New Banc Sabadell Company HUB by Josep Lluis Mateo
22/11/2019.
[Valencia] Spain
metalocus, JOSÉ JUAN BARBA
metalocus, JOSÉ JUAN BARBA
GUIDED VISIT mateo arquitectura
Through large windows, the space opens up to its surroundings, the city.
When we cross the threshold of Banc Sabadell Company HUB we enter an open space, with no physical barriers to interfere in interactions.
Designed to encourage communication for companies of any size and sector, with the bank and among themselves, the flexible space is organised for networking.
Its 1,000 m² are designed to generate conversations at different levels: queries with quick answers; specific ones, about knowledge and training; and inspiring ones, for professional growth.
Left, the reception desk and technology corner. A space for consultations and information.
Right, the open-plan space clad with Alicante marble projects the light that is drawn inside though the large windows. The high tables and stools make for smooth relations.
A slight change of level takes us to the Forum. In this stretch, where we walk alongside the passers-by, we are accompanied by a natural garden that acts as a filter between inside and out. Urban nature.
The Forum is a space for innovation, for growth. Designed to mould to the needs of each event, workshop or conference, it is a tool at the service of companies where the users have total control over the space.
Its transparent glass walls, direct visual contact with the exterior, become opaque as required by the user.
Beyond the Forum, we move into the more private areas, isolated from the external flow of the HUB:
- Coworking rooms where users can go to work or organise meetings.
- Specific consultation area.
- Meeting rooms equipped with the latest technologies.
- The work area, isolated from external distractions.
- And the coffee corner, where spontaneous interactions take place.
The restrooms, technically sophisticated to maintain the apparent simplicity in the finishes.
Josep Lluís Mateo was born in Barcelona (1949) and graduated in Architecture in 1974 from the ETSAB and gained his doctorate (cum laude) at the Polytechnic University of Catalonia in 1994.
Mateo’s practice is based in Barcelona, and he is currently involved in a number of local and international projects such as the new Film Theatre of Catalonia in Barcelona, the new headquarters for PGGM Pension Fund Company in Zeist, Holland and the office building on the former site of Renault factories in Boulogne-Billancourt, Paris, among others.
With each of his projects, Mateo seeks to connect the practice of construction with research and development in both intellectual and programmatic terms. He works in the area between the sphere of ideas and the physical world of reality.
Academic collaborations and teaching:
Josep Lluís Mateo has been Professor of the Architecture Department at the Swiss Federal Polytechnic in Zurich (ETH-Z) since 2002. He has also taught and lectured at numerous institutions around the world, including Princeton, Columbia University in New York, the Harvard Graduate School of Design, ABK Stuttgart, UP8 Paris, OAF Oslo and ITESM Mexico. He was Visiting Scholar at the Jean P. Getty Center in Los Angeles from 1991 to 1992. Josep Lluís Mateo is President since 2009 of the Board of Directors of the Barcelona Institute of Architecture. He has been a member of a number of juries and expert committees, including the Quality Committee of Barcelona City Council (2000-2008), and for prizes such as the European Landscape Award and the Thyssen Award.
Recent exhibitions and prizes:
The practice’s work has been exhibited on numerous occasions thanks to its international influence. New York’s MoMA devoted a space in the exhibition “Spain: On Site” (2006) to its apartment building in Valencia for the Sociopolis Project. Individual exhibitions include those at Ras Gallery (Barcelona, 2009), Architekturgalerie Aedes (Berlin, 2004), Architekturzentrum Wien (Vienna, 1998), Col•legi d’Arquitectes de Catalunya (Barcelona, 1998),Galerie Fragner (Prague, 1998), Galerie Aedes (Berlin, 1994), Architekturgalerie Luzern (Luzern, 1992) and Architekturgalerie Munich (Munich, 1991).
The work of Josep Lluís Mateo has been awarded many prizes, including:
- Top International Purpose-Built Venue 2008, First Prize. Best International Convention Centre category.
Organized by C&IT magazine, London. Project: CCIB-Barcelona International Convention Centre
- 2008 Archizinc Award, First Prize. Collective Housing category. Project: Sant Jordi Students’ Hall of Residence, Barcelona
- European Union Prize for Contemporary Architecture - Mies van der Rohe Award 2005, Runner-up. Project: CCIB- Barcelona International Convention Centre
- 15th Award of Grupo Dragados de Arquitectura.