Light radiator

Banyoles, Spain

Photo © José Hevia

Office Buildings

Architects: unparelld'arquitectes

Location: Avinguda Països Catalans, 140, 17820 Banyoles, Spain
Year: 2016
Client: Private
Team: Xevi Rodeja, Aina Roca, Thommy Parra
Building engineer: Jesús Bassols Geli
Builder: Construccions Xavier Muriscot, Alumilux & Metall-lux, Insbosch
Aparejador: Jesús Bassols Geli

AgriEnergia commercial office

The electrical company AgriEnergia becomes more approachable to citizens, expressing its proximity, by opening a customer service office in a corner shop on the high street in Banyoles. A lamp-screen and changing the location of the entrance structured our design.

A sinuous undulating luminous radiator was installed, running diagonally through the space, highlighting the corner space and dividing the office into two distinct areas: the front open to the public for customer service and the other with private offices and workstations.

After glimpsing the premises hazily from the outside, visitors enter through a door facing the main street at the inside level. From here, the space successively opens up, providing an area for each of the counters that fold out from the plinth of the partition screen. In parallel, each convexity defines a room on the inner side.

Flat glass panes are laid out perpendicularly along the entire length of the screen, giving shape and flair to the light radiator. These panes serve to enclose and multiply the light, converting it into the main feature of the premises. Repetition and curvature imbue the space with a vibrancy that contributes to dematerialising the glass.

Indeed, the screen is an enormous lamp that is the focal point and allure of the office, crowned by gilded motifs that attach it to the ceiling. The entire structure celebrates the milestone in the 1920s of the integration of electricity and architecture. At the same time, it also spotlights one of the forms taken on by the product sold from this office: light.