In its functional programme, this interesting project offers considerable capacity for transformation and evolution, together with an intelligent proposal for adapting to the landscape.
The building for the Norvento research centre is located on the limit between an industrial estate and an adjacent forest, next to the city of Lugo. The project adopts a shape that allows it to remain open to and in continuity with the forest, making the most of the values it can contribute to the architecture, while closing itself off from the uninteresting environment of the adjacent industrial estate. Thanks to this solution, the problem turns into an opportunity to offer a clear blueprint for the sought-for architectural, typological and spatial values.
The basis for the project was a reflection on the type of offices and proposes a way of working and researching that distances it from the typical large anonymous building with its look-alike offices and uninteresting spaces. A certain “domesticity” was sought for the workplace where privacy and encounter were possible. Organising the floor plan into bodies that extend and integrate into the park also enables the structuring of each department in a differentiated and autonomous manner, allowing the functional programmes to be enlarged in the future.
The choice of a peaked section, so widespread and with an evident “domestic” character, translates the above-listed objectives into the built reality. The built “hut” is useful insofar as it adapts very well to the programme’s different requirements. Its height varies according to need, generating the varied and visually rich longitudinal profile of the ensemble. But this section goes beyond the strictly formal vision, reminding us of the very essence of Galicia’s geography, where rainwater and forest are always present.
The interior seeks equilibrium between simplicity and surprise. Organising the bodies of the floor plan, which is not orthogonal, generates rich interior geometries, especially at the meeting points, geometries that undoubtedly qualify the spaces. Light is important. Glass partitions were proposed to bring daylight into the interior or, where necessary, roof lights were opened to bring light into that interior.
There are many arguments playing in favour of this building’s commitment to the environment, especially if we take into account that Norvento’s essential activity is based on research in this field. But in terms of materialising it, the use of eucalyptus wood on all the façades was crucial. This commonly found wood in Galicia was used after having drafted a specific solicitation document in regards to the way it should be applied. The building is self-sustaining in terms of energy and is not connected to the grid.
