BUILDING WITH AIR

The offices of the Castilla León Junta in Zamora

In collaboration with Pablo Fernández Lorenzo, Pablo Redondo Díez, Alfonso González Gaisán and Francisco Blanco Velasco

To build with air, the abiding dream of every architect:

Facing the cathedral and following the outline of the former convent’s kitchen garden, we erect a strong stone wall box open to the sky. Its walls and floors entirely made of stone. The very same stone as the Cathedral. A real Hortus Conclusus. In the corner facing the cathedral, a massive stone measuring 250x150x50 cm, a veritable Cornerstone. And chiselled on that stone:

HIC LAPIS ANGULARIS MAIO MMXII POSITO

Within the stone box, a glass box, only glass. Like a greenhouse. With a double facade similar to a Trombe wall. The external skin of the facade is made of glass, each single sheet measuring 600x300x2,4 cm and all joined together simply with structural silicone and hardly anything else. As if entirely made of air.

The trihedral upper angles of the box are made completely with glass, thus even further accentuating the effect of transparency. Precisely what Mies was looking for in his Friedrichstrasse tower. The trihedron built with air, a true Glass Corner. And engraved in acid on the glass:

HOC VITRUM ANGULARIS MAIO MMXII POSITO

The stone box made from Memory. With its Cornerstone deeply rooted in the soil.
The glass box made for the Future. With its Glass Corner blending into the sky.

To build with air, the abiding dream of every architect.

Technical data :

Architects: Alberto Campo Baeza

Pablo Fernández Lorenzo

Pablo Redondo Díez

Alfonso González Gaisán

Francisco Blanco Velasco

Location: Obispo Manso, 1. ZAMORA

Client: Junta de Castilla y León. Consejería de Hacienda

Timing:

competition 2004

project 2006

construction 2008-2012

Area: 12.100 m²

Architects collaborators: Ignacio Aguirre López

Miguel Ciria Hernández

Other collaborators: Alejandro Cervilla García

Emilio Delgado Martos

Petter Palander

Sergio Sánchez Muñoz

Structural engineer: Eduardo Díez - IDEEE

Mechanical engineer: Úrculo Ingenieros

Cuantity surveyor: Juan José Bueno Crespo

Glass consultant: José Pablo Calvo Busello

Construction:

Contractor: UTE Edificio Consejo Consultivo: Dragados - San Gregorio

Stone work: Areniscas de los Pinares

Glass curtain: PROINLLER

Roofing installation: Intemper

Stainless steel work: DACIN

Concrete paving: ARGAPREF

Painted resin paving: Rinol Rocland Suesco, S.L.

Gypsum board work: Zamorana de Aislamientos Termo-acústicos

Wood work: Hnos. García Santiago, S.A.

Elevators: Schindler

HVAC: Atil Cobra

Lighting: Agosa

Furnitures: NUAR (Sellex), DACIN, Ciprés (Formica)

Gardening: Viveros Gimeno Salamanca S.l.

Awning/curtains: Ladis Protección Solar S.l.

Photografy: Javier Callejas Sevilla