Architecture that promotes relationships between people
The architect Denise Scott Brown once said:
“Architecture can't force people to connect; it can only plan the crossing points, remove barriers, and make the meeting places useful and attractive”.
While architecture cannot control the result, it does have the potential to design spaces with the aim of encouraging social interaction, enabling encounters between people to flow.
This concept is well understood at the Batlle i Roig architecture studio, who apply it in a perfect way on this outdoor terrace at the Tánger office building in Barcelona.
They have created an area that combines vegetation with rows and collections of benches, where interactions between people are encouraged through the design of the space, turning it into a useful and attractive meeting place, just as Denise Scott Brown said.
These curved benches have been covered with bespoke prefabricated pieces from ULMA.
Customisable precast pieces: the importance of listening
At ULMA we are great at active listening. We understand how important it is as industrialists to adapt to the needs of our customers and specifiers.
As a result, we identify their problems and turn them into opportunities.
That is how we create our line of customisable precast pieces: offering bespoke pieces for each project.
In total we have supplied 300 precast pieces in a C-1 white colour to complete the design of this stunning curved meeting point.
As you can see from the photos, the result is spectacular.
This image gives you a better idea of the space's original design:
In this case, 10 different types of moulds were created to cover the different forms of benches: concave, convex, with or without a backrest.
This level of customisation is made possible by the versatility of our Stoneo FORMS material, which can be adapted to any design thanks to its workability. It also allows us to create lighter pieces, which are easier to position and handle on site.
We spoke with the architect Cristòfol Taula Bennàsar from the Battle i Roig studio, and this is what he told us:
“There were numerous reasons why we chose the ULMA material over other options: the ability to create a personalised design by producing specific moulds, the lightness of the entire system compared to other materials, and how easy it is to build and install the entire planter and bench system.”
If you would like to know more about our customisable precast pieces, contact us here.
The Batlle i Roig studio is very familiar with our solutions, as it has specified our materials for several other projects, such as the Célere Magoria residential complex with a ventilated facade in Barcelona, or the Viladecans Outlet, where we also supplied cladding for curved benches.
According to Tauler, they came back to us because they knew how well our materials performed after having installed them at the Viladecans Outlet: “The product is ideal because of its lightness and durability, as it barely changes at all over time”.
Batlle i Roig is committed to protecting the environment and helps to find solutions to resolve the climate emergency on our planet. This project specifically has received the LEED Gold V4 Core and Shell classification, which guarantees that the building was constructed using local materials and produced according to sustainability criteria, as is the case with our Stoneo FORMS pieces.
