Madrid Congress Center

The Madrid Congress Centre completes an ambitious urban plan for the Spanish capital, designed to be a dynamic economic motor for the city.

While the program’s scale and complexity prompted the construction of more than one volume, the terms of the area planning guidelines allowed 100 percent occupation of the site, with a height limit which suggested a single compact building. This apparent contradiction was resolved by the design of a great “container” which houses the pavilions and their different functions, like a building inside a building.

The 7.5m geometric grid modulates the side into autonomous units, recreating an urban structure of streets and squares in its interior. The building is divided internally into four blocks. The least regular of these contains the catering services and stores. The two linear blocks which frame the central space are given over to offices and meetings rooms. The conference hall, which occupies a central position, is bounded by four vertical communications towers, and projects its triangular form beyond the glass skin of the façade. The roof of the main hall has been made accessible, serving a variety of different functions and taking the shape of an elevated central square within the urban layout of the building’s interior.

The building provides two large auditoriums seating 2000 and 900 people, respectively, four conference rooms seating either 200 or 100 people, a permanent exhibition space, office space for general services, and a restaurant with a banquet hall for 2000 people.