Magén Arquitectos, Environmental Unit Headquarters, Zaragoza

Located in Zaragoza, Spain and in built-up area of the city center, the Environmental Unit Headquarters, offers an impression that floats above the garden and panoramic view of a continuous projection on the floor and roof level. The project is based on two fundamental ideas. The first idea is in response to the special urban and landscape importance of the location; the second aims to express the intrinsic relationship between the environmental commitment of the project and its materiality and the building programme. The relationship with the adjacent urban spaces and the topographic features of the site become active conditions for the implementation of the building; it can clearly be seen in the project section that also expresses the extension of the public space of the entrance, via the roof and the configuration of the building as a platform-viewpoint onto the Ebro river. The roof is an essential element within the landscape design of the building as well as the main image of the building. It is configured as a viewpoint at different levels, which are joined together by gentle ramps and a terraced grandstand, designed as an outdoor amphitheatre for possible recreational uses.