we adopted two different project mechanisms: where we
want to gain height for the space immediatly below, we extended the ascending
slope up to the necessay height and then completed the other slope in a
symmetrical manner. A point of greatest heigh thus appears. The second
mechanism is used to build half a flat roof that opens the way for the light
that floods in through the other half, which does conserve the original slope.
A point of lower heigth thus appears. Alternating slopes and planes on a
diagonal allows us to keep the unity of the enclosure, where stretches of
lesser greater height appears as rhythmical anecdotes. The metallic trusses
that extend the bays rest on two concrete porticoes in the central part and
metallic pillars in the ends.
In the second zone, a metallic
structure supports a roof that ascends when it approaches the street and ends
up by crowning the façade with a curved line. This is the display space for the
vehicles, where the metallic summers bridge the existing span between a line of
steel pillars ant the continuous and self-supporting structure of the façade.
The final manipulation of this space seeks the degree of comfort one might
expect from a drawing room, a car sitting smoothly on a rug.
Then we DISTRIBUTE, and an
intermediate level is built inside the original bays with a horizontal forging
and concrete pillars parallel to the existing metallic structure. The height is
determined by the requirements of the activities that take place on the ground
floor. On the second level is a car park for the staff and the management and administration
offices. Ont the entrance leval are the workshops, storerooms, after-sales
services, sales and display space.
Thirdly, we COMMUNICATE, which means
returning to the initial movements. The aim is to shape a façade that will
transform the building into an advertisement of itself. Daddy, whassat? A
metallic structure was erected to hold two shells. By means of fibre cement
plates, the enclosure is built to make the building watertight and to finish
the inside. The second one, more external and not waterthight, is made from
mechanised stainless steel panels installed longitudinally, parallel to the
streets and road. This curtain of waves shrinks at certain points to mark the
accesses and to give a view of the car display zones. The ratio of scale between
the open glazed parts and the curtain of waves insinuates two distances from
which to perceive the building: one from the motorway and road, in movement,
and another one a few meters from the building, static, from street level. The
middle point is a no-man’s-land. You are either far away, reading an
advertising hoarding, or in front of the cars on display, about to walk into
the building. The clue to interpreting the shape is provided by the protection
barriers of the motorway, from where one has privileged views of the building.
A fleeting brightness. Daddy, whassat?
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