Foster + Partners has completed work on Ombú, an adaptive reuse project in Madrid, Spain. The scheme, designed for Spanish infrastructure and energy company ACCIONA, sees the retrofit of a 1905 gas plant into an office building.

Over 10,000 square meters (108,000 square feet) of office space are accommodated inside the building, which the firm says “breathes new life into a historic industrial building in Madrid, creating a sustainable exemplar of building reuse and revitalizing the surrounding area.”

The plant was originally built in 1905 to supply energy to the surrounding area. Having fallen into disuse and with demolition looming, the building was acquired by ACCIONA in 2017 with the goal of repurposing it.

Fosters’ approach to the adaptive reuse project involved retaining the existing load-bearing structure supporting pitched steel trusses as well as the existing building envelope, which the team calculates has conserved over 10,000 tons of brick.

Inside, a new lightweight demountable structure has been constructed of local, sustainably-sourced timber to create an optimal office environment, including ventilation and lighting services. Above, a central skylight brings natural light into the interior, while glazing incorporates photovoltaic technology that generates electricity.

Outside, a new courtyard forms an extension of the workplace environment. The courtyard connects to a 12,400-square-meter (133,000-square-foot) park with 350 trees featuring outdoor working and informal meeting spaces beneath the tree canopies. The space also connects the building to the surrounding community, including public transport.

“Ombú brings an industrial wasteland back to a new garden in the city. Madrid’s benign climate allows workspaces to be outside as well as inside, creating a flexible and desirable lifestyle,” said Norman Foster on news of the scheme’s opening. “Natural materials are brought into the existing building, contributing to biophilic spaces that are good for wellbeing and productivity.”

News of the scheme comes in the same month that Foster + Partners unveiled plans for a timber department store in Tokyo. This year, the firm has also unveiled plans for a new Manhattan headquarters for JPMorgan Chase, a retrofit of the Transamerica Pyramid Center in San Francisco, and a major master plan in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.

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