Foundación Metal: iconic work of a Spanish industrial area

The Metal Foundation [sLAB] is a vocational training centre for the metal industry located in the area of Spain with most mineral deposits, the region of Asturias, near the port of Avilés. An industrial park houses the work of [baragaño] architects, who conceive architecture with a strong figurative connotation.

Steel is the recurrent element in the industrial complex: modular steel plates were used for the walls, with profiles made by Japanese architect Toyo Ito, steel for the bearing structure, made up of exposed beams and pillars; steel also for furniture, fixtures, laboratory equipment and for public spaces.

The only colour is a bright red, which colours the accesses and the fire escape staircases and the line on the walls of the central courtyard, as the leitmotif for the vertical and horizontal connecting elements.

Several functions are housed within the building: the ground floor with floor to ceiling window is used as training workshops and administrative offices, while the upper levels are used as meeting rooms, study and even laboratories.

This great metalwork structure, standing as an icon of the industrial park, manages to keep together the past memory, as 70% of the structure is made of recycled steel produced by the regional industry, but also the future vision, because the construction is in turn fully recyclable.