Municipal Library of Las Tablas

Client: Madrid City Hall

Place: Madrid, Spain

Competition: 2018

Type: Municipal/ Cultural

Net area: 1504 m²

Budget: 3,484,945.52 euros

Team Credits
AZPML

Alejandro Zaera-Polo, Maider Llaguno-Munitxa, Ivaylo Nachev, Rubén Gayarre del Cerro y Claudia Baquedano

BAC

Xavier Aguilo, Hugo Diez, Guillem del Oso, Javier Prieto, Aleksandar Ivancic

Our proposal is to arrange all the library programs on a single floor to provide maximum flexibility and connectivity between activities. The plan is organized as a panopticon, locating the control and services at the center with the different programs surrounding it, to reduce personnel to a minimum.

The plan of the single volume is a rounded square, a logical intermediate between a functional and compact squared container and an ideal circular panopticon. The volume is located on the East of the available plot, liberating space for a formal entrance from Castillo de Candanchu street, on which the building will appear on a piano nobile. This entrance, equipped with ramps and a green slope is also flanked by deciduous trees which will let natural sunlight into the library during the winter months, while shielding it from solar radiation during the summer. Using the difference in level, an outdoor auditorium will be placed there. The surrounding of the compact volume will be landscaped, and some neighbourhood orchards can be located there in the future. The parking, loading bays, technical equipment rooms and recycling area will be in a semi-basement.

To achieve maximum flexibility, the structure of the building is reduced to a minimum. A line of pillars around the perimeter and only four central pillars sustain a timber roof of 15m wood beams. Entirely made of wood, this system will allow a substantial reduction in carbon emissions and embodied energy.

The building envelope is structured in two transparent bands, one opening at a lower level proving light for readers seated and a second at the top intended for daylighting, leaving two highly insulated (U=0.4W/m²K), opaque bands covering 50% of the vertical envelope. A second layer of screen-printed glass panels from floor to ceiling containing characters of different languages and a variable distribution pattern will add an additional layer of differentiated shading, depending on the orientation. The whole roof will be covered with solar panels, which will be able to provide more energy than what is necessary for internal consumption.