Caixa Ontinyent Cultural Center
CAIXA ONTINYENT CULTURAL CENTER
Ramon Esteve
ARCHITECTS
Ramon Esteve
YEAR
2010
LOCATION
Valencia, Spain
CATEGORY
Cultural Center
SITE MANAGER
Gonzalo Llin
CONSTRUCTION
Construcciones Francés SL
COLLABORATORS
Silvia M. Martínez, Patricia Campos, Rafael Codina
CLIENT
Caixa Ontinyent. La caixa de les Comarques
COLLABORATORS ARCHITECTS
María Daroz, Rubén Navarro, Olga Badía, Anna Boscà
TECHNICAL ARCHITECT
Antonio Morales
The characteristic use of the building is cultural, mainly dedicated to the promotion of all kinds of cultural activities such as exhibitions, performances, concerts, conferences, representing the entrepreneurial spirit of the company.
The building has two significant facades, one is historic and linked to the memory of all citizens, and the other is contemporary, overlooking a green slope, with the Clariano river as backdrop.
The project consists of two large twinned volumes, turned onto a private garden and through it, to the Clariano river.
The main entrance to the building is through the historic façade of the Casa Llorens, and through a controlled height gives way to a large foyer with double and triple heights, which all rooms overlook.
It is a multifunctional hall, it acts as a reception area, foyer, and at the same time as a multi-purpose hall for exhibitions and performances.
From the lobby there are different crossed views with the different parts of the building, such as the cafeteria, offices, boardroom, exhibition room, meeting room... creating a visual link between them while maintaining their functional independence.
A large central horn-shaped skylights, produce some significant pockets of light, that flows through the concrete walls and give a special character to the space.
This treatment is also applied on the facade facing the courtyard, creating large gaps, giving depth and framing the views through the facade.
The hierarchy of spaces is perceived through a play heights of the different areas.
The garden as background and the skylights as zenith focus points, are clear references of the project.
