Andorra General Council

Andorra la Vella, Andorra

Architects: SPG Arquitectura

Location: Carrer de la Vall, AD500 Andorra la Vella, Andorra
Year: 2011

This is an institutional building in the old town of Andorra La Vella. We proceed to emptying the rock for further embedding of the building. The process attempts to return the mineral condition of the void and its dialogue with the immediate environment. There is an important level difference between the upper institutional access to the building and a lower access more functional, to the administrative areas. Between the two entrances - 6 floors of elevation - is placed the volume in two differentiated bodies. The stone from the excavation, conveniently crushed, is used for the formation of a lattice of cages fitted to determine and identify the external image of the building. This stone vocation posed by the project will be extended to the interior, where the Plenary Hall of the Council is solved by the provision of translucent marble walls, evoking the mineral status of the site. The volume of the building poses several fronts in dialogue with the nearby environments. The south facade assumes the role of the project, through the lattice of cages, arranged in two different heights. The west facade, giving the newly created space and proximity to the old Casa de la Vall, is shown with some representation and in turn incorporates a different lattice, in dialogue with the old building. The North facade, with the alignment of a street of the old quarter, will be resolved with the materials of the place: stone and wood.