art y tech2
Palacio De Deportes, Madrid
After the old Palacio de Deportes had burned down, its reconstruction was planned, enlarging its capacity for organizing different sporting and cultural events. The original side grandstands which had been only slightly affected could be recuperated and the free space was used to create three levels of basements, a new stand facing Goya Street which focuses the space towards a stage and four new units of staircases and elevators which guarantee the communication and evacuation according to the new building regulations. The total capacity counts 18.000 spectators.
Location
Madrid, Spain
Client
Comunidad de Madrid
Program
Venue
Year
2005
Status
Built
The new structure is composed of six 140 mt long steel trusses, spanning over the remains of the central sections of the old building. The new Arena is designed in two directions; the longitudinal one is asymmetrical, to be used for performances requiring a stage set, a backdrop; the cross direction follows the design required for typical sports events. Each section can be closed off and used independently, subdivided for smaller events or joined together for large ones.
The new roof structure spans along the longitudinal axis of the building, containing footbridges for servicing within it and it is designed for efficiency of ventilation, climate, sound and light control.
Movable, telescopic seating allows for flexibility of the seating arrangement to fit the performance and estimated attendance numbers, providing variations from 5,000 to 17,500 spectators.
Four service towers located at each of the corners of the building and interconnected with all-around lobbies, provide vertical circulation across all floors containing stairs, lifts, emergency staircases, as well as sanitary facilities and M&E servicing ducts; providing a clear diagram of accessibility and fire protection and evacuation procedures.
Store rooms, M&E and plant rooms and access for buses and delivery trucks to reach the stage, are provided via an entrance into the floor directly below street level. Further below this, there are three levels of car parking, providing space for over 900 cars, buses and T.V. units or trucks.
Curtain walling with acoustic glass, in composition with copper cladding, are the main materials forming the different external façade treatments.
The colour of the patina copper used on the longitudinal elevations was chosen to brighten the silver coloured steel framework used for the overall structure, establishing a contrast with the, usually, bright blues skies of Madrid.
The corners containing the panoramic lifts are four glass towers that stand against the solidity of the adjacent emergency stairs and toilet areas, cladded in deploye and Zinc, respectively. These choice of materials was a deliberate attempt to incorporate their natural ageing process and their maintenance, as well as the inevitable changes that will affect the building as it ages, as an integral part of the design process. These materials present a reflection onto and a contrast with its traditionally built surrounding area and can withstand the heavy use of a public building generally used by large numbers of people at any one time.
As a memory of the old Palacio, the main access to the new building has been kept in the same location, on the façade to the west facing “Dali Square”. This elevation is covered with a bri-soleil in prepatinated copper with the pattern of Madrid’s flag emblem, the seven stars, left to shine in the natural brushed copper colour over the main entrance doors.