FENWICK IRIBARREN WINS ASPRIMA-SIMA AWARD FOR BEST NON-RESIDENTIAL REAL ESTATE DEVELOPMENT FOR THE CALEIDO PROJECT
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The Spanish firm Fenwick Iribarren Architects (FIA), author of the three stadiums for the recent World Cup in Qatar (including the demountable and reusable 974 stadium, which garnered international admiration), has been honoured with the ASPRIMA-SIMA 2023 Award for the design of Caleido, a landmark project that has transformed the skyline of Madrid.
According to Mark Fenwick, Managing Partner of the studio along with Javier Iribarren:
“With its 160 meters in height (180 from Monforte de Lemos), Caleido is a small building compared to the four towers but stands out due to the minimalist beauty of its proportions, with a striking slimness.”
Caleido unifies and humanizes what was once a scar in the northern part of the city of Madrid by creating green spaces, large roofs with terraces and pergolas, with plants, walkways, and city views. All of this is complemented by Parque Caleido, a new green park in the city that provides new recreational spaces for the northern community of Madrid.
“A great challenge to sustainability where energy & water savings, and always using recyclable materials take precedence,” according to Mark Fenwick.
The award has been shared with Serrano Suñer Arquitectura. Fenwick Iribarren Architects.
The award for Fenwick Iribarren was given in the category of “Best Non-Residential Real Estate Development,” and it was presented during the Madrid Real Estate Fair. The award was shared with the firm Serrano Suñer Arquitectura.
Another uniqueness of Caleido, designed by Fenwick Iribarren Architects (FIA), is the inclusion of one of the first vertical university campuses in the world, with elevators and stairs designed as if they were streets to walk through. The university campus is characterized by its large open spaces, as every three floors of classrooms generate double-height spaces, interior squares, and meeting areas that are the true engine of socialization at the university.
A notable detail of Caleido’s design is its geometric proportion: 1 in width by 4 in depth and 9 in height, formulated as the square of the first three integers. All of this is a nod to the TMA-1, the monolith of knowledge with impeccable geometry, an instrument of a superior civilization, present in Stanley Kubrick’s film “2001: A Space Odyssey.”
This is the second time that the FIA studio has received an award from real estate developers in Madrid, as their project for the Las Mercedes Business Park received the Asprima Award for Best Non-Residential Building in 2006.
