Madrid, Spain
Office of Architecture in Barcelona (OAB) has transformed a former headquarters in Madrid into the recently opened Madrid EDITION Hotel through a sensitive refurbishment that is a contemporary nod to the history of the city through three distinct facades.
As the refurbishment of the former headquarters of the Caja de Ahorros y Monte de Piedad, the project carries a strong historical element.
The project is expressed from a deep analysis of the historical environment in which it stands.
The building has 3 main street façades, each of which faces very different urban situations.
The north façade gives onto the Plaza de las Descalzas, today one of the most important and run-down sites of the historic centre of Madrid.
This square is fronted by Convento de las Descalzas Reales (a National Heritage building, with one of the most important art collections in the world) and the Casa de las Alhajas (the current headquarters of the Fundación Obra Social y Monte de Piedad of Madrid).
The east façade runs along the Plaza de Celenque, while the west façade is aligned with Calle San Martín.
An analysis of the surroundings is what the proposed intervention on the existing building was based on: one quieter façade more fitting with heritage, one façade more urban with potential for activity, and one facing road traffic.
The hotel is committed to changing its main access to the Plaza de Celenque by reorganizing the public space and transmitting the sensation of a pedestrian street coexisting with the restricted traffic of the area.
The Plaza de las Descalzas is reserved for a more pedestrian entrance.
The project proposes that it be here, through the baroque door, where the hotel opens up to the city of Madrid.
This entrance gives direct access to the restoration project open to the public, in a decision intended to boost the urban regeneration of the surrounding area.
This is a unique opportunity to provide an urban entrance hall on a par with a monument such as the Convento de las Descalzas Reales.
The third façade is used for the hotel services and access to the underground car park and the loading and unloading bays.
The project proposed to limit the intervention on the façade to work on the opening, giving the building a more contemporary image through the work on the element in which the most advanced technology can be incorporated.
The work on the openings focuses on increasing their size within the existing grids and providing them with a new formal language, giving a standard reading of the building throughout its height.
The openings thus appear as glass elements on a deep background, emphasised by the tone of the carpentry.
OAB maintains a great level of respect for the locations they work on, illustrated by the clever way the architects have successfully developed the building’s three main street facades, which face very different urban situations.
This results in a stylish, modern, yet practical design that also enhances and fits in with its surroundings.
Complete with interiors by John Pawson Ltd. and The Ian Schrager Company, the hotel opened last year.
Project: Madrid EDITION Hotel
Architects: Office of Architecture in Barcelona (OAB)
Lead Architects: Xavier Martí (OAB), Carlos Ferrater (OAB), César Luis Larrea (CRL), and Gorka Álvarez (CRL)
Collaborator: Montse Trilla (OAB)
Interior Designers: John Pawson Ltd. and The Ian Schrager Company
Client: Edition Hotels, Marriot International, Inc.
Images Courtesy of the Architects