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 | | TRANSPARENT ANONYMITY | | | SCHOTT UK Ltd | | 07/08/2008 | | | Spanish architect uses glass tubing from SCHOTT in interior design.
The Spanish bank for architects “Arquia – Caja de Arquitectos” in Bilbao now presents itself to customers in an entirely different look. The Spanish architect Eduardo Arroyo has utilised glass tubes from SCHOTT in interior design to create an organic link between anonymity and openness.
“Transparency in banking was actually the main idea behind this design,” explains Eduardo Arroyo. The founder of the architectural firm NO.MAD Arquitectos in Madrid succeeded in achieving an unusual interior design for the “Arquia - Caja des Arquitectos” in his native city Bilbao. “Rather than coming up with an open office landscape as in traditional banks, an entirely new solution was created that combines light transparency with reputable anonymity,” he adds.
Already from the outside of the building, a vibrating glass skin guides people’s views to the bright interior landscape. This is composed of glass tubing from SCHOTT. “Glass tubing is generally processed by the pharmaceutical and electronics industries into ampoules or light bulbs. This glass is also put to use in solar thermal power plants. Arroyo, on the other hand, came up with the idea of using this tubing as a design element in architecture, as well,” explains Alberto Zúñiga, Director of Marketing at SCHOTT Ibérica in Barcelona.
The glass tubes are made of SCHOTT “Duran”, a particularly stable borosilicate glass that was manufactured in special lengths especially for this project by SCHOTT-Rohrglas in Mitterteich (Germany). With an outside diameter of 150 mm and a wall thickness of 9 mm, around 300 tubes of up to 3,150 mm in length were shipped to the builder, Ondarra, S.A. in Bilbao.
Lined up next to each other, the glass tubes form transparent walls that separate the public area from the offices, much like a clear membrane. Due to their cylindrical shape, the tubes transmit light in a slightly distorted manner and provide soundproofing all at the same time. “In other words, they allow for an open, yet private atmosphere to be created that perfectly suits discussions with the bank,” Arroyo says and adds, “Their shape also makes it easier to create round, seemingly organic sections of the room.”
As yet another design characteristic, the public area has black reflective floors and ceilings, whereas the work areas were done entirely in light gray. This contrast helps guide customers, gives the interior of the building a respectable elegance and creates a light and transparent ambience.
Arquia, the cooperative bank founded in 1983, specializes in meeting the unique needs of architects, an aspect that the design of the 24 branches located across the country also reflects. Each bank has its own individual interior design. Construction has been booming in the capital city of the Basque Region since the 1990s. The metro train stations that were built according to the plans from Sir Norman Foster in 1995, but also the Museo Guggenheim Bilbao from Frank O. Gehry from the year 1997, rank among the masterpieces. Now, Eduardo Arroyo, one of the internationally most well-known architects of the new Madrilenian School, has also left his mark.
SCHOTT is an international technology group that sees its core purpose as the lasting improvement of living and working conditions. To this end, the company has been developing special materials, components and systems for nearly 125 years. The main areas of focus are the household appliances industry, pharmaceuticals, solar energy, electronics, optics and the automotive industry. The SCHOTT Group is present in close proximity to its customers with production and sales companies in all its major markets. The Group’s approximately 16,700 employees generate worldwide sales of approximately 2.1 billion euros. The company's technological and economic expertise is closely linked with its social and ecological responsibility. The parent company of the SCHOTT Group is SCHOTT AG, whose sole shareholder is the Carl-Zeiss-Stiftung (Foundation). | |
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