Detail of the project ed. 2020

HER­MOSO & HEIMANNS­FELD – ORA­TO­RY AND EVENT ROOM

Design­er Enrique Jesús Her­moso Lera
Loca­tion Calle Pajares 22, Somosaguas Norte, 28223 Pozue­lo de Alar­cón, Madrid
Design Team

Enrique Her­moso Lera, Arquitecto
Karin Heimanns­feld, Arquitecta
Mar­i­u­ca López Fer­nán­dez, Arquitecta
David Gar­cía López, Arquitecto
Year 2014
Pho­to credits

JG.: Jesús Granada
JO.: Javier Orive

Pho­to external

Project descrip­tion

ORA­TO­RY AND AUDI­TO­RI­UM FOR THE RETA­MAR SCHOOL
C.PAJARES 22, SOMOSAGUAS, POZUE­LO DE ALAR­CÓN, MADRID
REPORT
Our design aims for inte­gra­tion with the exist­ing brick build­ings while at the same time main­tain­ing its unique char­ac­ter for the school, high­light­ed on the exte­ri­or by a promi­nent roof, fin­ished in green zinc.
This new church is designed inside out: The inside space of the ora­to­ry, which is the most impor­tant ele­ment of the project, giv­ing it both its char­ac­ter and “soul”. We were look­ing for a build­ing, being able to serve a vari­ety of activ­i­ties. With the large vol­ume of space, the big chal­lenge has been to cre­ate a large com­mu­nal space where each indi­vid­ual has the abil­i­ty to with­draw into one’s inner space to com­mu­ni­cate with God.
This was achieved with­in the larg­er vol­ume by the use of nat­ur­al light, an asym­me­try in the over­all com­po­si­tion, and by the selec­tion of materials.
The nave and ceil­ing are clad in bam­boo pan­els and slats to achieve a har­mo­nious tran­si­tion between the curv­ing roof and the side pan­els, detailed to allow for acoustic absorp­tion between its slats. In the inside shell of the pres­bytery, the bam­boo is replaced by titan with a gold­en flair with extreme­ly thin lay­ers, which are assem­bled in a fish scale pat­tern, while the gold­en gran­ite of the nave is replaced by green gran­ite around the altar to mark the sig­nif­i­cance and impor­tance of this area.
Mov­ing through the entrance hall, an inter­me­di­ate space between the new and the old build­ing is opened up with a con­crete stair­case insert­ed beneath a large sky­light. This acts as a sec­ond entrance space lead­ing vis­i­tors to the audi­to­ri­um. On the same floor are three mul­ti­pur­pose class­rooms, restrooms, and tech­ni­cal rooms.
The inte­ri­or of the audi­to­ri­um is for­mal­ized by con­trast­ing two very dif­fer­ent mate­ri­als — gal­va­nized expand­ed met­al mesh and bam­boo pan­els. The asym­met­ri­cal­ly designed screen of the cin­e­ma is cov­ered by bam­boo slid­ing panels.
From the out­side, a con­crete stair­case is act­ing as an amphithe­atre. Next to the audi­to­ri­um, the huge can­tilever of the ora­to­ry choir gives shel­ter to the out­side scenery, where the school has an addi­tion­al pos­si­bil­i­ty to per­form sum­mer the­atre and oth­er festivities.
This inter­play between the two main spaces is expressed on the exte­ri­or by the dia­logue between the brick and the zinc reflect­ing solid­i­ty and move­ment, earth, and heaven…

Illus­tra­tive project report
Down­load report

Pho­to internal

Tech­ni­cal drawings

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