The architect Rafael de La-Hoz has completed ‘Gran Vía 48’, a new building of luxury homes, which is the first project to be built on this well-known avenue since 1932
Following centenary celebrations for the Gran Vía –a famous avenue located at the heart of the city of Madrid, also known as ‘Madrid’s Broadway’ -
This is a building with a lot of personality that employs modern architectural resources to ensure it is in harmony with the architectural homogeneity from the beginning of last century at its urban axis location.
Balance between empty spaces, meeting axis lines, and chromatic nuance, are aspects of the architecture used by the architect Rafael de La-Hoz, responsible for the volumes and façade of the building.
The building’s new façade is defined by floor-to-ceiling windows, over which a mesh of stylized granite pilasters is superimposed, providing the façade with a sensation of movement and depth. The aim is to emulate the rhythms of the Gran Vía, without the need to copy them. The project is crowned by a volume in dialogue with the pavilion on top of the neighbouring building, the Palacio de la Prensa, to enhance the idea of a knee joint where the corner is turned at this point in the Gran Vía. The lattice work is sketched out in line with the double-height floors on view in adjoining buildings.
The building has a surface area of 20,312 m2, over 11 floors, which contain 97 homes, 3 commercial floors and 6 floors of robotic parking.
A Brief Journey along the Gran Vía and its Number 48
The Gran Vía was built at the beginning of the XX century as a “sventramento” replacing the housing at the heart of old Madrid. It was completed in a very short period of time, and as such gave rise to a homogenous composition only possible when all the elements of a project are undertaken simultaneously.
The eclecticism of the facades is interrupted on very limited occasions by discordant architecture. The proposal is its replacement with new architecture that meets the challenge of restoring the perceivable identity of this urban axis without giving in to stylistic anachronisms.
In 1931 the architect Muñoz Casayús designed the Hotel Nueva York for Gran Vía 48, on the ground floor of which Ularqui would locate an art deco movie theatre called Actualidades, as was fitting for this stretch of the Gran Vía also popularly known as Madrid’s Broadway. In 1960, this volume was partially demolished, turned into a bank, and covered by an uninspiring glass curtain wall. In 2011 the headquarters of the Atlántico Bank were totally demolished and replaced by a block of luxury homes; the first new building to be built on this avenue in Madrid since 1932.
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