Located in Santander, the Buildingcenter S.A.U., a residential building designed by FDA Arquitectos, comprises 22 flats, garages and storage rooms. The building has two lobbies, each giving access to 11 flats. In the basement are the parking, storage and facilities areas, while the ground floor houses the two lobbies, and the rest of the building is for residential use. While some floors have four flats each, the sixth floor and the penthouse accommodate two duplex flats. “Wherever possible, the same uses have been grouped together to avoid noise problems, to minimise and optimise the interior layout of the facilities, to locate wet rooms and dropped ceilings and to group ventilation elements and downpipes, controlling their presence on roofs, ground floors and below ground level”, say the architects.

The contemporary character of the building is obvious from the outside, with two geometric façades featuring a combination of different materials.

For the design of the façade, the architects chose three materials: “white, textured precast concrete panels, which offer fast construction times; Dekton Keon panels for the cladding of the ventilated façade; and anodised aluminium for the exterior joinery, bays and vertical slats which, in addition to concealing clotheslines, add rhythm to the south façade”, they explain.

In this way, Keon provides a bright and natural character and, in combination with the other materials, achieves very powerful geometric compositions. “The Dekton panels have been used for the ventilated façades facing north, east and west. We have aimed for some contrast in colour and texture with the precast concrete panels, but at the same time, a blend with the colour of the aluminium used”, the studio further says.