The architecture and design studio based in Mallorca / Castellón and directed by Pep Ripoll and Juan M. Tizón has been commissioned to design the comprehensive reform of an existing premise in the city of Palma de Mallorca, for its adaptation as an office of the entity Arquia Banca.

The project of Ripoll Tizón treats the relationship with public space as a determining factor in thinking about the new offices as an extension of the square. The interior activity, visible from the outside, takes place in a single space composed of different scenes related to each other according to the degree of privacy and attention required for each one of them.
The program areas in the project of Ripoll Tizón are distributed taking advantage of the L-shaped geometry, and they are organized by making a transition of spaces where a sequence of wooden vaults covers the areas of interrelation with the clients.

This is how the materiality of the project accompanies the spatial proposal, few materials are used, mostly primary, and also of local origin. This fact has gone hand in hand with the construction that has had local industrialists and artisans.
 

Description of project by Ripoll Tizón

The order consists of the comprehensive reform of existing premises for its adaptation as a reference office of the Arquia Banca entity in the city of Palma de Mallorca.

Located in the corner of a residential building, it is a place with a large perimeter of the facade that occupies two floors of irregular geometry and an identical surface. Its façade holes are given by the structural order of the building, and its elongated dimension is in contact with a wide, tree-lined sidewalk that functions as a plaza.

The relationship with the public space is decisive to think of the new office as an extension of the area of ​​the square. A new open office, with a close indoor-outdoor relationship and conceived as a large sideboard where the product on display will be the banking experience itself. The activity, visible from the outside, takes place in a single space composed of different scenes related to each other according to the degree of privacy and attention required for each of them.

Among others, the necessary structural modifications are carried out to unify the level of the access floor with that of the exterior sidewalk and introduce a double space next to the facade. This emptying of the premises articulates the various areas of the branch, allows natural light to reach the basement, and houses the new staircase that connects both levels.

The program areas are distributed taking advantage of the L-shaped geometry of the premises and are organized by making a transition from the public areas, located next to the facade, to the private areas, which are set back from the facade both in plan and in section. Finally, the confidential and storage spaces are arranged at the back of the premises and against the party walls.

For construction, a lot of effort has been put into having local industrialists and artisans. Few materials are used, mostly primary, and also of local origin.

The materiality of the project accompanies the spatial proposal. A sequence of wooden vaults covers the areas of interaction with the clients. This new roof, in addition to hiding the steps of the general facilities of the building and the new premises, naturally incorporates the grid of existing pillars and generates a warm and welcoming atmosphere that accompanies the banking experience. The vertical and back walls, made with a light framework, are also covered with natural wood or lacquered MDF board. The paving of the customer areas is made with handmade hydraulic tiles, joined with cement mortar. In this case, it has been chosen to polish the entire set, resulting in a continuous pavement that reinterprets the traditional mosaics so common in the city center. Other elements, such as the counter or the fixed furniture, are made with a manufactured terrazzo of the same composition and mix as that used in the manufacture of the flooring.

Read more
Read less

More information

+ + copy Created with Sketch.
- + copy Created with Sketch.
Label
Collaborators
Text
Pablo García, Erik Herrera, Carlos Antón, Quantity Surveyor.- Toni Arqué. Structure Calculation.- Hima structures. Calculation of Facilities.- Media-Tec.
+ + copy Created with Sketch.
- + copy Created with Sketch.
Label
Builder
Text
Movigrup.
+ + copy Created with Sketch.
- + copy Created with Sketch.
Label
Developer
Text
Caja de Arquitectos S.Coop. de Crédito.
+ + copy Created with Sketch.
- + copy Created with Sketch.
Label
Area
Text
343.36 sqm.
+ + copy Created with Sketch.
- + copy Created with Sketch.
Label
Dates
Text
Project.- 2016. Completion.- 2018.
+ + copy Created with Sketch.
- + copy Created with Sketch.
Label
Location
Text
St.Cecilio Metelo 12. Palma de Mallorca, Spain.
+ + copy Created with Sketch.
- + copy Created with Sketch.
Label
Photography
Text
José Hevia. 
+ + copy Created with Sketch.
- + copy Created with Sketch.
Ripoll Tizón is an architecture studio founded in 2002 by Pep Ripoll and Juan Miguel Tizón.

Pep Ripoll and Juan Miguel Tizón are architects from the Barcelona School of Architecture. Since 2002 they have shared a professional studio, combining the development of public and private promotion projects with participation in national and international architecture competitions.

They have won numerous awards in architecture competitions, among others, the first prizes for the rehabilitation of the Sa Vinyeta building in Menorca, the rehabilitation of the building of the Ministry of Health and Consumption and the Arquia-banking office, both in Palma, and several residential buildings of public promotion in Mallorca and Ibiza.

Their built work has received numerous awards, including the 2015 Gubbio Award for the best intervention in historic centers in Europe, the Ciutat de Palma Award in 2013 and 2019, the 2013 NAN Award for the best residential construction project, the APLUS 2013 Award for the best architecture project for housing, the 2011-13 Mallorca Architecture Award for the best residential work and the 2005-08 Menorca Architecture Award for the best work. They have been finalists in the 2013 FAD Awards, in the XII Spanish Architecture and Urbanism Biennial 2013, in the 2013 and 2016 Ugo Rivolta European Architecture Prize, in the 2013 Barbara Cappochin International Architecture Biennial and in the 2014 Mallorca Architecture Awards -2016.

Their work has been selected and exhibited at the International Architecture Biennial of Argentina 2016, at the Venice Architecture Biennale 2012, and widely disseminated in the main national and international architecture publications.
Read more
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...