In 2019, the Governing Council of the URJC (Universidad Rey Juan Carlos) approved an infrastructure plan to remodel several of the university's campus buildings, including the classroom and departmental building on the Madrid-Vicálvaro Campus. This led to an agreement with the COAM (Official Association of Architects of Madrid) to organize an ideas competition to select the final design for the building, which was launched in February 2022.
The jury's decision was announced in May 2022, with first prize awarded to the project “Never Walk Alone,” designed by architects Atxu Amann Alcocer, Andrés Cánovas Alcaraz, Nicolás Maruri González de Mendoza, and Rodrigo Delso Gutiérrez.
The proposal consists of a new building of approximately 9,780 square meters that integrates with the existing office building, naturally expanding it by leveraging its location and connections, functioning as an additional wing. At the same time, it connects with the campus's open spaces, creating a site with the potential to grow and expand its functions.
The project aims to present a front to the city, shaping the perimeter of the intervention. The design seeks to build an urban space visible not only from within the university campus, but also from the surrounding areas—"seemingly inhospitable places, but with a great capacity to generate new opportunities," as stated by the winning team. The new volumes are fragmented to scale them down, bringing them closer to the scale of nearby residential buildings, and placing classrooms at the center of the design by granting them mutual autonomy.
The architects chose to occupy the perimeter to create an interior space embraced by the new pavilions. This space begins at the parking lots, transformed into a forest that descends alongside the students, who then walk between classrooms to reach the heart of the common area. There, pathways intertwine across staircases that witness greetings and glances, serving as a stage for daily life.
Classroom orientation was carefully considered when fragmenting the volumes. These folds create small sections that articulate a path ending in a green, permeable area, connecting two sections of the campus. In addition, the back of the plot, which features a significant elevation drop relative to the street, is reclaimed by creating a landscaped sports court connected to the courtyard of the adjacent building.
A novel aspect of the design is the absence of corridors in the classroom building; the project folds and angles the classrooms to generate work and coworking spaces. Another interesting feature is the roof: rather than wasted space, it is a green roof, providing a meeting, working, and resting space for students.
To construct the building, the team proposes a concrete structure with two-way slabs, using brick for the exterior in harmony with its surroundings. The brick is softened by permeable screens that protect the most exposed orientations from the sun. The thermal mass of the materials and their layout provide thermal passivity to the building, preventing direct solar gain and, thanks to the wide galleries, enabling a cross-ventilation system to combat extreme heat during the harshest seasons. Furthermore, the integration of extensive vegetation also contributes to the building's thermal balance.
This article was written by Mili Sánchez Azcona. The translation is powered by AI.
