Liong Lie Architects has been awarded second prize for the Mayte Commodore competition in Madrid. The office made a design for the reuse of the Mayte Commodore building in the Spanish capital. The mission was to preserve the essence of Luis Gutierrez Soto’s building and remodel into an integrated leisure area. 

Restoration

The vision was to restore the building, a former restaurant, as a tribute to the Spanish architect Luis Gutierrez Soto (1890-1977) and update its elements with 21st century content to match surrounding contemporary cosmopolitan leisure buildings. Because the building has to accommodate a new mixed leisure program, a compromise had to be made between original design elements and proposed functions. The new design involves restoring the front facade and main entrance by opening up the facade with full height windows, replacing the black foil by copper blades, bringing back the outside stairs and relocating a bar behind the entrance. In line with the urban structural protection, it gives the building a more inviting appearance towards the street and creates opportunities for commercial use of the pedestrian area as terrace.

Urban setting

The Mayte Commodore building is located on Plaza de la Republica Argentina and defines the urban space of the plaza together with the surrounding buildings. Because surrounding buildings are higher, it weakens the urban quality of the building and visually suggests it to be short or missing a clear ending in height. The solution: a temporary metal structure added to the roof, covered with plants and used as roof terrace. This “green dome” will give the building a stronger urban presence and adds value to the urban view of the city.

Interior

Instead of spaces, places are created. Meaning that different areas can be interconnected or used separately. The interior shows the existing 'rough' identity of the building, in contrast 'smooth' materials will be added. The basement is used as disco/club and has a separate entrance and car drop off zone. A beer bar, restaurant and cocktail bar are located on the first floor with original rough ceiling, original kitchen wall with visibility from the restaurant, a central bar breaking the space and a copper wall accommodating utility areas. The second floor is designed as event centre. There are six rooms, but sliding doors allow the rooms to be joined together to create bigger spaces. The green dome as roof terrace unites conservation and innovation and provides a place to relax and enjoy the view of Madrid’s skyline.

 

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