ArchDaily publishes EDDEA’s transport interchange, hotel and office project in Mairena del Aljarafe
ArchDaily, the world’s largest digital architecture platform, has published EDDEA’s project for the transport interchange, hotel towers, offices and commercial uses in Mairena del Aljarafe (Seville). Promoted by Sando, the complex covers 62,000 square metres and is linked to station zero of Line 1 of the Seville Metro.
EDDEA won the town council’s competition in 2005 with a proposal that, while respecting the planning constraints of the site, put forward “a fragmentation of the programme and the relocation of the interchange to the northern part of the plot at semi-basement level, connecting at that level with the metro station”, as the firm’s co-founders Luis Ybarra and José María de Cárdenas explain.
“Our proposal offers an efficient architectural solution, integrated into the everyday life of residents across the Aljarafe and acting as a link between the capital and the towns on its periphery,” they add.
As ArchDaily notes in its publication, the project frees the ground floor of the building from its use as an interchange, avoiding conflicts between interchange users and those of the commercial services. To achieve this, public transport is moved down to the first basement level without losing the benefit of natural ventilation and daylight, which give the facility a singular appeal.
Another significant feature of the proposal drawn up by the EDDEA team is that, taking advantage of the natural topography of the site, the interchange is partly roofed over to support an exclusively pedestrian park that connects and binds together the different uses around the plot, offering an outdoor leisure alternative.
Transforming the landscape
The two hotel towers and the office buildings are linked through a single two-storey building. This part of the complex mediates between the towers and the topography of the park created on the roof of the interchange.
“A polygonal line defines its perimeter to emphasise verticality and, with the help of deep, equally vertical shadows, it creates a varied play of reflections on the prefabricated GRC façade,” says José María de Cárdenas.
“The position of the towers,” concludes Luis Ybarra, “gives them greater prominence, making them the most iconic elements of the scheme and changing the landscape of the new city of Mairena del Aljarafe. By letting them meet the ground more clearly, we give them greater slenderness and presence”.
