Market & Civic Centre in Torrent
Spain CCC ES
Vázquez Consuegra
2016
Type
Civic
Tags
community infrastructures, spaces of encounter, Spain ccc
Visitability
Allowed
Description
The new Torrent market will be built on the plot where the old market stands today, a building with a trapezoidal base, attached to a party wall and with three façades, the shortest being the one that opens onto the Plaza de Colón, in the centre of which stands the medieval Islamic tower, symbol and image of the city of Torrent.The programme for the new building includes the construction of the new market, a high quality commercial area and a supermarket, as well as a large public hall for community use.This hybridisation of uses and above all the juxtaposition of spaces evokes the typological model of the great Italian Renaissance buildings, which over the market hall builds a large communal hall, a large capacity space with access from the outside, intended for public use.The new project proposes to set back the current line of the façade to the square to align it with the adjacent buildings, in order to emphasise and enhance the presence of the Tower, the main protagonist of the square. At the same time, it proposes a contemporary building within its historic centre, seeking to achieve a harmonious interweaving with the pre-existence, a relationship of physical and historical continuity in the city.The functional and spatial organisation of the building is very clear: all the vertical communication and service elements are attached to the party wall, locating the main lobby parallel to Calle Cervantes, a pedestrian street that leads to the square, from which, of course, the market will also be accessed. In this lobby there are fixed and escalators, which will allow access to all the floors of the building. It is a fluid, vertical and continuous space, at the service of the different functions that take place on each level when they are active. When this is not the case, a system of sliding doors will gradually isolate this space until it becomes a more representative and more formal space.The large multi-purpose hall can be subdivided into two rooms and overlooks the square through a large covered terrace. The position of the staircases, both mechanical and fixed, is designed in such a way that on reaching the level of the hall there is a magnificent view of the Tower and the square.(Description provided by Vázquez Consuegra Arquitectos)