Author(s)

J. Rey-Rey

Abstract

The Matadero Madrid cultural center is located in an old slaughterhouse and livestock market built between 1908 and 1928 in the Arganzuela district. The project was designed by architect Luis Bellido and it was structured around a number of pavilions with various purposes and services, covering a surface area of approximately 165,000 m². The complex was characterized by its constructive rationality and conceptual simplicity, however it also incorporates some Neo-Mudejar features. With the arrival of the new century, an important set of interventions were initiated by Madrid City Council in order to transform the space into a cultural hub. Thus, it became a place of new architectural experimentation, following the criteria of the Special Plan which focused on conservation and reversibility, allowing the buildings to be reconverted into their original states.

This paper describes the structural restoration of pavilions 15 and 16 for their new uses. These two pavilions, restored between 2009 and 2011, are twin pavilions in terms of structure (brick wall perimeter and steel columns and trusses interior) and volumetry. Pavilion no. 15 was transformed by Langarita-Navarro Architects and became the new “Music Pavilion” now hosting the Red Bull Music Academy headquarters in Madrid. Pavilion no. 16 was transformed into a new cultural and contemporary multi-functional space (concert hall, exhibition space, conference room, etc.) by ICA Architects.

Mecanismo Ingeniería undertook the structural refurbishment – including the micropile underpinning of the existing foundations – of both pavilions, which have received numerous international architectural awards including the Mies Van der Rohe 2013 mention, a FAD 2012 award, the AR+D for Emerging Architecture 2012 award, XII Spanish Biennale for Architecture Prize finalist and Arquia Próxima 2012 selected (no. 15) and FAD 2012 and COAM 2012 awards (no. 16).

Keywords

Matadero Madrid, structural refurbishment, micropile underpinning, conservation, reversibility