Herzog & de Meuron designed a “tailor-made” building complex of exceptional architectural quality and representative character for the new headquarters of BBVA. The new building-complex of 114.000 sqm consists of a sequence of office buildings made out of concrete and glass with green streets in between, leading to a big central courtyard with a 93 meter high oval tower, the new icon of the BBVA headquarters called “La Vela” (“The Sail”). The whole compound is closed to the outside by specially shaped brise-soleil filtering the sunlight and the sight into the office spaces.
The project, described by the architects as “a single building and a multifaceted town”, had to find a very specific response to a unique architectural situation. Another vital issue was incorporating the criteria of sustainability as an integral part of the design process; this affected every decision, from the massing of the buildings down to the tiniest technical details. With that premises they decided to create an inward looking oasis, a place that establishes a balance between the natural and the built and that functions both like a small city and a big garden.
The works developed by Empty include the MEP’s adjustments and complete fit out through 12 floors of the building plus the VIP access lobby at ground floor -2 level, with the complex logistics and the big team organization involved. All these works have to be well coordinated firstly with the client and secondly with the design teams and the project management in charge of the construction of the whole bank’s complex.
