Studio Banana TV interviews José María García Sánchez, author of the sports activities centre in the Tajo river basin, Caceres, Spain.
1. Needs program
The Center for Technological Development of Recreational, Physical and Sports Activities in the Natural Environment is equipped with specific installations for research into new technologies and materials, training of professionals from the sector, dissemination of nature activities, creation of new companies and training of new entrepreneurs. These installations include the reception, information and distribution center, the physiological laboratory and company incubator, the documentation and dissemination center —where the multipurpose dissemination halls are located—, the researcher center and residence, the cafeteria, dining hall, the different test benches distributed by activities and the dressing and storage areas.
The Center for Technological Development helps to attract and boost quality tourism through its privileged location in an outstanding natural environment, and is a meeting point for sportspersons who engage in different disciplines related to navigable waterways, the mountains or take-off areas near them. Its installations —cafeteria, toilets, dressing and storage areas and parking area— are prepared to respond to the specific needs of this type of tourism.
The main functions of research, training, dissemination, company incubator, catering and accommodation are carried out on the main floor at elevation 393 meters. On this floor, circulation is perimetral on the inner part of the ring along a passageway that allows the whole ring to be traveled on this level. The different programs are distributed on one side of the passageway, looking onto the outer landscape. Each use has it own entrance to provide independent service for its specific activities, and is separated from the other uses by a covered terrace, which is reached by the vertical communication elements. The part of the building at elevation 393 meters will be accessed by three entrances at the points where the building and the terrain naturally come closer to each other. This will be via a ramp that covers the level difference between the building and the terrain. When the level difference is larger and cannot be spanned with ramps, access to elevation 393 meters will be by eight stairway cores distributed over the entire perimeter of the ring, accompanied by elevators in three cases. Between elevations 393 and 387, open but covered intermediate spaces will be created at different points of the ring which be used to service the programs on the upper floor or to carry out other types of activities.
The installations, dressing and storage areas are located at strategic points, taking into account their proximity to the focuses of attraction for outdoor activities and activities related to the water, roads and paths or pools. All are situated above elevation 387 meters, which corresponds to the elevation considered as nonfloodable. These storage areas are large, prefabricated frames laid on the ground, which were delivered to the site ready to be placed in their locations.
2. Justification of the compositional solution adopted
The project is organized around a ring geometry of two concentric circles that link together all the different programs of the center and its installations. This ring conforms to the legal limits set by the nonfloodable elevation —387 meters. This perfect geometric form preserves in its interior all the landscape of the peninsula that must be preserved; it is a magic circle: all action, activities and movement are on the outside; while rest, observation and reflection are on the inside.
The ring helps to create an adequate environment; it is as respectful as possible with the site, avoiding physical and visual barriers and integrating into a countryside of great environmental and landscape value in the most neutral way possible. It is raised above the ground level, floating over it, hardly altering the topography, reducing the points of contact with the terrain to the minimum, while connecting and visually relating the inner and outer parts of the ring. The visual differentiation between the inside and outside of the ring is produced by the line of shadow under the building, which changes over the day. In that line of shadow between the ring and the terrain, a series spaces open to the air but sheltered by the ring are created, spaces for activity and practice.
The 7 meter wide and 200 meter in diameter raised ring floor structure represents a delicate intervention in the peninsula: it can be traveled on different levels, on the main floor or roof elevation, and preserves the most valuable environment toward the interior of the ring. By placing the ring on the edges of the peninsula, views of the water can be seen from the building and a specific area on the water’s edge is created in front of each part of the program, facilitating the conduct of each specific activity.
On the other hand, the choice of stainless steel as the façade material causes the building to take on the colors and light of the different seasons and times of the day, dematerializing and integrating into the surrounding landscape.
Construction time for the Center for Technological Development was five months, but this should be understood more as an assembly of pieces than as standard construction process, as if the building was a big Meccano model construction kit. This was achieved as a result of systematization of the steel structure and the use of uniform construction systems throughout the entire building.
