High Council of The Chambers of Commerce of Madrid

THE HIGH COUNCIL OF THE CHAMBERS OF COMMERCE OF MADRID 2006 Architect: Rafael de La-Hoz Location: Campo de Las Naciones Photographs : Miguel de Guzmán The word chamber refers to an enclosed space or cavity as in a gun and it can also be used to denote a closed hall or room. Chamber is also synonymous of a private assembly or the body of people who meet in the hall or room. The project was limited to designing a construction employing these two meanings. On a rectangular site close to the Madrid ringroad and on a rock base we deposited a hermetic concrete box as though it were an object. A large opening was provided to look over the adjoining garden. A box and its window: the gun’s cavity and bore. Our interest then turned to chamber as a meeting place. We introduced in the gun cavity three volumes as suspended rooms. Meeting Room and Assembly Room at the two ends. One closed and metallic, another translucent and rock-like, they are attended from the third room which acts as the administrative server of both meeting rooms. The vacuum houses the volumes of the functional chambers. A spatially recurring theme. a space within a space. Rafael de La-Hoz received the Distinción COAM 2008 a la Obra de los Arquitectos (COAM Distinction for Architectural Work) for the High Council of the Chambers of Commerce of Madrid. The award presentation took place in the Infanta Isabel Theater for Architecture Week. Located in Campo de Las Naciones in Madrid, Rafael de La-Hoz describes the building as “A large chamber or concrete box that houses various assembly and meeting chambers inside. Spatially it is an empty volume housing other empty spaces, one space within another.” Spanish Architect : Rafael de Lahoz Arquitectos - contact details The High Council of The Chambers of Commerce of Madrid - Building Information Address: C/ Ribera del Loira, 12 Madrid Architect: Rafael de La-Hoz Castanys Collaborating architects: -Silvia Villamor, Ángel Rolán y Manuel Doménech ; -Elena Elósegui Installations Engineering: Úrculo Ingenieros Structures Engineering: Julio Martínez Calzón, José Alberto de la Torre and Jesús Jiménez Cañas Client: Consejo Superior de las Cámaras de Comercio Construction Company: Ferrovial-Agromán Area: 8.700 m2