castroferro arquitectos: elevated concrete library in malaga

‘manuel altolaguirre library’ by castroferro arquitectos, malaga, spainimage © héctor santos-diez | bisimagesall images courtesy of castroferro arquitectos

in a suburban neighborhood of malaga, spain, a place where it is ‘necessary to look at the sky to know what season you’re in, because thereare no pigeons, trees, or gardens that would indicate otherwise’, spanish practice castroferro arquitectos have created an elevated concretelibrary with the goal of returning as much green public space to the community where it was previously lacking. by folding a large portion of the skewed rectangular site below grade, the orthogonal shells that make up the library program located around the northern periphery appearto float above the green courtyard and offer natural light to the administrative spaces and child care area through the glass partition and full-lengthclerestory windows along the streets. each of the three volumes above grade offer a slightly different atmosphere dedicated to the areas of study,linked by sections of inset glass tunnels. the first volume located next to the carport contains a quiet study area with individual rooms for privacy.the largest block is used as the general reading area with larger conference sized tables and a soundproofed audiovisual section, while the finalstructure contains rounded tables for a more social atmosphere.  all the constructs offer views of the created green area through a glass wall

view from the parking areaimage © héctor santos-diez | bisimages

image © héctor santos-diez | bisimages

new public green spaceimage © héctor santos-diez | bisimages

ramp to the lower levelimage © héctor santos-diez | bisimages

(left) full-height glass wall allows natural light inside and views of the exterior trees(right) glass tunnels between concrete formsimages © héctor santos-diez | bisimages

main reading area and central stairsimage © héctor santos-diez | bisimages

lower-level reading areaimage © héctor santos-diez | bisimages

street side facadeimage © héctor santos-diez | bisimages

exterior closed off to the surrounding urban contextimage © héctor santos-diez | bisimages

image © héctor santos-diez | bisimages

image © héctor santos-diez | bisimages

view from the public pathwayimage © héctor santos-diez | bisimages

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project info:

client: gerencia municipal de urbanismo de málagalocation: c/ calatrava 6, málagaarchitects: jordi castro andrade, maría gonzález ferro, jacobo domínguez ojeastructure: juan rey (mecanismo s.l.)installations: exinorphotography: héctor santos-diez | bisimagesconstruction management: castroferro arquitectos/  maría gonzález ferro, jordi castro andradetechnical architect: joaquin ortiz de villajoscost estimation/ budget: sandra valverdebuilt area: 1.236,47m²