Due to the health crisis caused by Covid-19, the municipal government decided to adapt its facilities to the new situation. In this context, the aim was to guarantee the safety of both workers and users who access the facilities.

In this sense, Nan Arquitectos worked to offer solutions that minimized the impact of the virus during the procedures that are carried out in the city council. With this objective, they looked for different design and technical options.

For instance, they incorporated forced ventilation to promote air renewal. To do this, the team created a false metal ceiling where they located the ventilation and air conditioning installations.

They also tried to use easy-to-clean materials and elements with no ornamentation to make maintenance easier. The materials used also seek to offer comfort to the users. In this way, acoustic attenuators have been used in the ceiling in order to minimize reverberation.

The architects optimized transit areas and spaces in which the safety distance is guaranteed. They separated the transit areas from the stay areas creating a new entrance and booths that act as filters to receive people. Thus, there is an entrance area that you can access by appointment and which is located in the registration area. And there is another transit entrance to the municipal offices located on the upper floors of the building. In the citizen service areas, the team tried to make users stand in opposite directions to avoid contagion risks.

The architects have also created workspaces or boxes where workers are completely protected by screens while they are seated. They also installed two lines of boxes where workers can communicate with each other and serve the citizens.

Regarding the concept, the basic idea was to create a series of boxes with different functions: work boxes, cabins, and a roof with different height levels that seem to recreate open boxes and visually seem to be supported by two large concrete pillars.

The space is a large box that is accessed through a ramp or stairs at both entrances. In short, it is a game of boxes that dialogue with each other and are juxtaposed to create different environments that help us to promote transit and separation spaces.

The architects incorporated cold and neutral materials to give the project a technological image. At the same time, they have also used wood to balance this effect and give warmth to environments such as work boxes or waiting rooms.

Project by NAN Arquitectos

Photography by Iván Casal Nieto