Concordia Bridge between T4 and Valdebebas, access from the air
01/10/2023.
[MAD] Spain
metalocus, ANTONIO CORREDERA
metalocus, ANTONIO CORREDERA
The one called the "Concordia Bridge", designed by the team made up of architects Emilio Rodríguez Jiménez, Francisco José Domouso de Alba, Lorenzo Fernández-Ordóñez Hernández and engineer Francisco Millanes Mato, was won in an open competition in 2007.
Located on the M-12 highway in Madrid, the bridge, which took 15 years to build, serves as a connection between the Barajas Airport and the new neighborhood of Valdebebas, has recently received one of the 2023 architecture awards from the Official College of Architects of Madrid.
Located on the M-12 highway in Madrid, the bridge, which took 15 years to build, serves as a connection between the Barajas Airport and the new neighborhood of Valdebebas, has recently received one of the 2023 architecture awards from the Official College of Architects of Madrid.
Concordia Bridge between T4 and Valdebebas. Photograph by Imagen subliminal.
Concordia Bridge between T4 and Valdebebas. Photograph by Imagen subliminal.
Concordia Bridge between T4 and Valdebebas. Photograph by Imagen subliminal.
Concordia Bridge between T4 and Valdebebas. Photograph by Imagen subliminal.
Concordia Bridge between T4 and Valdebebas. Photograph by Imagen subliminal.
Concordia Bridge between T4 and Valdebebas. Photograph by Imagen subliminal.
Concordia Bridge between T4 and Valdebebas. Photograph by Imagen subliminal.
Concordia Bridge between T4 and Valdebebas. Photograph by Imagen subliminal.
Concordia Bridge between T4 and Valdebebas. Photograph by Imagen subliminal.
Concordia Bridge between T4 and Valdebebas. Photograph by Imagen subliminal.
Concordia Bridge between T4 and Valdebebas. Photograph by Imagen subliminal.
Model. Concordia Bridge between T4 and Valdebebas.
Structure. Concordia Bridge between T4 and Valdebebas.
Elevation. Concordia Bridge between T4 and Valdebebas.
Section. Concordia Bridge between T4 and Valdebebas.
Sections. Concordia Bridge between T4 and Valdebebas.
With four lanes in both directions, 214 meters long, a span length of 162 meters, 25 meters wide, and weighing 2,500 tons, its construction has been long, largely a consequence of the 2008 crisis. A necessary infrastructure that serves to facilitate the connection between the northwest of the city and the airport terminal.
Its image recalls the aeronautical shapes of the nearby T4, and its unique structure does not use braces between the arch and the base, but rather the board hangs from a mesh or permeable lattice of tubular steel profiles, which generates a play of lights and transparencies. that vary depending on the time of day.
Among the challenges of its construction process was the installation of the central section of the 130-meter bridge, for which it was necessary to mount the structure on a side platform parallel to the M-12 and then move it for six days to its final position.
Concordia Bridge between T4 and Valdebebas. Photograph by Imagen subliminal.
Concordia Bridge between T4 and Valdebebas. Photograph by Imagen subliminal.
Its image recalls the aeronautical shapes of the nearby T4, and its unique structure does not use braces between the arch and the base, but rather the board hangs from a mesh or permeable lattice of tubular steel profiles, which generates a play of lights and transparencies. that vary depending on the time of day.
Among the challenges of its construction process was the installation of the central section of the 130-meter bridge, for which it was necessary to mount the structure on a side platform parallel to the M-12 and then move it for six days to its final position.
Concordia Bridge between T4 and Valdebebas. Photograph by Imagen subliminal.
Concordia Bridge between T4 and Valdebebas. Photograph by Imagen subliminal.
Project description by Emilio Rodríguez Jiménez, Francisco José Domouso de Alba, Lorenzo Fernández-Ordóñez Hernández, Francisco Millanes Mato.
This project was the winner of an ideas competition in which 12 other proposals participated in June 2007. During 2008 the construction project was drawn up.
The competition proposed a “singular” bridge, as an entrance to Madrid from T4 and the new neighborhood of Valdebebas, which was responsible for its financing. This iconic character was proposed to be obtained with an object that was resounding in its formal limits, and with a curved geometry that generated a soft, warm, and heavy organoleptic reading, like a burnished tool.
The projected bridge is deliberately objectual, with clear and precise geometry, closer to industrial designs or the aviation industry than the traditional engineering vision of arch and deck roads. The material and curve continuity resembles that of an airplane whose interior structure can be seen, in which a hollow and light frame formed by longitudinal spines and transverse ribs can be sensed. The most relevant and unique formal aspect of the design is developed from a double “diagrid” or permeable structural mesh, from which the arch board hangs and which, as a plane of great rigidity, materializes the soul, in mesh or lattice, of the large beam of variable height into which the cable-stayed arch is transformed. The “diagrid” is designed in a double plane on each side of the spine of the structure, forming a quadruple staggered mesh that, while guaranteeing the necessary visual transparency, gives it a dynamic character, generating multiple lights and shadows that They reverberate and enrich the visual sensations of the perspectives. The “diagrid” proposal provides the novelty of a solution that rescues the dense lattice structural typology of the late 19th century, highlighting the slenderness of the lowered arch and the dynamic appearance presented by the entire structure.
