Oficinas y laboratorios para Portland Iberia, S. A., Castillejos (Toledo)

Abstract

The functional program for this building was as follows. Firstly: general offices, draughtsmen's office, teletype room, telephone boxes, and annexes. Secondly: an administrative zone, comprising a board room, manager and assistant manager's office, and dependent services. Thirdly: a laboratory zone, including departments dealing with strength requirement, paste making, research, analysis and control, as well as rooms for weighing machines, photography, clinical work, stores and drugs. All these zones have been arranged within a U shaped building consisting of a semi-basement and first floor, and well provided with circulation space. The first floor is occupied by the three main zones: the first and third zones along the wings, and the second in the centre. On the semi-basement, below the first and third zones, which constitute independent functional units, two complete sets of ancillary services have been established. The air conditioning equipment is located below the second zone. These auxiliary zones are connected by passages, at a lower level than the rest of the building. Since this building is closely related to the cement industry, it was decided that aesthetically this fact should be emphasized, and the external surface of the building is bare concrete. The high quality of the finish, the balanced distributed of volumes and spaces, and the fine workmanship gives this building a simple but distinguished aspect.