Centro Canalejas | Estudio Lamela

Centro Canalejas is one of the most significant urban development projects undertaken in Europe in recent times. It encompasses the restoration of seven historic buildings, two of them from the end of the nineteenth century, which were merged as a result of the different bank mergers and that were in disuse for 15 years, ever since the movement of the financial center to the outskirts of the city. The objective of the project is to create a complex with different uses: a luxury hotel operated by the Four Seasons chain with 200 rooms, an exclusive retail area of 15,000 m2, 22 luxury homes and a parking garage for 400 spaces.

The criterion that governs the project is to respect everything that has historical or artistic value in the original buildings. Thus, the facades and the first bays of two of the oldest buildings will be conserved and restored, as well as various elements of the interior: skylights, metalwork, wood joinery, etc. All this will be repositioned and integrated into the building in its final state, contributing an added value to the new grouping.

The geometry that serves as the basis for the overall development of the project is a classical, radial geometry with an axis of symmetry in the bisector that shapes the building on Alcalá 14 and that extends to the rest of the buildings. The creation of a large inner courtyard for ventilation and natural lighting to all floors is planned, along with another one of asmaller size intended to illuminate certain areas of the hotel, such as the spa.

The construction of three new floors set back in part of the building is proposed, replacing the existing penthouses in the different buildings with new facades that respect the individual architectural composition of each of the buildings, in order to maintain the identity of each one of them, minimize the visual impact of the intervention and preserve the original urban scale.

The consideration of the roof as a fifth facade seeks the integration of the same within the urban fabric of the city, as well as the incorporation of green areas that provide vegetation to the Central Zone of Madrid.