3. Justification of the territorial insertion of the proposal
The Center for Technological Development of Recreational, Physical and Sports Activities in the Natural Environment is located on the nearest peninsula, situated to the northeast of the village of Gabriel y Galán and accessed from the south by a forest road. The land of the peninsula is in contact with the water of the reservoir along its entire perimeter except for the narrow strip of land to the south that forms the access to it. The peninsula has a total surface area that varies depending on the time of year and the reservoir water level. The surface area suitable for occupation is found above the elevation considered nonfloodable —387 metros— and amounts to 65,036 m2.
The interior of the peninsula has an elevation difference of approximately nine meters in a concentric direction towards the water’s edge. The difference in elevation that occurs at each point between the terrain and elevation 393 meters, established as the elevation of the main floor, is not continuous, a circumstance that is taken advantage of to generate different modes of access to the building depending on the relationship to the terrain at each point of access. The topography is not leveled or molded to support the building on it, but rather the surface in contact with the terrain is reduced to the minimum, to the vertical structure only. Thus, the only impact on the terrain is from the isolated foundations of the pillars. Instead imposing ourselves on the topography, we decided to take advantage of it, turning it into our ally and integrating it into the project, because we understand that its relationship with the project is fundamental to generate the accesses to the building.
The material and formal expression of the ring is emphatic and recognizable as a modern intervention in an exceptional landscape. The building integrates into the surroundings so that it volume become part of the landscape. Thanks to the stainless steel sheet, the concept of façade vanishes, since it reflects the surrounding scenery, the changing light over the hours of the day, the movement of the leaves in the wind or the flight of birds, making the building a chameleon integrated in the landscape.
There is a total connection at different levels. At the level of the ring, elevation 393 meters, the pedestrian routes that link the built installations are resolved. At elevation 387 meters, a ring adapted for road traffic provides access to the test areas and buildings. A lower elevations —floodable areas— a suitable road is maintained to provide access to the water’s edge in times of low reservoir levels. Motor vehicle access will be restricted, and a parking area for this purpose will be provided at the entrance to the peninsula.
Good management of the preexisting vegetation thanks to the execution of the Center for Technological Development in the peninsula has enabled the previously deteriorated landscape to be recovered, as well as protecting the place from fires and other hazards. The riverside vegetation has been recovered, the cork tree meadow has been cleaned up and the pine forest has been cleared to strengthen the best trees and prevent unexpected falling of the weaker ones.
4. General constructive characteristics
The Center for Technological Development is built like a sandwich with two floor structures. The lower floor structure is a technical floor that distributes all energies over the entire ring so that distribution is efficient, inspection and maintenance are easy, and impact on the terrain is minimal since its distribution is not based on ditches or excavations in the terrain.
The building is a structure that only comes into contact with the terrain at points and so has the least possible impact on the existing landscape. The structure is the most cost-effective possible. It is made principally of steel, the main floor beams have maximum spans of 7 meters, the floor joists are 2.5 meters apart and have spans of 7 meters, the floor structures are composite steel decking and have spans of 2.5 meters. The vertical structural elements are also made of steel. Pillar dimensions were unified by floor to rationalize the structure, with HEB 140 on the main floor and HEB 200 on the ground floor. The foundations are made of reinforced concrete footings supported on the firm substratum from a depth of 2.20 meters. Both indoor and outdoor pavings are exposed non-slip concrete protected by a weather-resistant epoxy coating.
The façade is continuous for the entire perimeter. It is a ventilated façade made of prefabricated steel elements; the finishing piece is a 50-cm wide folded piece with a stainless steel finish. The small size of this piece allows it to adapt perfectly to the curvature of the ring. The openings provide ventilation and lighting and are made with a steel and glass framework.
The roof is flat deck that can be walked on for its entire length. It is constructed as if it were just another floor, with metal joists and a composite steel deck. It functions as a ring walkway at elevation 396.65 meters and provides a complete vision of all that occurs in the peninsula and its surroundings.
The dressing and storage areas are made of prefabricated concrete frames that are delivered to the site ready to be placed in the chosen locations after laying a thin concrete floor.
Interview by Studio Banana TV. Translation by Harold Ortiz.
Olé, José… pedazo de proyecto ¡¡¡
Elegante, inteligente, sencillo… precioso ¡¡¡
En los tiempos que corren para la arquitectura, he aquí un buen ejemplo de la buena ¡¡¡
Un abrazo desde Asturias… y a ver cuando te dejas caer por aquí para unas sidritas ¡¡¡