Lycée Français of Barcelona by b720 Fermín Vázquez Arquitectos
24/04/2018.
[Barcelona] Spain
metalocus, JOAQUIN MINAYA
metalocus, JOAQUIN MINAYA
Description of project by b720 Fermín Vázquez Arquitectos
The building of the school was the result of the addition of a series of temporary buildings over many years around two villas of the early twentieth century. After a careful analysis of all the possible intervention options, it is proposed to create a new building, efficient, representative and impeccably functional, and maintain one of the preexisting villas (the other one was in a much worse state of conservation).
The new set proposes a dialogue between the historical school and that of the future. A visual and programmatic relationship is established between both buildings, through a porch that allows indoor communication between them and a space under which to shelter in case of rain. The formal resolution of the new building evokes, through the rounding of its corners, the volumetry of the villas, establishing a formal relationship without necessarily subordinating itself to a historicist imitation. The scheme of a large central courtyard of games and perimeter spaces is maintained.
The new building is developed in four levels. A semi-basement level that takes advantage of the unevenness between the garden (playground) and the street, to create a direct access, partially covered, and an outside waiting area for parents and children. From this you can access the interior of the new building and, externally, the garden by stairs and ramp. In the three upper levels the classrooms are located. Each height of the building is intended for a school level. The proposal locates all the classrooms in the new building, leaving in the village preserved and restored common uses: media library, music room and administration areas.
The image of the facade is given by an envelope of vertical slats that run along the entire perimeter of the building. The position, orientation and separation of these slats has been studied to provide optimum solar protection, and highly efficient in their environmental, thermal and durability behavior. The chromatic and proportional game is the result of a fruitful and continuous dialogue with the client who from the beginning wanted to include the color in the project.
Fermín Vázquez Huarte-Mendicoa (Madrid, 1961) architect since 1988. He studied at ETSAM (Madrid) and ETSAB (Barcelona). He leads b720 Fermín Vázquez Architects, which he set up with Ana Bassat in 1997, with offices in Barcelona, Madrid, Sao Paulo and Porto Alegre.
b720 is an international studio. It works globally within its offices in Brasil and Spain, in projects located in a dozen of differents countries.
The work of the studio, which has been showed in several events and museums as the Biennal of Venice, the Cité of París and MoMA of NY, has been awarded nationally and internationally with several prizes, among there are two RIBA Awards, a World Architecture Festival award, four awards ASPRIMA-SIMA, the Emporis Skyscraper Award and the European Public Urban Space award.
Among his best-known projects there are the Agbar Tower -with Jean Nouvel Architectures-, Lérida's airport, the Plaza del Torico in Teruel, La Mola Conference Centre in Barcelona, the City of Justice of Barcelona and the building for de America Cup in Valencia -both with David Chipperfield Architects- and the Gran Casino Costa Brava in Lloret de Mar. Currently working, among other projects, on the new Mercat dels Encants in Barcelona, the new international airport of Cuzco in Perú, the regeneration of the Waterfront of Cais Mauá of Porto Alegre, a new neighbourhood for 70.000 residents in Brasilia and in several high buildings in Sao Paulo.
He usually combines the proffesional practise with teaching. He has been teacher at ETSAB, at l'École d'Architecture et Paysage de Burdeos, at Universidad Europea de Madrid and he has given courses and conferences large universities and institutions all over the world.