CONGRESS CENTER AND HOTEL IN PALMA DE MALLORCA

The project rests on the idea that to work on a lot that is rich and suggestive in its being difficult is to draw up a new urban ‘outline’ for the city. The irregular and narrow geometry, forming a seafront of nearly 350 meters, refers more to the idea of an urban boundary that must accommodate a major project with a complex program. The building looks toward the sea, and is formed by a thick facade—erected with naval engineering’s techniques—that, besides keeping out direct sunlight, contains the connecting elements. This facade is like a town wall with a path, dense but also open, and through ambiguous spaces, it is confused with the promenade itself. The ‘alter ego’ is the north facade, whose thickness is formed by the building’s more ‘service’ spaces. The result is a comb-shaped double scheme: public to the south and private to the north. Inside, there are different congress and exhibition halls, large but volumetrically expressive spaces, with hanging platforms and catwalks for looking outside. On the raised floor, connected to the hotel by a footbridge, there are convention rooms, restaurants and a terrace that can be considered as a prolongation of the sea.