Arco Headquarters. Competition, 1st Prize – 1
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Project
Arco Headquarters. Competition, 1st Prize
Location
Foios, Valencia, Spain
Authors
Quadrat Estudio + Sergio García-Gasco Lominchar
Collaborators
Álex Rausell, Álex Jaén, Laura Sigüenza, Blanca Gómez, Agustina Teso; Cartif Centro Tecnológico (Engineering and energy consulting); Boava (images)
Promoter
Arco S.L.

Innovation and technological development have been the fundamental pillars on which ARCO has managed to establish itself globally as one of the major manufacturers of valves and hydraulic systems. The company, whose spirit combines quality and tradition in equal measure, now wants to rethink how it works from within, reflecting on the roles it plays not only as a company, but also as a place where its employees spend their working lives, and on the contribution it can make to its surroundings. These reflections allow it to evolve into a benchmark in every respect, not only in production.

The project presented focuses on seeking an architectural proposal that can capture the enterprising and receptive spirit that defines ARCO, creating a space with which the company can identify and in which it can continue to evolve in an inclusive and open way. To this end, the proposal includes all the sustainable aspects of the intervention in its broadest definition, be they of an architectural, industrial or social nature.

In order to effectively address strategies of such disparate scales, the project structure is divided into 4 axes of analysis: urban scale, architectural scale, operational scale and human scale. Each of these encompasses sustainable factors that the work team identified as crucial when approaching the new ARCO headquarters. All of the strategies, based on sustainability, propose a new space that seeks to optimise its production and improve the energy efficiency of its spaces. To this end, it focuses its attention on people, paying special attention to the comfort of the worker, the customer experience and cultural outreach to local residents, placing value on the important historical heritage of the La Yutera factory.