OAB: the azahar group headquarters

the azahar group
image © alejo bague, courtesy OAB

OAB (office of architecture in barcelona) has just sent images of their latest work:
a two wings building located in the castellon area, spain.

the azahar group is active on the field of recycling,
waste-treatment plants, environmental consultancy and construction and garden design.
the headquarters is erected as an icon building maintaining a close relationship
with the landscape. to both the north and west the topography of the mountains serves
as a backdrop to the building, against which the geometrical roofs repeatedly stand out.
from a distance their facetted shape and outline help situate the building in the landscape.
orientated on the east-west axis, the headquarters building is structured as two wings united
by a central body around two open patios of a very different sort. the first as a 'parade ground'
or external reception area for users and visitors, and the rear one, landscaped and for more
private use. these patios provide a cross view between the glazed frontages,
and no direct radiation exists towards the interior inhabitable spaces.


the azahar group
image © alejo bague, courtesy OAB


the azahar group
image © alejo bague, courtesy OAB


the azahar group
image © alejo bague, courtesy OAB



the azahar group- night view
image © alejo bague, courtesy OAB


the azahar group
image © alejo bague, courtesy OAB


the azahar group
image © alejo bague, courtesy OAB

the four wings that accommodate the company’s different departments converge in a main
hall which, as well as acting as a distributor, is a large exhibition space. the lighting of this hall
is overhead, so that the special north light is introduced inside the building through a huge
skylight extending over a sequence of girders.
the ceilings inside faithfully reflect the geometry of the roof and the vision of the continuity
of these is produced by transparent glass tympani supported on the dividers of the different rooms.
for the resolution of all the cladding the OAB sought a continuous facing that could be applied to
both the facade and the roof. to arrive at the maximum energy saving and find a sustainable
solution was included in the proposed objectives.
hence, there arose a new material applied to the coteterm system: a flexible and self-washing
stucco, white in color, that needs no further joints than those of the actual implementation of 2-3 mm.



an important environmental feature of the buildings is the channeling of water from all the roofs
and the outside areas to a cistern-reservoir, the latter being used in the watering of exteriors
and nursery plantings on the plot of land.
lastly, the services and maintenance building, 250 m in length, with a sloping roof favoring
cross-ventilation, gradually cuts across the contour lines, adapting to the slope and increasing
in height in accordance with the uneven ground and the use of different spaces (cloakrooms,
work areas, machinery, warehouses, garages).


the azahar group
image © alejo bague, courtesy OAB








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ground plan

general info:
location: carretera nacional n-340, castellon
client: grupo de empresas azahar
date project: 2004
construction: 2009
author: carlos ferrater – nùria ayala
collaborator: emilio llobat
photographer: alejo bagué
area: 4.304 m2
cost: 1.711.142 Euros