MILE Building

The project is being developed in the 22@ neighbourhood, with an industrial past that conditions its current appearance. In recent years, the area has undergone a profound transformation, marked by the introduction of new building typologies that respond to new uses and programmes, in which residential use and the offices of technology companies coexist.

Our intervention promotes a symbiotic relationship between vegetation and building, and always acts on an approved roof system that guarantees long-term viability. The main objective has been to introduce vegetation into the architectural volume to provide users with the comfort of an urban garden. A garden that, at the same time, mitigates the effect of a “heat island” and, therefore, also affects the well-being and comfort of its users.

The project works in two main areas. On the one hand, the intervention in the public space generated on the ground floor, surrounded by the different built volumes, a space for circulation, connection and meeting for citizens and for the users of the building. On the other hand, the landscape treatment of the roofs generated by the volumetry, located at different levels, authentic open-air office spaces.

The design naturalizes these areas, merging them with the architecture that frames them and generating a real sense of continuity also with the perimeter streets, ensuring permeability with the urban environment.

The interior of the block

The intervention maximizes the green surface to generate the sensation of being immersed in a space of vegetation, not in a landscaped space, thanks to two design strategies: the use of shrub vegetation and trees, which emphasizes these spaces by generating shaded areas, and the minimization of the paved surface.

The design of the courtyard is articulated around living areas connected to each other, spaces for rest and enjoyment that stand out thanks to the material chosen for the paving: a prefabricated concrete paving stone in two shades, placed in such a way that these rest spaces, with furniture, stand out from the rest of the environment.

To facilitate the necessary circulation of firefighters and services, a sequence of small and medium-scale spaces is created thanks to gradual extensions of the route section.

The roofs

The project understands the roofs of the buildings, with privileged views of the city, as a continuation of the interior office spaces, and organizes the vegetation of these spaces in a perimeter arrangement, so that it visually merges with the urban greenery, blurring the edges of the terraces and emphasizing the feeling of a garden.

In this way, from inside the building, a very clean and integrative vision of the space is achieved, which makes it easier for the people who work in the offices to use these spaces, understood as spaces for rest and relaxation, or also as workspaces.

The choice of vegetation, with low water consumption and enhancement of comfort

For both shrub species and trees, plants adapted to the specific conditions of the site have been chosen, prioritising species that are resistant, low-maintenance and capable of generating a continuous plant presence throughout the year. The plantation incorporates perennial covers such as ivy (Hedera helix), combined with masses of tart leaves with iridioid diets and Libertia grandiflora, which provide verticality, texture and punctual flowering.

In the most protected and humid spaces, especially under the roofs and in terrace areas, broad-leaved species with a shadier character have been used, such as fatsia (Fatsia japonica) and different varieties of Nandina domestica, which reinforce the sensation of freshness and plant density. These are combined with other evergreen shrubs that maintain a stable green base during all seasons.

The trees chosen are made up of deciduous species, with Ginkgo biloba, Platanus x hispanica, Acer campestre and Acer x freemanii, which allow to reduce sunlight on paved surfaces in summer and take advantage of it in winter, improving the comfort of users. The species are distributed according to their needs for insolation and humidity, differentiating the most protected spaces under the roofs from the central and perimeter areas, which are more exposed.