Baluarte. Auditorium and Congress Center of Navarre / Francisco Mangado

Architect: Francisco Mangado
Location: Pamplona, Navarre, Spain
Design Team: Alfonso Alzugaray Los Arcos. Arquitecto Asociado. Laura Martínez de Gereñu, María Langarita, Isabel López, Carlos Pereda, Carlos Urzainqui
Area: 63,000 sqm
Year: 2003
Photographs: José Manuel Cutillas

Construction Management: Francisco Mangado
Structure: NB 35 Ingenieros
Iinstalación: Iturralde y Sagüés ingenieros
Acoustics: Higini Arau. Estudi Acustic
Lighting: ALS Architectural Lighting Solution, Antón Amann
Technical Architects: Pedro Legarreta, José Ignacio Goñi, Susana López
Construction: OHL, Obrascón Huarte Laín SA.
Owner: Gobierno de Navarra

From the architect. The site is on what was the Ciudadela (citadel), an area serving as a transition between the Pamplona’s historic core and the ensanches, the later gridded extensions of the city. The allotted plot had stayed empty after the demolition of the old military barracks, and so in collective memory had remained associated with the image of an open space.

The whole undertaking revolves around a basic idea: the need to give up an autonomous architectural scheme in favour of a complex with an unmistakable urban calling. With this in mind, the building forms an L, embracing a large square which opens on to the ensanche while sparking a dialogue with the Ciudadela park. The project unfolds on the understanding that the square and the building become one single space, with the exterior paved areas continuing in the interior, in the building’s ground level, and the congress center’s exhibition space spilling outside.

The halls are autonomous boxes, in compliance with the stipulated canons of use and size, and surrounded by foyer and circulation zones that both serve and connect them.

One of the arms of the L contains the main auditorium, which rises over the roof. The smaller auditorium is tucked into the angle formed by the intersection of the two wings. In between is the entrance and the main foyer, a large space rising the full height of the building, generously lit by central skylights. Exhibition halls take up the entire side running parallel to the Avenida del Ejército, both at ground level and underground, where the ruins of the Baluarte de San Antón that gives the complex its name appear. Seminar rooms are in the upper floor.