The Communications Faculty of San Jorge University is located on a campus in Villanueva de Gállego, settled on a 22 hectares plateau. Its perimeter is limited in North by the corridor that joins Zaragoza and Huesca, in East by a watercourse with almond trees, in West by a way that separates it with other plateau, and in South by a slope covered with pines that looks at the meadow of the Gallego river. The plateau, a dry and arid territory, is a balcony over the meadow; the landscape changes, now it is not arid. The ochre colors of the dry land change into green and yellows, characteristic of an agriculture that is possible thanks to a hidden river.
A clear scheme is proposed: upon arrival, once the linear forest is traversed, one discovers the compact, rational, static spaces the building houses.
These spaces search for the most appropriate light (northeast), and show the students the rational and sober image of the building. It receives you with a kind gesture through a human scaled piece that invites you to meet the interior.
In the interior we discover the big void, a vestibular space that organizes the rest of spaces and finally opens the view to the alluvial plain of the Gállego river. The most singular spaces open up to this new landscape that incites daydreaming. The order and rigor that the building showed at first give place to freer spaces, forming five fingers that look out curiously at the landscape.
The building division into two clearly different facets is understood through its own look: the classrooms are grouped open up to the campus, while workshops and other rooms are opened to the landscape searching for a far look.
Team:
Architects: Taller básico de arquitectura
Developer: Ayuntamiento de Villanueva de Gállego
Project Architects and Project Managers: Javier Pérez-Herreras, Javier Quintana de Uña, [tba] taller básico de arquitectura
Collaborating Architects: Edurne Pérez Díaz de Arcaya (architect), Manuel Antón Martínez (architect), Joseba Aramburu Barrenetxea (architect) y Xabier Ilundain Madurga (architect)
Building Technicians: Carlos Munilla y JM Sánchez Abad & asociados
Collaborating Company: Intensa-inarsa (ingeniería)
Building Company: Brues y Fernández, construcciones
Photography: Taller básico de arquitectura (Xabier Ilundain Madurga)
Material Used:
1. Tiling: Cinca
2. Wall cladding in common areas: MDF panel coated with HPL
3. Floors: epoxy resin
4. Handles: FSB (Franz Schneider Brakel GmbH + Co KG)
5. Windows: (aluminium) CORTIZO and stainless steel carpentry
6. Plumbing: Geberit Group
7. Conditioning: TROX
8. Equipment: assembly hall (seats): Ezcaray Seating