It is an arch bridge. The span it spans is 160 meters, with a width of 24.50 m (two lanes in each direction). The structure of the bridge is completely made of steel (arch, diagrid, deck, abutments, parapets, and interior side sidewalk finishes). The entire metal structure of the bridge is finished with a gray paint, RAL9006.
More information
Architects / Engineers
Alberich-Rodríguez Arquitectos (Emilio Rodríguez Jiménez), Francisco José Domouso de Alba architect, Estudio Guadiana (Lorenzo Fernández-Ordóñez Hernández), IDEAM (Francisco Millanes Mato) engineering.
Collaborators
Juan Trujillo.
Client
Junta de Compensación de Valdebebas, Ayuntamiento de Madrid.
Builder
Ferrovial.
Area / Dimensions
Overall length.- 214 m.
Span lengths.- 26+162+26 m.
Width.- 24.50 m.
Span lengths.- 26+162+26 m.
Width.- 24.50 m.
Dates
Competition.- 2007.
Project.- 2008.
Completed.- 2021.
Project.- 2008.
Completed.- 2021.
Location
Bridge connecting the Valdebebas neighborhood with terminal 4 of Barajas Airport, Madrid, Spain.
Photography
Imagen Subliminal (Miguel de Guzmán + Rocío Romero).
Carlos Alberich, Emilio Rodríguez. Alberich-Rodríguez Arquitectos
Alberich-Rodríguez Arquitectos, is an architecture studio based in Madrid. Carlos Alberich Lanzos and Emilio Rodriguez Jiménez, both architects, join the Alberich Arquitectos studio as partners; which was founded by Raimundo Alberich Cid in 1992. Raimundo Alberich and Emilio Rodríguez have been collaborating in numerous architectural competitions and projects for more than twenty years.
José A. Fernández Ordóñez, Lorenzo Fernández-Ordóñez Estudio Guadiana
Estudio Guadiana is an architecture office established by José A. Fernández Ordóñez and Lorenzo Fernández-Ordóñez in 1997, which includes professionals from different disciplines to develop projects of architecture, landscaping, planning and engineering.
We have a sustainable approach to design, through work that spans the spectrum from masterplans to details. Our approach is sensitive to location and culture, often combining the latest advances in building technology with techniques drawn from vernacular tradition; and we harness the skills, enthusiasm, and knowledge of integrated design teams, clients, and communities to create inspirational environments.
Our work is a profound commitment to finding innovative design solutions, with a dedication to artistic thinking and the latent potential of materials and craftsmanship. We manage teams powered by innovation, efficiency, and imagination. We help to connect desires and knowledge, resources and technology, expectations and experience.
The work we develop stands out for proposing an original synthesis of technical rigor, formal imagination, and discipline integration between architecture, environment, and landscape. We are driven to enable the best design where functionality and well-being are paramount. We demand at least as much from ourselves as our clients and collaborators have come to expect.
We seek to build a unique architecture and landscape, deeply rooted in place, with great emphasis on construction, material physicality, and spatial quality. We accept that design is not a linear process. We are small enough to be agile and large enough to remain at the forefront.
Estudio Guadiana works with a structure of several professionals of architects, landscape architects, interior designers, and administrative, which are complemented by a network of external partners that develops specific technical aspects such as calculation of structures and facilities, measurements and estimates, to ensure the excellence of the projects undertaken by the office.
The regular work of the office includes projects for government and private developers in similar proportions.
The office has won numerous awards for his projects, planning, and built work, and has the consideration of numerous specialist publications, also has been invited to present their work at conferences in several countries.
We have a sustainable approach to design, through work that spans the spectrum from masterplans to details. Our approach is sensitive to location and culture, often combining the latest advances in building technology with techniques drawn from vernacular tradition; and we harness the skills, enthusiasm, and knowledge of integrated design teams, clients, and communities to create inspirational environments.
Our work is a profound commitment to finding innovative design solutions, with a dedication to artistic thinking and the latent potential of materials and craftsmanship. We manage teams powered by innovation, efficiency, and imagination. We help to connect desires and knowledge, resources and technology, expectations and experience.
The work we develop stands out for proposing an original synthesis of technical rigor, formal imagination, and discipline integration between architecture, environment, and landscape. We are driven to enable the best design where functionality and well-being are paramount. We demand at least as much from ourselves as our clients and collaborators have come to expect.
We seek to build a unique architecture and landscape, deeply rooted in place, with great emphasis on construction, material physicality, and spatial quality. We accept that design is not a linear process. We are small enough to be agile and large enough to remain at the forefront.
Estudio Guadiana works with a structure of several professionals of architects, landscape architects, interior designers, and administrative, which are complemented by a network of external partners that develops specific technical aspects such as calculation of structures and facilities, measurements and estimates, to ensure the excellence of the projects undertaken by the office.
The regular work of the office includes projects for government and private developers in similar proportions.
The office has won numerous awards for his projects, planning, and built work, and has the consideration of numerous specialist publications, also has been invited to present their work at conferences in several countries.
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