Headquarters for the spanish Red Cross in Alcorcón, Madrid

site plan
axonometric view
ground floor plan

Headquarters for the spanish Red Cross in Alcorcón, Madrid

The building is designed to be at the service of all those who will use it, those who will work in it and those who will be responsible for looking after it and preserving it. Its geometrical structure and rigorous shape allow for an extraordinarily compact, flexible, simple and easy-to-use spatial organization. Additionally, certain alterations in the volume of the building lead towards the access point and transform it into a highly efficient machine. Likewise, the specific materialization of the building and its finishes will make it vibrate under the light and will provide it with a strong and institutional character, indispensable for a public building.

It will be a warm and bright construction during the winter and shaded and fresh during the summer, with minimum energy demands. The new Red Cross Headquarters in Alcorcón will be a friendly, luminous, kind and optimistic building that will certainly transmit the values of solidarity, collaborative and voluntary citizenship characteristic of the Red Cross.

The highest bioclimatic requirements have influenced the design proposal. Passive techniques have been applied to minimize air conditioning systems and their cost. This is achieved as the thermal mass of the building is exposed. Its surface heats and cools down passively and the energy intake is increased by means of radiant circuit system embedded in the structural slab and connected to a geothermal well. Furthermore, orientation, sun and natural ventilation systems have prevailed.

Location Alcorcón, Madrid
Client Cruz Roja Española
Architects Francisco Burgos, Ginés Garrido
Design team Agustín Martín, Javier Malo de Molina, Jonás Prieto, María Pilar Recio, Raquel Marugán, Teresa Carro, Sandra Varela, Andrea Bernardi
Scale model Araceli Martínez, Javier Martín
Constructor Constructora San José
Structure Juan Carlos Salvá
Technical architect David Marcos
Restricted competition First prize
Date 2016: Competition
2018: In process