Building Design Partnership - Mixed-Use Development - Madrid, TresAguas

Date: 04 Oct 2002

TresAguas the new integrated retail and leisure development in Madrid opened at the end of September (2002).

The ‘edge of town’ scheme is a Lend Lease Europe Ltd project, developed by Lend Lease España, and designed by Building Design Partnership (BDP). The design on the € 150M project was carried out by a BDP-led team based in London and Madrid incorporating members of Arquitectura Langdon SA, BDP’s Spanish associate practice, who gave local assistance and supported BDP in running the project on site.

TresAguas provides three levels of retail and leisure use generating over 65,000 m² GLA (gross lettable area) anchored by a 15 screen multiplex cinema and an El Corte Inglés supermarket, with several homeware and fashion MSUs (major space users), including Zara, Cortefiel, C&A and Benetton, as principal tenants. The scheme also contains a family entertainment centre with a 32-lane bowling alley and an Esporto health club. Two levels of car parking under the building provide approximately 3,300 spaces.

The project takes its reference from the town of Avila located to the north west of Madrid giving a contemporary interpretation of a ‘walled town’ with the building façades punctuated by a series of vertical towers. The development consists of two adjacent sites separated by the Calle el Salvador pedestrianised leisure ‘street’.

The principal cultural reference is the circular form of the Plaza leisure space at the centre of the Calle el Salvador, creating the civic heart of the scheme and visually uniting the two sites. The main point of difference between TresAguas and other retail-led schemes in Madrid is the Plaza which together with the other leisure content of development forms three distinct leisure spaces:

 The Paseo – an adult/family mix of bars and restaurants with external terraces and a lively night time atmosphere
 The Plaza – a more formal ‘event‘ space with access to a terrace of fine food kiosks, cinemas and family entertainment centre
 Children’s Park – ‘Fun’ sculptures and playground with picnic area and access to Burger King and VIPS family restaurants and play areas

The narrative-based approach to the interior design creates a contrasting ‘feel’ and quality to each of the interior spaces, reflecting the distinct merits of the retail offer in each space, yet based on the underlying concept of the whole scheme. The introduction of natural light is treated differently in each of the interior mall and hall spaces to reinforce this approach.

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